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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Agenda For Murder

I would say that this is probably my favourite episode among all of them in newer series. It keeps Columbo formula well, keeps the atmosphere, I enjoy watching
- I wonder what Staplin told Oscar Finch on telephone so he immediately decided to murder him
- and again: he said "give me 45 minutes". And within this time he managed to plan all the crime, think of an alibi, prepare it and get to the crime scene
- rare situation: we can see the spouse of murderer
- I think Columbo could have used the same clue here as in Murder Can Be Hazardous For Your Health. Finch put the newspaper on Staplin's desk, and touched it with his fingers to leave fingerprints. But he did it only on one side of paper. Columbo proved in the other episode that you can't take a piece of paper without touching it on both sides
- my English level unfortunately makes it hard to me to understand the Jewish joke :)
- Finch kills with the gun that he took from his own safe. So didn't police track who was the owner of the gun?
- how did Columbo find out about what happened in 1969 and he knew all the facts?
- we can see the warrant of arrest, and read what is there. And I see the names are "Oscar Fincs, and Lt. Colombo" :)
- is it really like that? mark of teeth can be treated the same as fingerprint?

Re: Agenda For Murder

TOOTH marks can be convictable evidence

Re: Agenda For Murder

Regarding the Jewish joke, there is a Jewish stereotype of valuing money, quality, etc. There is also a stereotype of Jewish women to be very strong, outspoken, etc. Also, just in case you don't understand what a "flasher" is, it's a guy who likes to expose himself naked to strange, random women. I guess some guys get their thrills watching women shriek as they shake their penis at them. The stereotype for a flasher is that they wear a raincoat with nothing on underneath it.

So a man on Beverly Drive (that implies a very wealthy area) flashes the Jewish woman. She ignores the man's penis and the impropriety of the situation and instead, comments on the quality of the coat, as if the man only opened it up to show her the inside lining of it.

Jokes are never that funny when you have to explain them. Being married to a native Spanish speaker, I often hear her laughing very hard when talking on the phone to a family member from Mexico. Later one she will tell me a joke that makes no sense. And every time she ends by saying: "Ugh, it sounds so much better in Spanish".

Re: Agenda For Murder

I have also wondered how Oscar Finch could work up such an elaborate plan so quickly. I just assumed that Staplin had been threatening him for a long time and that he had already decided what to do if Stapling ever gave an ultimatum.

Regarding the gun, if the police can't find it, they can't do a ballistics test on it. I would assume with Finch being a suspect they would ask him if he had a gun and there is a registry so they would know if he ever purchased one and what type it is. So for the sake of the story, we must accept that a high-powered lawyer had an illegal gun for some reason, lol.

That's pretty classic that you saw the warrant and they put "Lt. Columbo". They could have at least spelled Finch right.

I've heard that bite marks can be used in court, but they are more controversial, since it is more common to have people with similar patterns, unlike fingerprints.

I really love this episode also. Patrick McGoohan and Peter Falk always work well together. I think McGoohan has the record for playing the most Columbo murderers. He starred in four and directed five. After him I believe is Robert Culp who was a three time killer and the very arrogant father of another. Then again, Last Salute to the Commodore may be counted as a negative episode, dropping McGoohan down to three, lol.