This episode aired October 10, 1976.
Falk was convinced to return for a truncated sixth season of the series. He received a bump in pay that saw him make $300k/episode, the equivalent of about 1.5 million/episode today.
The picture in Ward Fowler’s living room is actually a head shot of William Shatner as Captain Kirk.
Fellow Star Trek alum Walter Koenig plays Sgt. Johnson in this episode.
Peter Falk’s real-life wife, Shera Danese, makes six appearances in the show. This is her first, playing Molly.
The scene in which Ward captures Columbo on video was largely ad-libbed. It’s clear the two actors were having a great time together.
My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…
Love the in-show opening.
“It’s Joseph, isn’t it?” No, it’s Swanny from last episode!
I absolutely love the discussion about Ward and his demands…which no doubt echoed the opinions of many an executive when it came to Falk: “There is no actor in this business who is irreplaceable.”
“Claire, Ward Fowler is not the first actor on this network to win an Emmy. And he’s already one of the highest paid performers in television.” Falk coming off his Emmy win.
“If we give in to him now…”
“Without Ward Fowler there isn’t going to be any next year for this show.”
“Ward Fowler IS the show.”
The only thing that would have made this exchange more perfect would have been to have actual executives cast in the roles – which is what we did on Stargate: SG-1’s “Wormhole X-Treme”, giving the studio executive the line “You know what this show needs is a sexy female alien.” which is pretty much what he suggested on a notes call.
Does the prop department keep real guns in the gun room?
Ah, establishing his alibi with the pre-recorded game.
Even as a whispering stick-up man, he sounds Shatneresque.
Why the need to shred his robber outfit? I assumed Columbo would track the feather stuffing back to him.
Ah, good. Fixing the watch. Clever.
Chekov!
“We never missed that show. What a detective!” Columbo and the missus are fans!
“About your height.”
“Average height.”
Columbo sensitive about his stature.
Strange how Columbo shrugs off the guy’s emotional plea to catch the killer.
Columbo stumbling around like a producer visiting set for the first time. Did I mention that time I invited a producer for their first set visit – only to have them walk off the edge of the dark stage and face plant?
Ah, the clumsy establishment of the Ward’s alibi. I really do like how Shatner is playing this.
Columbo believes the robbery was staged.
Lieutenant Lucerne is also on the case!
He’s as savvy as his fictional counterpart.
He also has answers for everything – the ring was too tight, the alligator bag was worn, why take the credit cards that could tie them to a murder? – thus, no doubt, making Columbo instantly suspicious of him.
Meanwhile, Sid Daley is back on set producing the show as if his wife’s death was just a minor inconvenience.
The Gopher always set his watch 5 minutes ahead – but his watch lost 5 minutes. Hmmmmm.
Ah, the Jaws shark cameo (although I highly doubt it WAS the shark used in the movie). Another tip of the hat to director Steven Spielberg who directed the first episode of Columbo’s first season.
Love the tete-a-tete between detectives. Fowler is full of himself and Columbo plays along beautifully: “No wonder you solve more crimes than I do.”
“Where do you think he got the costume?”asks Ward. Now why refer to it as “a costume”?
The mask had make-up on it. Hmmmm.
“Good working with you.” And the two detectives shake hands. Brilliant.
That giant blue thread on the trigger of the murder weapon! Planted evidence has never been more obvious.
This is a fun scene of Columbo trying on Fowler’s shoes and hat.
According to the lab, the mask contained four different shades of make-up. Ward: “I, for example, use precisely that product myself.” This reminds me of Hitchcock’s Witness for the Protection.
“There were only four people who knew where Claire would be that night,” offers Ward’s alter-ego Lucerne. He’s his own worst enemy. On the other hand, one could argue he already knows Columbo knows this as well.
“I was in theater in Toronto.” Ward Fowler’s humble beginnings are suspiciously similar to William Shatner’s.
“Paying an actor that kind of money is insanity,”says Sid. “I think they [the studio] should have turned him down. I think he would have folded.” More inside gags.
The safe held silver certificates and IOU’s from Ward Fowler!
Aha! Sid was not playing chess that night. He was having sex with his assistant!
