With so many directors involved in the series having done more than one episode, I thought it might be interesting (or at least fun) to create a "favorites" list for each director, citing why a particular episode seems to stand above the rest, or perhaps why certain ones seem to epitomize the director's overall style (or what I'm PERCEIVING as his style. I have to admit, not being one who's watched a whole lot of tv or films, I'm quite unfamiliar with many of these directors' other work, so perhaps there's more to their particular style than I'm able to fully understand. It's also difficult for me to grasp the directors' influence on a particular show, having only read scant details of behind-the-scenes information on certain episodes, with virtually no information on the production of others. Perhaps some of those reading can make a more informed analysis of these directors' overall style and influence, so please share any insight if you'd like! ). Anyway, here I'll just mention a few of the repeat directors and give some of my thoughts on them..

Richard Irving - There are many instances throughout the series where I'm quite surprised that two or more episodes sharing the same director seem to me to bear almost no resemblance to each other in terms of mood or atmosphere. I think that in the case of "Prescription Murder" and "Ransom for a Dead Man", though, it's just a matter of the overall production being very different. For me, "Prescription" will always seem to be the most unusual episode in general tone: The music, Columbo's hair, his more subdued nature... well, that is until he shows great viciousness toward Joan Hudson! While Columbo raises his voice and becomes cross in other episodes (most of which I feel turned out really well), this is the only time he practically brings someone to tears, which for me is a little unsettling. I much prefer Peter's portrayal in "Ransom", which of course really set in place what was to follow. "The Columbo Phile" seems to indicate that Irving helped a lot in shaping Peter's performance in both shows, though there's also mention of Peter adding elements such as the "sirs" and "ma'ams", which apparently weren't a part of the script as written. So between scripts, actors, and directors, it's difficult for me to understand who had the biggest influence in developing the two pilots and their star, but, in any case, I much prefer "Ransom", though I feel the entire cast of "Prescription" had good performances.

Bernard Kowalski - I'd have to say that Kowalski is my favorite of the repeat directors. Out of the four episodes he directed, I feel three are exceptional, while one is slightly above average. In "Death Lends a Hand", "An Exercise in Fatality" and "Playback", almost all the actors' performances are very realistic and natural to me, really lending a sense of credibility to the drama being played out. "Fade in to Murder" on the other hand... None of the actors are necessarily bad, but to me have a "stagey" quality that seems rather uncharacteristic of the atmosphere established in Kowalski's earlier episodes. Also, while the previous three episodes I feel have in many scenes dramatic use of light and shadow, "Fade" seems quite washed-out in comparison, seeming to eschew not only a sense of real drama in terms of acting, but in general atmosphere as well.

Nicholas Colasanto - Here's another director who I feel seems to bring marvelous, realistic performances out of his actors. Both "Etude in Black" and "Swan Song" have two of my favorite guest-murderer performances, and really the whole cast of "Etude" is superb. One aspect of "Etude" that seems to be mostly lacking in "Swan", however, is an emphasis on stylish camera work. "Swan" seems to largely be played straight in terms of visual style, which is why, along with "Etude" being SO good anyway, I feel "Etude" is a grander effort.

Boris Sagal - One thing that is striking to me about Boris' two episodes is that "The Greenhouse Jungle" is played almost strictly as a comedic episode, while "Candidate for Crime" is for me quite a dramatic and intense show. Of course, "Candidate" has a good deal of comedy elements as well (some even blended with the drama), but overall I feel it has a very high-stakes, desperate (on the part of the murderer and his mistress) tone that's in great contrast to "Jungle's" more prosaic (but nonetheless entertaining) mood. One scene in "Jungle" I do feel has a genuine sense of strong tension is on the boat when Ken and Cathy are knowingly and worriedly exchanging glances as Columbo is talking about their affair in a veiled sort of way. In fact, the great scene in "Candidate" where Hayward is filming a campaign ad and becoming nervously distracted by Columbo talking to his wife in the distance sort of smacks of that same sort of tension, with Columbo unsettling Hayward in an indirect manner.

Patrick McGoohan - For me, the two episodes directed by McGoohan in season five were the crowning jewels of that particular season, and made the other episodes seem almost trite. I know there are many fans who dislike "Last Salute to the Commodore", and for me, trying to imagine that script by itself, it certainly would be unbearably awful. I think the magic of that episode was what was done with that completely lacking story, under McGoohan's direction. Lines like, "That's a honey; that's a real watch" or "Stencils?! Funny lines?!", probably wouldn't be very funny at all if, in the first case, Columbo spoke clearly and undazedly, or in the second instance, he wasn't screaming frustratedly over the shipyard's cacophony. Perhaps those elements were specified in the script or thought up by the actors, though given the fact of McGoohan's established quirkiness, it would seem that most of it was his doing.

