The Lt. Columbo Forum

An area where fans from all over can ask each other questions and voice their own ideas and opinions on anything Columbo.

This Forum is fondly dedicated in memory of  "cassavetes45"  (Carleen Zink),
Columbo's greatest fan and a great friend to us all.
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The Lt. Columbo Forum
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Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

I've noticed two shows where an actor says a line, but it seems like they jumped in too quickly. They wait until the actor opposite them says their line, and then follow up with the proper line and they keep the scene going. On stage, you would get a note from the director/stage manager about jumping lines and try to iron it out. I would think on TV they would just cut and redo the scene, but in these cases I'm guessing they like the performance fine even with the mess up so they let it roll.

Anyway, here are the two I've noticed so far:

DEATH LENDS A HAND: When Brimmer joins Kinnicut in the car, Brimmer (Robert Culp) starts to say, "As you wish", but holds off and waits for Kinnicut (Ray Milland) to finish and then he jumps in with "As you wish".

LADY IN WAITING: Beth (Susan Clark) is upset about Columbo bringing in the yellow light bulb and fires it at the window of her office and starts complaining to Peter Hamilton (Leslie Nielsen). He tells her (one time) to "Calm down, Beth." She responds, "Oh, quit telling me to calm down." He then proceeds to tell her several times to "calm down" and here her line would make more sense, but she says something else and the scene rolls along.

In both of these scenes it seems that the actors jumped a line and they just kept it rolling anyway. Just curious if anybody noticed anything like this in other episodes.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

Can't think of any yet...
But i always wondered if there were outtakes or bloopers from Columbo? and would i enjoy seeing them or would it ruin it for me?

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

A Columbo Blooper Reel! Yes! I've thought the same thing. The closest things we have are (1) the scene from FADE INTO MURDER when Joseph (Fred Draper, fresh off his role as the killer in LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE) flubs his single line, "It'll be a treasure to pill you…" (scripted that way, of course), (2) Columbo stumbles onto the productions of FADE INTO MURDER - where he pops in the window while Lt. Lucerne is "detecting" and (3) MURDER WITH TOO MANY NOTES - where Columbo tries to help the movie star who has fallen to the ground during filming for a soap opera.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

JBT33
A Columbo Blooper Reel! Yes! I've thought the same thing. The closest things we have are (1) the scene from FADE INTO MURDER when Joseph (Fred Draper, fresh off his role as the killer in LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE) flubs his single line, "It'll be a treasure to pill you…" (scripted that way, of course), (2) Columbo stumbles onto the productions of FADE INTO MURDER - where he pops in the window while Lt. Lucerne is "detecting" and (3) MURDER WITH TOO MANY NOTES - where Columbo tries to help the movie star who has fallen to the ground during filming for a soap opera.
It's been awhile since I've seen MURDER WITH TOO MANY NOTES, I'm having a hard time remembering this scene.I vaguely remember a scene where Columbo wanders onto a set and an assistant thinks he's an extra playing a homeless person. Not sure if this is in the same episode.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

Yes, that's the scene I was thinking of, but I may have the wrong episode. I think it was one of the newer shows.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

I think the most authentic "blooper" in Columbo is in "The Most Dangerous Match", when Clayton sneaks into Dudek's hotel room. There is a man hiding in the bathroom. It's hard to believe that they missed that. It wouldn't have been difficult to reshoot as there wasn't even any dialogue.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

LOL! I can’t believe I never noticed that. Have to look for it the next time I watch that episode. And, yes, reshooting that would have been easy.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

There's always Halperin saying "quid quo pro" in "A Friend in Deed". :relieved:

Also, in "Swan Song", the FAA inspector kind of flubs one of his lines at the crash site. He caught himself and they just left it in.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

Yes! Two of the most obvious "bloopers" - I didn't think of them.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

There is at least one outtake with him and William Shatner from Fade Into Murder (at least, I'm pretty sure it isn't from Butterfly In Shades Of Gray). I've seen it on blooper specials.

Re: Ad Lib/Misspoken lines kept in

I've mentioned this before, but in LADY IN WAITING, Beth sort of pretends to misunderstand when Columbo says he's "compulsive," as if he meant something sexual. She smiles and says "Are you REALLY?" and leans toward him. When she does that, he moves back kind of quickly. That's always looked like an ad-lib to me, with Susan Clark coming up with the joke and Peter going along with it. But who knows.