The director of "Swan Song" (possibly my favorite episode ever, if I could make that distiction) is named Nicholas Colasanto. It's the first credit at the end of the episode. Near the end of the ep, when Columbo is planting the idea of Boy Scouts and sheriff deputies searching for the thermos, T. Brown tells Columbo that his arranger's name is "Nick Solacanto"! I can't believe those two names would be so similar by a pure accident. Anybody agree?

IIRC that was an intentional tribute. I read it somewhere, maybe in the Columbo Phile.

i totally agree frank. i don't know if i've read it anywhere but i have always believed it was a tribute to him.

Agreed, it's a tribute or an inside joke.

An interesting sideline to this, is the rampant rumor that "Nick Colasanto" was just an alias for John Cassavetes, the supposed "real" director of "Swan Song" and "Etude In Black". You can find this "fact" on numerous web sites.

This rumor has been especially persistent in Europe, where perhaps people consider it even less likely that a seemingly rough and dopey guy like Coach from "Cheers" (yes, it's the same Nick Colasanto) could be a good director. But, Mark Dawidziak checked this out with people who were actually there at the filmings, and everybody, from actors to crew, clearly recalls that the director of these episodes was in fact "Coach".

People are just not realizing how good an actor Colasanto could be to create the "Coach" character. The one acting role I know he did before that show was a small part in the Hitchcock movie "Family Plot" (Universal production, so a "Columbo" director would naturally be in proximity to get into a project like that!) where he plays a kidnapped millionaire, and has a moustache and darker hair, and he's nothing at all like "Coach."

ted..i was going to make a post similar to yours but i was just too tired to type it!!
yes, all that you say is true. and i find it hysterical when i go searching around on the interweb and find that nick & jc are considered the same person at times!!

i will say that there is a charming 'short' that features nick & jc together, and it is called 'the haircut'. it is a featurette on the movie 'the allnighter'. the 'short' is a wonderful bit of silliness and yet it also warms your heart. nick is the barber and jc is the customer coming in for a quick cut...but what he encounters is a true luvfest from all the people in the shop. drinking wine, enjoying being waited on, dancing with the manicure/pedicure girl, being serenaded by the girl rock group.........it is such a wonderful little time for jc. if you ever get to see this i know you will love it. 20 minutes of sweetness...