This episode first aired January 19, 1972.
After they had finished carefully plotting out the show’s 6-episode first season, co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link received a last minute request for an extra episode. According to Levinson: “The network was so pleased with what they were seeing that they wanted the seventh. We were furious. We didn’t want to do another one. We had just done all of these pictures in a very short time frame with no scripts ready.”
As a result, this episode took all of four months to write, produce, edit and air. It was Peter Falk’s least favorite episode of the first season and most critics and fans (spoiler alert: myself included) echo this sentiment.
Although “Short Fuse” was the second-to-last episode to air, it was the last episode shot for the show’s first season.
This episode was originally titled “Formula for Murder”.
This episode was directed by the show’s editor, Edward Abroms, as a reward for his exceptional work in previous episodes.
Doris Buckner’s home in this episode is a redressed version of the home featured in “Ransom for a Dead Man”.
Actor William Windom, who played Everett Logan, was apparently deathly afraid of heights and had no idea the episode’s final sequence would require him to take a ride up on a gondola with an open door. Windom would later admit that, had he known, he wouldn’t have signed on to do the episode.
My thoughts in chronological viewing order…
Longtime Roddy McDowall fan. I remember forcing my mother to take 13-year-old me to see him in a production of Charley’s Aunt because I so loved him in The Planet of the Apes.
Boy, that denim ensemble(!). In fact, his whole wardrobe for this episode.
Why is everyone freaking out over silly string? Does it burn to the touch?
Tremendous suspense with the back-and-forth cuts to the car ride and cigar box. It would not surprise me to learn director Abroms was in the editing room for this one.
Roger tells Columbo he’s at the Chauffeur’s residence because he saw the door was open? Our third less-than-genius criminal mastermind in as many episodes! No wonder Columbo zeroes in on him from the start.
Speaking of which, why is Columbo investigating the disappearance of some guy who hasn’t even been missing the standard 24 hours?
That audio recording from inside the limo is… convenient.
Love Ida Lupino.
Why does the guard accompanying Columbo on the gondola ride sound like his dialogue has been dubbed?
Columbo’s refusal to step closer to the edge of the drop suggests he is afraid of heights. That’s one thing we have in common.
Columbo continues his tradition of trespassing onto the property of his suspects, in this case Roger’s dark room where he unwittingly(?) sprays himself with silly string.
Why would Columbo suspect an exploding cigar or cigar box? This seems like one hell of a leap.
Roger took creepy photos of Valerie? This confirms my long-held suspicion that male photographers tend to be huge creeps.
Two-thirds of the way through this episode and I notice – not much is happening.
What is the deal with this planted typewriter? He’s framing the chauffeur who was also killed in the crash? Does that make sense?
Akemi walked by at this point and noted: “Columbo has a lot of hair!” Now that she mentions it…
Does Columbo suspect Everett of being a potential accomplice on the gondola ride up?
Why is Roger freaking out about the spilled cigars? Isn’t the trigger connected to the cigar case?
This episode treads water throughout most of its runtime, but this final suspenseful gondola sequence is exceptional.
Hmmmm. To be honest, this is the first Columbo episode that was a chore to sit through. Even “Dead Weight”, despite all of its flaws, was consistently entertaining. As much as I love Roddy McDowall, I felt his character lacked the depth and nuance of previous murderers. This one didn’t get the love and attention of previous scripts, and it shows.
So, my overall Columbo episode rankings are as follows: #1 Death Lends a Hand, #2 Suitable for Framing, #3 Prescription: Murder, #4 Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), #5 Lady in Waiting, #6 Dead Weight, #7 Short Fuse.
Finally, we come to the point in our review where we assess the evidence (or lack thereof) Columbo has gathered and ask whether, based on said evidence, our culprit would likely be found GUILTY or ACQUITTED. Well, as I noted above, what evidence does Columbo really have? Is Roger’s maniacal laughter at episode’s end enough? I would argue that if Roger settles down and gets his act together, he walks. If, on the other hand, his behavior at episode’s end is indicative of a nervous breakdown, then maybe he ends up committed somewhere. But I think that’s the best the prosecution could hope for. All things being equal, and as much as it loathes me to say this, Roger Stanford would be looking at an ACQUITTAL
So, what did you all think?
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Got another “Nonce verification failed” on you blog. Arggg. Anyhoo, take two!
I would vote Not Guilty. Roddy is so suave and smooth. A good lawyer and put Roddy on the stand to charm the ladies.