This is a fun little scene with the video camera. Falk and Shatner look like they’re having a blast working together.
Columbo accepts a glass of brandy. He’s back off the wagon!
“Just might conceivably be Ward Fowler might be the man we’re after,”offers Lieutenant Lucerne.
“Let’s examine the possibilities.” He’s his own worst enemy.
He assumes Columbo has already checked with the Toronto police. He has. And discovered he was a Korean war deserter.
“Does an intelligent woman destroy her only means of income?”posits Lucerne. Very good question.
“Can I ask you a question, sir? Why don’t we just ask Ward Fowler whether he was being blackmailed or not”
“I asked him.”
“And?”
“He claims not.”
But does Lucerne believe him?
“The army unit he deserted from was the artillery. He was an expert marksman. I checked on that too.”
“He never told me that!”
“You see. You never know.”
Has Ward actually lost his mind or is he playing Columbo? What does Columbo believe?
“That leaves us with Sid Daily.”
“That’s a great third act line.”
Waiting for… “Oh, one more thing.” And there it is!
“Would you stop calling him Lieutenant Lucerne. He’s a television detective. You can’t conduct an investigation based on his suspicions.” Sid saying what we’re all thinking.
Columbo lays it all out, exactly how he did it.
“But as lieutenant Lucerne would say Where there is no proof there is no criminal,”says Ward. And he’s right.
“You remembered to clean the gun. But you didn’t remember to do the same thing with the bullets.” Oh damn. That is a clever Gotcha.
Ward snaps his fingers: “Damn. I had to forget something. That’s always how the third act ends.” Really more of a fourth or fifth ending but, inevitably, yes.
“You see I have no rehearsal as a murderer. I am, after all, a detective.” He has a point. Even if he is clearly crazy.
“And I believe that in this killing the murderer has the sympathetic part,”concludes Ward. “Does that satisfy you?” Works for me!
I thought William Shatner pretty damn brilliant in this episode and loved his onscreen chemistry with Falk. Also, as someone who works in television and is also privy to Falk’s behind-the-scenes battles with the network, I very much enjoyed all the in-jokes. I thought the murder pretty clever and the ensuing investigative beats and Gotcha equally great. Now I now a number of fans bump on Ward’s seeming descent into madness as he bounces back and forth between himself and his alter-ego, Lucerne, but I was totally on board, embraced the lunacy, and, as a result, had a tremendous time with this one.
My revised episode rankings: 1. Forgotten Lady, 2. Now You See Him, 3. Fade in to Murder, 4. Negative Reaction, 5. Any Old Port in a Storm, 6. Double Exposure, 7. A Friend In Deed, 8. Double Shock, 9. A Stitch in Crime, 10. Death Lends a Hand, 11. Suitable for Framing, 12. Publish or Perish, 13. Dagger of the Mind, 14. Requiem for a Falling Star, 15. Prescription: Murder, 16. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 17. By Dawn’s Early Light, 18. Swan Song, 10. Troubled Waters, 20. Lady in Waiting, 21. An Exercise in Fatality, 22. Etude in Black, 23. Playback, 24. The Most Crucial Game, 25. Blueprint for Murder, 26. Lovely But Lethal, 27. A Deadly State of Mind, 28. The Most Dangerous Match, 29. The Greenhouse Jungle 30. Identity Crisis, 31. Dead Weight, 32. Short Fuse, 33. A Case of Immunity, 34. Candidate for Crime, 35. Mind Over Mayhem, 36. Last Salute to the Commodore.
Finally, let’s consider the evidence and judge whether Ward Fowler would be looking at a GUILTY verdict or an ACQUITTAL. I think that, the prints on the bullets are pretty damning. If they can tie that gun to the murder, then I’m sorry to say Lieutenant Lucerne has solved his last case. GUILTY!
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I watch you tonight (Friday) on that podcast. You are always interesting. And I must say… you have beautiful teeth! 🙂
I liked the episode and will place it in top ten.
Shatner and Falk had a good chemistry together. It looked like a fun set.
I did wonder if all the talk about Ward’s raise was a dig at Falk?