Well, rather than going on and on, perhaps for now this would be a good time to get other opinions. Does anyone have some thoughts on the series' repeat (or even one-shot) directors? It would especially be interesting to see what fans think of certain directors' post-70s "Columbo" work (like James Frawley's), in comparison to their work in the earlier series. I've never really watched very much of the newer shows, so I'm sort of curious about that. Anyway, please share your thoughts!

I have been and always will be a Patrick McGoohnan fan, not only as a killer but a director as well. So McGoohan is my pick for director (He not only directed, but directed and starred in Ashes to Ashes as well).

Vincent McEveety (SPELLING?) Needs to get an honorable mention for his many, many directing roles in various episodes.

The best episode directed by Vincent McEveety was "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo". It was a segment with a very unusual storyline and tone--greatly strengthened by provoking curiosity--and this of course greatly assisted his efforts. McEveety had an outstanding script for which to work and commendably built on the situation, resulting in a masterpiece. The influence of the director cannot be ignored. An additional note with respect to "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo" is a particular similarity to "Negative Reaction" (both scripted by Peter Fischer), in which the killer utters a longer-than-usual speech to their victim before firing the gun.

Thank you both for your thoughts. I'm always interested in fans' opinions about the newer episodes, as I've only briefly seen parts of them here and there, and only really have a perspective on them based on fan comments. (I have to admit, based on what I have actually seen of those episodes I think I might tend to agree with those who feel the series took a dip in quality during that time, but on the other hand there must be some gems, as you've pointed out; certainly I can't imagine any episode with either McGoohan's or Fischer's name on it being bad)

In regards to Fischer's scripts, and adding a comment about another repeat series director, I've always felt that with the two episodes Ben Gazzara directed, "A Friend in Deed" is so incredibly dramatic and effective, while for me "Troubled Waters" is a drastically weaker effort. I wonder if my feelings might hinge on the fact that "Friend" had such a wonderful script by Fischer, while "Waters" lacked his talent (although for me the differences go a little beyond just the flow of story, with the overall mood and aesthetic in "Friend" being more impressive). Another director I wanted to comment on is James Frawley. All three episodes he directed for the seventh seasons I felt had great strengths, especially "How to Dial a Murder" and "Make Me a Perfect Murder". To me, those episodes had a slightly edgier quality that, though I don't think it would have worked well as a general tone in the series, I felt for those two stories it was perfect. There's two scenes in those episodes that strike me as quite similar, and for me are very effective in setting the mood - In "Make Me" there's the scene where Kay's voice is playing on the recorder as the camera sort of wanders about her apartment, finally stopping on Kay herself, who rises and snaps the recorder's antenna; then in "Dial", there's the intro scene where the camera roams about Eric Mason's home as a phone rings in the background, and then the camera finally stops on the hanging dummy that the dogs promptly attack. Another aspect of that part in "Dial" that I love is how Mason's voice angrily saying "You're gonna die!", is heard as the dogs are mauling the dummy, only to have the scene cut to sometime later, revealing that Dr. Mason was saying it to his lecture audience. I feel that, in general, the seventh season had some really impressive directing techniques, and Leo Penn, who did a great job with "Any Old Port in a Storm" in the third season, did an even more rich and stylish show with "The Conspirators" in the seventh (of course, I think the script was much stronger, as well). One part in "Conspirators" that really stands out to me is in the beginning, where Vincent Pauley's face is reflecting on the bookstore window as he looks in happily at his prospective buyer. That's an instance where it seems as though the shot must have been devised by the director entirely, unless, perhaps, that particular imagery was specified in the script. In that regard, it would be interesting if anyone out there who's read some of the actual scripts, could shed some light on how many of the visual flourishes were scripted, and how many were devised by the director while filming.

Since I don't dislike MIND OVER MAYHEM nearly as much as many of you do (I just saw it again, and it still seems pretty good to me), I'd like to name Alf Kjellin, due to it and of course NEGATIVE REACTION.

I've read that working with children is very difficult in directing, so it's definitely to Kjellin's credit that he was able to get such a relaxed, natural performance out of Lee Montgomery in "Mayhem". Although it's not quite in my top tier of favorite episodes, I certainly enjoy it a great deal more than a few others that are widely considered to be standouts.