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https://columbophile.com/2024/03/25/new-book-to-shed-light-on-unproduced-columbo-mysteries/
I was interviewed by David regarding the unproduced episodes A BRAVE HEART and IF YOU CAN KEEP YOUR HEAD. Expect chapters on them.
Glad to hear it. I'll be looking forward to those two in particular. :)
It might inspire me to pop in a DVD tonight and see Mr. Falk in action.
What is everyone's go-to episode that they can re-watch as a favourite. I was thinking of popping in Negative Reaction. Two of my favourite actors and Mr. Van Dyke in the uncommon role as a villain.
Thanks, @thedove. Negative Reaction is definitely one of my favorites. I also love Swan Song, and Murder Under Glass. So many great episodes in this series.
Yes, it does sound a bit strange but maybe Shatner was just being coy? Walter Koenig played a character called Sergeant Johnson in the first Shatner episode, Fade In To Murder (1976).
The role I remember him most for, is probably Commodore Louis Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire.
https://www.theshot.com/television/things-fans-should-know-columbo
Thanks. I'll watch it. Should be useful.
https://bwhclinicalandresearchnews.org/2013/11/27/just-one-more-thing-the-columbo-phenomenon-and-primary-care/
That's true. I'm sure Doctor Kepple would be proud of such sales techniques. After all he wrote the books on it:
"If there was a reward I'd support your claim to it."
That's surely one of the greatest lines in all of Columbo! Quality writing like that is why it's still so well regarded and watched and repeated on TV screens around the world to this day.
Yes, it's the same as the US release. I bought it recently for £80 from eBay. When it arrived I found it had been sent from Fabulous Films themselves with an address at Pinewood Studios! The 1989-2003 ABC episodes are being released in a companion Blu-ray box set as well and I'm hoping to pick it up soon too. It's great to see the classic episodes in improved form. Sadly though there are no extras with these sets, although there was meant to be until they were pulled for whatever reason.
Thanks, @Dragonpol! It's a shame there aren't any extras, but seeing Columbo on Blu-ray will be a treat with or without extras.
I see The Final Years 1989-2003 box set will be available from this Monday, according to the online retailer I will be buying from. They are usually spot on with the dates.
Yes, although I'd had the first two seasons on Blu-ray for about 5 years (as that was all that was ever released) it was great to get this set. It's sad about the extras, especially as so many commentaries were already recorded. I understand the Universal studio weren't happy about what was said about Peter Falk's behaviour in the early days. It does seem a bit petty given most of the people referred to have passed away by now. Obviously protecting the reputation of the studio is seen as paramount as opposed to providing fans with some much-needed extra content.
Yes, that's the date I've seen on Amazon too. It's hard to believe that it's taken this long for a full Blu-ray set of a TV series as popular as Columbo to see the light of day, but there it is. The DVDs of Columbo were first released in 2005 so it's taken almost 20 years to get to this point. Still, better late than never I suppose!
I've never read anything about Falk's behaviour on set before. What has been said about him that we know? I can understand the studio wanting to protect their reputation – up to a point. I mean, there's been a lot of actors that have been difficult one way or the other, and it's not like that has been avoided mentioned in extras for other films or shows.
I agree, it's taken surprisingly long for Columbo to get a full Blu-ray set. Sadly this is the case for many other popular shows as well. Mission: Impossible only got a full Blu-ray set release in 2020, and that's odd considering that the movies have had a successful run since the 90's!
I believe it had to do with Peter Falk wanting to direct an episode of Columbo in Season 1 of the show and the studio playing hardball with him as they didn't want him to direct. So, he refused to appear in scenes during filming until he was allowed to direct an episode. Eventually the Universal execs allowed him to direct the episode Blueprint for Murder, one of the most technically trying to direct in Season 1 as it had a construction site scenes to film. In fact, Peter Falk is probably the only star of his own show to be banned from the Universal lot before filming on it had even began! Obviously he wanted the best for his show but apparently he could be a pain sometimes until he got his own way. Suzanne Pleshette (star of Dead Weight) explains it better than I ever could below:
In the video taken from "Dead Weight" below you'll notice that Columbo is played by a double with his back to the camera in scenes where he is along with another character as this was during the period Falk refused to film scenes. Falk did his scenes to camera separately so that they could be inserted into the scene as if he was talking to the two other characters:
It is a good early episode of Columbo I feel but perhaps it is let down by the ending which (along with the ending to Fade In to Murder) is somewhat anticlimactic and something the police should have turned up early on in a ballistics check on all of General Hollister's guns. We expect something cleverer and more inventive from a Columbo finale than just "I used the gun as I thought you'd believe my story about the duplicate and never run it through ballistics." It does stretch credulity to breaking point and anyone sensible would have disposed of the gun, as the murder weapon, no matter how much it ultimately meant to them. Hollister could always have had a real duplicate made! ;)
Yes, that's exactly it, @thedove. They gave Falk the hardest and most tedious episode to direct in Blueprint for Murder. It seems to have worked as he was never credited for directing another Columbo episode. Still, it turned out a really good episode in my opinion. Falk and guest star John Cassavetes did apparently direct most of Étude in Black and not Nicholas Colasanto (who was credited with directing the episode).