I’ve had that notice one or twice, didn’t notice it this time, so hopefully my wordy-wordiness made it safely through!
das
Gonna make this brief seeing as it’s 2 am and I need to go to bed! Got tied up completing a jigsaw puzzle. 😛
Yes, this episode was a bit dull. But hear me out…
It’s one of my go-to napping episodes for that very reason! Low on dialogue, high on Our Villain silently sneaking around – a perfect episode to send me off to la-la land. 😀
But also low on humor, Columbo-isms, and tension. I’m not sure I can answer your question about silly string, other than it is both startling and annoying, especially if you’ve never seen it before (as the case here seems to be).
I was under the impression that there was some sort of timing device attached to the cigar. that’s why he kept checking his watch (sort of like a pin pulled out of a grenade). I think that’s why he was looking at their ends, trying to find the one ‘grenade cigar’ in the box.
No, he doesn’t suspect Everett. As is Columbo’s modus operandi in serval episodes, he often fills someone in on his suspicions, and then involves them somehow in the gotcha moment as a witness. I have always believed that was the case here.
The typewriter, the fake letter full of lies in the trash, the doctored-up pictures to make it appear as if Valerie and David were having an affair – these were all to throw suspicion on others, and to get rid of anyone in the company who might hinder his ambitions. At least that’s how I saw it.
While this is not my favorite, I still rank it above Dead Weight, for the sheer fact that it is very easy to sleep to. Also, I was shocked by how much my father-in-law looks like William Windom! They could be twins! (When he was a young man, my f-i-l looked very much like Robert Conrad, but somehow turned into William Windom after he turned 50. 🙂 )
Now, will he be found guilty? He would never hold it together in court – he’s another one that’s proud of his intelligence and I’m sure he’ll eventually boast about how he did it. Also, there was a witness to his panic over the cigars, and he had the knowledge and materials to make an explosive (and evidence may still be found to support a guilty verdict – Columbo now has a reason to get search warrants based on his panic over the smokes). This guy aspires to be an actor (the center of attention as shown by the silly string incident), and I think he will insist on taking the stand. But I think – no, I know – he’ll pull an Amber Heard on the stand, overact, and the jury will be see through his facade.
das
Very easy to sleep to – raves Das!
I, too, am a big Roddy McDowall fan since “Planet Of The Apes”. And teenage me was a huge fan of Anne Francis in “Forbidden Planet” but I’d never seen her in anything else until this.
There was certainly a lot of filler in this episode. How many shots do we need to have of people riding around in golf carts?
It did seem odd that Columbo was investigating a murder that nobody knew had happened yet.
I was confused about why Roger was in the chauffeur’s residence at all. He ran up there (We didn’t know whose house it was at that point. I thought it was Roger’s.), he typed something on a typewriter (He was very adept at typing. Must have spent some time in the typing pool down at the chemical plant.), then came out with a case (I didn’t understand that it was a typewriter case at that point.) and put it into his car.
Later Roger plants the typewriter at the chauffeur’s real house (Apparently the chauffeur was using a false identity. Why?) and then he hangs around for the police to show up to then run away from them and get caught? That whole sequence had me scratching my head.
The reason Roger was grabbing all the cigars is that he knew one of them had the fuse in it and he wanted to throw it outside before it exploded. The box was just the trigger. The bomb was in a cigar. I feel there was a missing scene just before this where Columbo should have explained to Roger that forensics had determined that the car’s fuel tank had exploded and there was no sign of any other explosion. That would have sold the fact that they’d recovered the relatively undamaged cigar box.
I don’t think Columbo suspected Everett. I think he was in on Columbo’s sting operation. He gave Columbo the cigar box.
Still, the whole notion of bringing everyone out to the gondola under the pretense of the discovery of some evidence and then revealing the cigar box should have tipped Roger off that it was a sting.
I started out quite liking Roger, even after the murder, but, just like the previous episode, there was a huge personality shift and by the end he was very dislikable. I wonder if that’s deliberate to make us dislike the murderers because they’re supposed to be bad?
I didn’t mind this episode. It had some glaring plot holes, contrivances, conveniences, and coincidences but I didn’t hate it. Least favourite so far, though.
Convicted or acquitted? As you say, if Roger keeps it together I reckon he could still get away with it. I’m not seeing enough hard evidence to convince a jury without a shadow of a doubt. ACQUITTED!
You had a lot of the same questions I did.