very good eric....gery vood!!!

Excellent stuff Santini!
I really liked your reference to Dagger of the Mind and how there are those lines in there referring to Agatha Christie.
And also how in its way Dagger is also a spoof.
And also about the fact that this was a major waste of a terrific cast.

I liked the twist in this episode, but I agree the overall quality of the episode is not outstanding.

My favorite "drunk" moment is when Columbo is looking at the stencils and keeps saying something like "five letters and a hole" while looking through the hole, putting his fingers through the hole, etc. Ridiculous, but mildly amusing.

But it really doesn't make sense for there to have been two "S" stencils. But then Columbo may have not figured out it was supposed to be LISA S! Especially considering his sobriety in this episode!

I would say that it was fortunate that
this didn't turn out to be the final episode
because it was so bad. "The Conspirators"
was really great as a finale, an outstanding
episode, a great guest villain (Clive Reville)
and Peter Falk put in a fine performance,something
I can't say about several of the later episodes.

If I may say something heretical, for all that
I, along with the rest of the group, love
Columbo, I must say that Peter Falk didn't put
out as much, episode to episode, as another
of my favorites, James Garner, in "The Rockford
Files". I read that Falk was a real hard worker
and perfectionist, but we must also consider
that he never made more than 7 episodes in a
single season. Garner had to turn out a weekly
series for almost 7 seasons, so he had to work
much, much harder, and he NEVER put in a bad
performance, which I can't say about Peter Falk.
Sorry if anybody is offended, but that is my
opinion!

I don't find what you say that shocking or heretical.
You are right...there were a a handful of episodes each season...yes Peter was a hard worker, a perfectionist..but the schedule he had was no where near the regular schedule of a tv show. And as far as James Garner and the Rockford Files goes...terrific show...I have only recently become a fan....great show...and wasn't he plagued with back problems?
I also love Magnum...some great chemistry between the regulars...and terrific writing.

It sure was lucky for Columbo that the murderer said "t'isn't," instead of catching himself and saying "If you say so" or something.

But we do have the surprise of Robert Vaughn getting killed and the "ah-ha" factor of the stencil message being revealed. ("He was going to marry the kid!")

The first time I saw LSTTC, its eccentricities drove me nuts, but now I have fun with it.


Mark

This is the only one of the original 45 I actually hate. The reasons have been discussed by others above. In a nutshell, though, it's just too quirky/eccentric for its own good. The finale is weak, and the whole episode feels like some snobby art-house film.

All I have to say is "what were they thinking?????????????"