Whew, this subject has me totally freaked!

Never thought of that one Genius Headache, have you?? It is a goody, isn't it?! Now I will just have to think of something good to say..............I think it is time for me to put on my Headache Jr. cap....(it has one of those whirly-blades on top)...go back to your cave and contemplate the issue...and I will be here in Jersey doing the same......hey! how 'bout them White Sox?!

Ok..the Headache Jr. cap is still firmly placed upon my head and I think I have come up with my favourite "middle".
For me, it has got to be Negative Reaction. This is all due to the wonderful supporting cast. The incredible Vito Scotti..the delicious Joyce Van Patten...and the wonderful Larry Storch. Their performances in this episode never fail to charm me.
Vito is at his very best here as he is eating his stew (or whatever the "prevailing theory" is of what he is eating)....and when he puts on his 'airs' and wants to call up his 'barrister'...oh wow!!! he is just the best!!
Van Patten as the nun is just such a blessed(pun intended) character. "that coat...that coat..." she is just marvelous!
And good old Larry Storch is really a gem here. His panic is justified....I know I wouldn't want to be in that car as Columbo is driving! It seems as you listen to the dialogue in that scene that it may have been a bit improvised, and maybe that is why I love it so much.
Yup...I am happy with this middle....it is a great one as far as I am concerned.

By coincindence, I just watched "Double Exposure"
yesterday, and the middle of that one is just great
with two absolutely superb scenes (1) the supermarket
and (2) the golf course.
I think the supermarket scene is one of the finest examples of directing I have ever seen! If you think about it, you rarely ever see scenes with so many extras (i.e. actors walking around but not saying anything) and so much camera motion for such an extended amount of time. For comparison, on Kojak (also made by Universal with many of the same actors and directors as Columbo) the passers-by in street scenes often look like zombies or robots-they seem to be sleep walking. In the supermarket, it all seems completely natural. There are a lot of people walking around, and the camera must move a lot to keep up with Columbo and Keppel. This is the reason we can watch Columbo over and over, even if we know the story line, it is such a pleasure to watch all the "background work (i.e. lighting, camera angles, set design, etc" that you don't even really pay attention to the first time you see it.

That is a great middle too YM......it is so 70's. I love Robert Culp's yellow jacket! The points you make about the direction of the scenes in the supermarket are right on. It was so natural and complete.
And the golf course scenes are terrific..I agree. Wonderful to see.

I agree with the others that Robert Culp on the golf course is hilarious, but my favorite would have to be Double Shock because of the very comical interplay between Columbo & Mrs. Peck. Also, Johnny Cash makes Swan Song highly watchable.

The middles of Season 3 episodes "Swan Song" and "Candidate For Crime" would have been even better if the two had both been condensed to 90-minute episodes instead of two hours.

To be honest, for some reason, I don't like
the scenes with Mrs Peck in "Double Shock".
It is not logical that she should be so obnoxious and hostile because Columbo is trying to find out
who murdered her beloved employer. There is no
question that Jeanette Nolan is a fine actress,
and I especially liked her as Mrs Kate O'Connell
in "The Conspirators" where she speaks in a fine
Irish accent!

Regarding Johnny Cash-it should be pointed out that
he is the single exception to the fact that the producers of Columbo always got top notch stars to serve as the bad guys in the series. He may be a fine singer, but he was not a very good actor, at least by the standards of the rest of the series.
I mentioned in another thread that he had difficulties
with the physical aspects of acting-i.e. the motion of the body, particularly the hands and facial expression. I would rate "Swan Song" as an okay episode, better than the worst, but not as good as the best.

That really is true YM, about Johnny Cash. All the other guest murderers were terrific actors who really brought so much to the episodes they appeared in. Johnny was a bit sub-par as an actor. I wonder why he was picked? Obviously the role called for a country singer but weren't there others who could have been cast in that role? Off-hand I really can't think of any, because I am not really a fan of country music, (sorry) so I don't know if there is a singer out there who was also an actor.
Maybe Peter was a fan of his.

David, you have mentioned how Short Fuse is your favourite before. I have to say that when I watched it the first few times I was not impressed. But on repeated viewings I have grown to love it. You mentioned in your original post some great points about the episode. I was just wondering if you would be willing to start a fresh thread on Short Fuse so we all could really discuss it in depth.