This episode first aired October 8, 1998.
This episode marked the final onscreen appearance of Patrick McGoohan who also directed the episode.
With “Ashes to Ashes”, McGoohan becomes the first actor to portray four different murderers on the series.
McGoohan reportedly did a wholesale rewrite of the script, improving it in some aspects, including some questionable elements in others.
Christopher Plummer was offered the role of Eric Prince but his asking price was too high.
The role of Rita is portrayed by McGoohan’s daughter, Catherine McGoohan – who does a pretty good job.
This episode ended up being the lowest rated episode of any Columbo to that point – which is a shame because I think a couple of the preceding episodes deserved that karmic honor.
My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…
“Chuck was shot 178 times…in the movies.”
I laughed. Only moments into the episode – a very good sign.
“You’re 93 seconds too long.”
You already know Eric Prince is going to be a formidable opponent.
Rue McLanahan and a cute bulldog puppy. What more could a viewer ask for?
The lipstick kiss on the corpse is a bit much, no? But to be fair, I haven’t attended any open casket funerals.
Uh oh. Blackmailers never end well on this show.
Love this suspenseful build to the murder.
Why didn’t he burn Chuck along with her?
Dog enters the scene first; Columbo hot on his paws. Great intro.
I see they’re letting Falk go with the grey. I like it.
Who knows how long that poor puppy was locked in that room? I bet there’s poop all over the place!
Columbo is very concerned for the poor dog, which is nice to see. The old softy. “Who’s going to watch this dog while we’re working on this case?”
Re: the guy killed in the gas boiler explosion…
“Anything left of him.”
“Well he’s not the man he was”
Hey! It’s the Gobble Gobble lady from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Listing off the names: Bono, Bullock, Steven Bochco. Bochco was, of course, a former writer for the series.
“And of course you’ll both be welcome here…when the time comes.” Loving McGoohan’s Prince.
“You know Hollywood is a very kissy town.” Uh oh. Does not bode well for my three month stay.
The Mystery of the Missing Photo!
“And so Mr. Prince came over to my house and gave me grief counseling.”
“So you counseled Mr. Houston right through until this morning?”
Oh, I’m sure he did.
Columbo is upset by the fact that Miss Chandler seemingly forgot to feed her dog. He aint buying it.
Aha! The lipstick on the handkerchief doesn’t match the lipstick on the glass!
He’s already on to the fact that the time stamp on the computer file could have been faked.
Lerby seems kind of light.
Why did he wait so long to do this cremation?
What’s the lunch box on the table? Scooby Doo? (Note: Turns out it’s from a long-forgotten cartoon series called “Help!…It’s the Hair Bear Bunch”).
Oof. That shot of little Columbo being carried off by the bodyguards, legs kicking in protest.
The part of Sheik Yarami is portrayed by Italian actor Richard LIbertini. Shades of “A Case of Immunity” which aired 23 years earlier.
Man, that guy in the hat is a Grade A over-actor.
This musical number, and Columbo’s feigned amusement, is pretty dire. Apparently, the entire bit was written by McGoohan. A cringey misstep.
“It must be a funny job, sir, being a mortician.”
“It has its moments.”
Why did the pager go kaput?
“That is a burning question.”
This is a fantastic sequence pitting Columbo against Prince.
“That’s the tricky thing about burning questions. Once they’re burned, they’re just ashes. Ashes. Have you gone?” Delightfully smug.
“I’m going to arrest you, ma’am, like no one’s ever been arrested before.” lol
Columbo admits he’s been chasing suspects like Prince for 25 years. And he hates to lose.
After telling the woman he’s confiscating her dead husband’s ashes: “Oh, no. He’s like a bad penny.” Edie McClurg is delightful in this small role. In fact, pretty much all of the performances are great.
Aha! He fishes a piece of shrapnel out of Lerby’s urn. Also, what kind of name is Lerby?
“I’m wondering whether we should travel separately or perhaps you’d care to join me.”
“Well, it’s up to you, sir. It’s your funeral.”
A little hammy, but I’ll allow it!
Some of the killer’s decisions didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me and that musical sequence – a tap dance bit – where pretty awful, but overall I really enjoyed this one. Sure, the Gotcha, while interesting, is hardly damning since Prince could argue cross-contamination between ashes (and portions of ashes), but I nevertheless found this episode thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. Most of the other comedic moments landed well, Columbo was back to his seemingly befuddled but ever-so-sharp best, and Eric Prince was a terrific match for him. If this had been the show’s finale episode, I’d have argued it went out with a bang.
But we have two more episodes on deck: “Murder with Too Many Notes” that aired some three years after this one, and “Columbo Likes the Nightlife” which aired two years after that. Really hoping one of these final two are as good as this one.
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I liked the episode. Excellent cast!
The lipstick kiss on the corpse is a bit much, no? But to be fair, I haven’t attended any open casket funerals. I had a few drunken uncles (not the cookies but literally) and it’s not a real funeral until someone tries to pull the body from the casket.
“You know Hollywood is a very kissy town.” Uh oh. Does not bode well for my three month stay. I bet covid changed that.
I agree with you review! I thought the body shuffling was a bit odd, too. I think they keep track of how many times the crematorium is activated but I’m not sure. That might be a factor?
I watched this episode after finishing a “Six Feet Under” binge and they had more bizarre funerals than tap dancing.
It was funny to me how Columbo immediately took the missing person’s case seriously when he found the pup. Poor puppy and yes, there had to be poop all over that room.
Have a good weekend!
What’s in a drunken uncle? (The cookie)
I hold that Six Feet Under had the greatest series finale of all.
Agreed! This one was overall solid; it’s hard to go wrong with McGoohan in this type of role, and since he (re)wrote it he was clearly invested in giving a good performance. To me, the cringy parts actually help sell the “creepy mortician” thing he was going for. The tap dancer was Arthur Duncan, who tap danced on the Lawrence Welk show for decades – a very odd cameo that I only recognized by chance because my daughter was really into watching Lawrence Welk reruns on PBS the last time I saw this. Part of me really wonders how that came about.
Apparently McGoohan included the tap dancing sequence to parallel the “tap dancing” going on in Columbo’s head.
Oh. I thought the dead guy use to be a tap dancer. Oh dopey me!