Quite a problem. I would guess anyone you pick will be a great watch. Even the lesser episodes of Columbo were great.
Pick one with a guest star you really like!
Anyone Here Watch Columbo?
- Thread starter TRON JA307020
- Start date
Pick one with a guest star you really like!
Good episode. I wish Milner had done another as the murderer because they get more screen time.
The Hallmark movie channel (I think) is showing the series in the mornings and I was able to record the later TV-movies that aren't on Netflix. I've re-watched some of my favorites recently.
I have to say - the Fisher Stevens character in "Murder, Smoke, and Shadows" is one of the dumbest Columbo murderers ever for being such a talented guy. So many mistakes...
I have to say - the Fisher Stevens character in "Murder, Smoke, and Shadows" is one of the dumbest Columbo murderers ever for being such a talented guy. So many mistakes...
The thing about that character is, IIRC, he was based on Steven Spielberg... who directed the first (post-pilot) episode of the original Columbo series. Spielberg was kind of a part of the family, so it was sort of an inside joke to base a killer on him.
LOL! Yeah. Another epsisode Mind over Mayhem had a boy genius name Steven Spelberg. The director or writer of that episode wanted to do some kind of tribute to Spielberg but it just came off kind of lame. That episode was kind of weak actually. If I recall correctly that episode had some kind of talking robot in it.
Not just "some kind of talking robot" -- Robbie the Robot himself! Robbie made lots of TV and movie cameos in various roles in the '70s and '80s.
Oh yeah I remember now. I haven't seen the episode in years. It was Robbie. That's why the episode seemed so strange. Robbie seemed out of place in the world of Columbo. Robbie also showed up in Mork and Mindy.
LOL! I don't remember were they real aliens or a hoax?
I don't know, but I remember The Bionic Woman had Helen Hunt as a real alien being chased by other aliens played by the Hager twins from Hee Haw!
Yeah, aliens first showed up in the bionic universe early in season 2 of The Six Million Dollar Man, in "Straight on 'til Morning" by D.C. Fontana. And we saw a few more aliens over the course of the franchise, notably the recurring ones behind the robot Bigfoot.
But Robbie in Columbo was just meant to be a robot invented at a think tank. I don't think that, in-story, he was as sophisticated a robot as he was in Forbidden Planet or its pseudo-spinoff The Invisible Kid (his only two starring roles in feature films).
But Robbie in Columbo was just meant to be a robot invented at a think tank. I don't think that, in-story, he was as sophisticated a robot as he was in Forbidden Planet or its pseudo-spinoff The Invisible Kid (his only two starring roles in feature films).
Yeah but didn't the Robbie in Columbo have artificial intelligence? If he did I would say that is really silly for a series that is supposedly taking place in the real world. I would have to say that the episode with Robbie is not my favorite. I do like Robbie though. Hes my favorite robot actor next to the Lost in Space (B-9) Robot whos show he also appeared on.
There's no mention of AI in the episode. The MM-7 robot in "Mind over Mayhem" didn't think or talk, it was just able to carry out certain physical actions if programmed to do so. It could only follow instructions that were coded into it. It couldn't even walk like a person; Robbie's lower torso had been replaced with a boxlike unit on rollers.
Anyway, artificial intelligence is a real field of computing that's been around for decades. There's nothing silly about it. It doesn't mean sentient machines, it means the study and development of computer programs that emulate aspects of intelligent behavior or allow testing hypothetical models of the underlying processes of intelligence. There was plenty of real AI research going on in the '70s that was probably a lot more advanced than the limited programmed responses of MM-7 in the episode. The most implausible thing about MM-7 was the physical dexterity of its hands and arms, which was rather advanced for the '70s.
I would have to say that the episode with Robbie is not my favorite. I do like Robbie though. Hes my favorite robot actor next to the Lost in Space (B-9) Robot whos show he also appeared on.
They're brothers, you know. They have the same "father," designer Robert Kinoshita. (Hey, if Data and Lore are brothers...)