Was that a VCR or a Betamax? The camcorder was huge, so I’m guessing VCR. Times has changed.
You had excellent observations!
How was your mom visit? Is the rehab going well?
My mom: My brother got a replacement key for one of the cars and I put attached an Airtag to her keychain.
Have a great weekend!
How did I do that?!
I think this might be my favourite episode! It was very meta. I don’t know how well known Falk’s battles with the studio were and whether people at the time would have gotten the inside joke but in hindsight I found the whole thing hilarious.
I was bumping against the whole Lucerne-Ward thing, especially towards the end. I found it confusing and illogical. But I hadn’t considered the descent into madness angle which makes much more sense. Just as fans sometimes struggle to separate actors from the roles they play perhaps actors also have moments of schizophrenia where their personalities blend with their roles. Maybe a nod to the Kirk-Shatner dynamic?
When I decided to stop watching these episodes along with you the main reason was because I was finding them all very formulaic. So much so that I wrote the following list at the end of Season 1:
The victim should either be rich and successful or related by birth to someone rich and successful.
The murderer should either be rich and successful or related by birth to the victim who is rich and successful.
The victim and/or murderer should be very talented in their particular field of interest. The more obscure and quirky the talent the better.
Columbo doesn’t need a search warrant. He will just let himself in and snoop around any time he wants.
Anybody who attempts to blackmail the murderer must die a few scenes later. No exceptions. (Except that one time.)
Half way through the episode Columbo and the murderer should have a “hypothetical” discussion about the method of murder and cover up.
This discussion will “put the wind up” the murderer who will then say and do extreme things to send Columbo down the wrong path. It doesn’t work. Columbo already knows they’re the murderer, he’s just trying to find enough evidence to prove it.
I love how this episode plays on a lot of these and turns some of them on their heads. The “hypotheticals” weren’t with Ward but were with Lucerne.
There were a few episodes where they tried to make the murderer sympathetic by making the victim absolutely vile and they describe a similar situation happening in the Lucerne show. In this episode I found neither the victim nor the murderer very sympathetic. Perhaps with the “descent into madness” view I can feel a little sorry for Ward but not much.
Did you notice the Emmy on Ward’s coffee table in the final scenes? I wonder if it was Falk’s?
Like Leonard Nimoy before him, I’d never seen William Shatner act in anything other than Star Trek (oh, and a couple of Twilight Zone episodes, and Airplane II (where he’s parodying Kirk so it doesn’t really count)) so it was great to see him do something different. He was excellent.
Ward will absolutely be found GUILTY. The fingerprints on the bullets are incontrovertible. Even without the fingerprints I think there might be enough for a conviction. Columbo witnessed him pulling the thread from Syd’s sweater. He was an expert marksman in the war. He was being blackmailed by the victim. It would be a tough defence.
I’m sure Levinson and Link had a very specific formula for Columbo, much like the one you listed.
I missed the Emmy!
Hmmmm… I thought I replied to this one. Yes, it is one of my favorites! I loved seeing both Shatner and Koenig in the same episode, too! (Chekov was my favorite in TOS! “It’s gone. The Defiant just wanished.” 😀 )
This is a fun, entertaining episode, with quite a few enjoyable moments. Just want to comment on one thing (for now)…
“Ward’s seeming descent into madness as he bounces back and forth between himself and his alter-ego, Lucerne…”
You know, for all the dozens of times I’ve watched this one (with eyes open!), I’ve never seen it that way. But it makes sense. Being a fan of A Double Life (1947, Ronald Colman), I should have picked up on that. Instead, I saw it as Ward being overly “helpful” in order to deflect suspicion from himself. But since he’s been playing Lucerne for so long, it makes sense that he’s no longer able to separate himself from the character. Which brings to mind a British series I’ve been watching, Death Valley. It’s light and quirky, which I like. It’s about a detective teaming up with an actor who once portrayed a popular television detective, and now I’m wondering if this show is taking a page out of Columbo’s playbook. One never knows…
das
I wanted to like Death Valley more than I did.
I’m enjoying it very much. I do, however, have a need to use the subtitles at times, which I usually don’t need for British shows.
das