Thanks kelly.
Now...I try very hard with these newer episodes..I try my best to enjoy them and to enjoy Peter and the plots...but every time I watch one I am left with an empty feeling.
Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining enough...but for me the newer ones I have seen, including this one, can't hold a candle to the original 45.
Where is the intellectual insider humor which is always associated with Columbo? The bananas and the apples were a cute touch...Columbo handing them out to anyone who would take them. But some of the lines are just so corny and dull.....there is that one moment that they realize the cat is missing and Columbo is standing there, and in the most ridiculous overly-dramatic way he says something like.."..that cat could be our only witness to this terrible crime!!"....when he is questioning the totally bald Clifford...(who was a great character in this..I agree with you kelly) he says "just one more question and then I'll get out of your hair"...I mean that is just a dumb line. And when Columbo is talking about the investigation he says something like "The first day of a homicde investigation...you wouldn't believe it.....It's murder."...to me, that is such a trite and badly-written line.
And I hope I don't offend here...but there is something about Shera Danese that I just can't take. I don't really know what it is...maybe it is her acting...but I just can't warm up to her.
On the positive side...some of the clues were good...Columbo picked up on a lot of little things. But as kelly pointed out, the ending was a bit of a let down...with Columbo acting out the clues to Barney and the busboy....it reminded me of all the other cop shows that have to spend the last 5 or 10 minutes describing the plot....I don't like that...to me that shows bad writing.
Ok....I'll stop ripping the poor episode to shreds now!

No problem, Cass. Let's look at this stinker a little closer.

Patrick says he saw the cigar butt. How? The kitty cat knocked it under the door of the closet. And the cat was long gone when Patrick arrived with coffee. He could not know it was there unless he put it there earlier.

The victim would have never, ever have allowed Barry Corbin's foul mouthed character into his house in private after he punched him out in public.

Who sat off the alarm? Not the victim. He was across the room, dead. Why would the killer do it? He wouldn't. Unless he was trying to fix the time of death.

Wouldn't Corbin's wife, Danese, have known what the back of his cigar butts looked like, for crying out loud? Why not just get the clipped end of one for Patrick to use?

How on earth did Corbin get all that cat hair on his back? What did he do, roll around on the guy's floor?

Columbo could go over all the chairs used in the wedding. None of them have the slightest trace of cat hair on them. Because Corbin had not yet been dosed with it!

Mr. Falk's acting in the police garage, "They know each other! Oy, Gevalt. Nanoo-nanoo. Would you believe they know each other? Goooolllleeee!" Awful. Way over the top.

Patrick is too stupid to suggest that Corbin stopped at the convenience store to dispose of the murder weapon in the dumpster.

These 2 cretins deserve each other. We, on the other hand, deserve a much better episode. And an apology.

Joe

....and now if i could have some time to breath Joe in between laughs.........ahh..that's better...
i agree with all your points....the cat hair on the "back" of his jacket??? were they sumo-wrestling?? and that thing about the cat and the cigar clipping..very very good Joe Thomas!! and i also loved the setting of the alarm...what?? did the guy get shot?..die?...press the panic button? and then go lay down again?? sounds a little strange....

I do want to say one thing......(oh dear!!! cassa is on her soapbox again!! ).............well..I just wanted to say that I hope I don't offend any of you guys that I really don't enjoy the newer episodes, and when I comment so badly about them...maybe I am missing something........I am trying my best to like them but they are missing so much for me...but I am trying.

Overall there are not that many newer episodes that you get a massive satisfaction from seeing. There are very few episodes where you would choose a 90's over a 70's simply because they are vastly inferior unless you go to the extreme and pick woeful ones from the originals. Put simply a good 70's is generally the same as a very good 90's. Dont get me wrong there are some great 90's episodes, just a shame they are in the minority.

Back to topic.

The ending is my main problem with this as said previously. I am not 2, therefore the ending doesnt need to be simplified that much. Completely ruins it.

God bless,

Matthew

Excellently put Mat...my thoughts exactly

Another reason this episode doesn't work is that there is no reason in the world Columbo should have invited this forensics guy to tag along. Columbo's never done it before, and he even doesn't realize this guy is involved until the meeting at the eatery.
Bad episode.

I echo what Paul said mat...very well put. The stuff about the 70's versus the 90's episodes and the fact that whole last scene with Columbo explaining the clues was totally not needed.

And John...do you think Columbo noticed a little something when they were in the lawyer's office and the forensics guy, Patrick, is leaving and there is that look between him and Mrs. Calvert......it looks like Clifford noticed something.