There's no mention of AI in the episode. The MM-7 robot in "Mind over Mayhem" didn't think or talk, it was just able to carry out certain physical actions if programmed to do so. It could only follow instructions that were coded into it. It couldn't even walk like a person; Robbie's lower torso had been replaced with a boxlike unit on rollers.
Anyway, artificial intelligence is a real field of computing that's been around for decades. There's nothing silly about it. It doesn't mean sentient machines, it means the study and development of computer programs that emulate aspects of intelligent behavior or allow testing hypothetical models of the underlying processes of intelligence. There was plenty of real AI research going on in the '70s that was probably a lot more advanced than the limited programmed responses of MM-7 in the episode. The most implausible thing about MM-7 was the physical dexterity of its hands and arms, which was rather advanced for the '70s.
They're brothers, you know. They have the same "father," designer Robert Kinoshita. (Hey, if Data and Lore are brothers...)I would have to say that the episode with Robbie is not my favorite. I do like Robbie though. Hes my favorite robot actor next to the Lost in Space (B-9) Robot whos show he also appeared on.
I haven't seen the episode in a long time. I remember know he was on rollers. If it was a simple programmed robot I am ok with that.
Yep I knew they had the same father. The LIS episode with Robbie working with his little brother was one of my favorites.
I adore Columbo, even the revival episodes which a lot of people don't seem so keen on.
It's not a series if you're the sort of person who gets annoyed with unrealistic portrayals of the police as even by TV standards it has no resemblance to reality (intentionally, the creators didn't give a hoot about procedure, it's very much about the character interaction). Very few of his cases would actually stand up in court and even in the 70's I suspect forensics would be able to do a lot more than we're show.
Plus of course, in the later ones he's clearly too old to be a serving policeman.
But when you've got an actor of Falk's calibre playing off an opponent of equal talent you get fantastic television. The back and forth and cat and mouse is usually handled brilliantly and the moment when he catches them is generally a punch the air bit of TV.
Nicely for Trek fans both the Shatner episodes are very good, even if in the later there are some odd production problems with Shatner's 'tache growing and shrinking and the extent to which Falk's hair is dyed varying greatly (it looks like some reshoots were done at a later date).
If any Columbo fans haven't seen it, Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder is well worth checking out as it's more than a little influential on both the format and style (even down to Ray Millard doing double duty as the killer in the film and a Columbo!).
It's not a series if you're the sort of person who gets annoyed with unrealistic portrayals of the police as even by TV standards it has no resemblance to reality (intentionally, the creators didn't give a hoot about procedure, it's very much about the character interaction). Very few of his cases would actually stand up in court and even in the 70's I suspect forensics would be able to do a lot more than we're show.
Plus of course, in the later ones he's clearly too old to be a serving policeman.
But when you've got an actor of Falk's calibre playing off an opponent of equal talent you get fantastic television. The back and forth and cat and mouse is usually handled brilliantly and the moment when he catches them is generally a punch the air bit of TV.
Nicely for Trek fans both the Shatner episodes are very good, even if in the later there are some odd production problems with Shatner's 'tache growing and shrinking and the extent to which Falk's hair is dyed varying greatly (it looks like some reshoots were done at a later date).
If any Columbo fans haven't seen it, Hitchcock's Dial M For Murder is well worth checking out as it's more than a little influential on both the format and style (even down to Ray Millard doing double duty as the killer in the film and a Columbo!).
Many of Columbos cases have him getting the murderer to admit their crime sometimes without any concrete evidence. I am sure a good lawyer could get some of the people off. Some cases he does have evidence that would probably be enough to convict.
Interestingly enough Falk was considered too young to play Columbo. The studio was looking for a much older man. So in a way when Falk is playing Columbo in the revival(Age 59-73) he was pretty much the age the producers were looking for the first time around. Unfortunately the later eps aren't as good but there are a few gems in those later ones. I love all the Columbo episodes though. The character interactions are great to watch.
Similar threads
