Steve, just wondering why you don't rate "By Dawn's Early Light" so highly. I also have some problems with it, but most people rate it as one of the finest
of them all, including Peter Falk himself (I believe that Patrick McGoohan's performance leaves something to be desired-fighting his British accent, his "super-military-barking-out-orders" persona seems to be forced, etc. He put in a better performance in "Identity Crisis").

Sorry YM my comments above were based your first post,I was talking about Port there.

About Swan Song, I know Cash may not have been a great actor, but it was fun to see him in a different light, and I think he was actually pretty good. As for him jumping out of the plane, well, I know it's a bit of a stretch but keep in mind how desperate he was. His wife had practically made him an indentured servant to the tune of 5 million dollars, and I wouldn't have put it past her to keep him on the leash longer than that. He was pretty desperate.

YM, in response to your point about Columbo not being able to smuggle the wine bottle out of the cellar without being seen; I wonder why Columbo decided to take the bottle. At that point in the episode he can't have known what was going to happen, or that the wine was spoiled and that he would be able to set a trap with it, so why bother to steal it?

Hmmm good point Gregg, i'll have to re-watch the episode with that in mind.

YM, that's exactly it, I think McGoohans character is too one-dimensional. One of the things that make Columbo so enjoyable is watching the interaction between Columbo and the villian. It can become quite a battle of wits, as the villian slowly but surely surmises that Columbo is onto them, yet mostly consider themselves too clever to be caught until the end when it's clear that Columbo has been too relentless and impeccable for them to escape. I haven't seen the ep in a while but I don't recall seeing that subtle interaction between detective and villian that is so much fun to watch. Don't get me wrong, I generally like the episode, it's a decent story line, it develops at a good pace and is plausible, I just don't find the McGoohan character very interesting.

My favorite episode from NBC years: "Short Fuse"

My least favorite episode from NBC years:
"Old Fashioned Murder"

My favorite from ABC years:
"Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"

My least favorite from ABC years: "Undercover"

Ok...I will admit it finally....some of you may know this, but there is a particular episode that I savor so much....um....the name is escaping me for this second...give me a moment to think....it has this dark haired murderer in it and he kills off this pretty woman..his lover...um...............I'm still thinking of the title.....the murderer is really great looking and sexy...um....there is something about a flower....can't remember what that was all about....and then there was the whole thing with a typewriter.....
Well, if I can think of the title, I will let you know.

The thing that made the Columbo series so succesful was the interaction of Columbo with the murderer. As demostrated by this thread, the plots were and situations were greatly flawed, but the murder itself wasn't the most important factor. The shows attention to detail was greatly lacking when compared to todays shows such as the "Law and Order" shows.

My favorites are definitely all from the original seven seasons. I like them all, though a few that I don't watch all that often are the Bye-Bye Ski High IQ Case, Requiem for a FAlling Star and A Case of Immunity. I didn't like The Conspirators for quite some time but it has grown on me over the years.

My top favorites are A Friend in Deed, Double Exposure, An Exercise in Fatality, Any Old Port, Suitable for Framing, and Etude in Black, plus a few others.

It would be great if there was a Columbo fair or convention, with all the columbo killers and Falk. They could have all sorts of awards (best killer, best on-screen interaction with Columbo, etc.). I'd pay top dollar to go to that.

Wow! What a great idea that would be. A Columbo convention. Many other TV shows from both the past and the present day have conventions organised by fans and I can see no reason why Columbo fans could not manage something like that. I am a member of Six of One-The Prisoner Apreciation Society who have had an annual convention with guest stars, crew members, scriptwriters, etc'(unfortunately Patrick McGoohan has never attended) for the past 28 years. If a 40 year old show with only 17 episodes which was deemed a faliure at the time can manage it then why can't we?

Wow Gregg, I didn't know there were only 17 episodes of The Prisoner. I always liked that show.

I'm not a devotee of that show, but wasn't a summer replacement show originally? And didn't the Brits usually produce just a dozen or so episodes of a series back then? Fawlty Towers has just a handful of shows, too.

Mcgoohan virtually devised, wrote, produced, and starred in The Prisoner entirely himself, and it took two full years of his life to complete. Towards the end of the series the money was running short and Mcgoohan actually took two weeks out to go to Hollywood to film Ice Station Zebra and then put all his profits from the film straight into the Prisoner in order to complete the last three episodes. It was a labour of love, as they say, for him and after two years of working 18 hour days and doing several different jobs at once on the show, he was just wrung out and had to stop. Perhaps with some time off and some more finances he may have chosen to return to write a 2nd season. On the other hand he may have felt he had said what he wanted to say and was happy with the show as it was. I personally would rather have 17 top quality episodes than 117 average ones. Same applies to Columbo, I suppose. A show with only 45 original episodes, made with care and attention over several years, is bound to be supeirior to a show with a whole lot of episodes churned out quickly.

Many thanks for all the info on The Prisoner. I've often wondered if McGoohan had Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World on his mind as he worked on that series--there's a touch of both there.

I used to belong to The Prisoner fan club and they had a great magazine which discussed the ideas which informed many of the plots within the series.

Picking up on a point made in an earlier post. British TV series tend to run for 6 or 12 episodes per series compared to American series which seem to be typically 26 episodes.

I've often thought that this means that British tv series benefit from not being on the treadmill which American series writers seem to be.

It is interesting that McGoohan has never attended a meeting of the "6 of 1" club. I read somewhere that George Markstein, who was co-creator of the series along with McGoohan is critical of the fans. He thinks many people take the show too seriously. I think McGoohan has said similar things. People read into the shows messages that the creators never intended. In any event, I have watched it, find it interesting, but I think the extremely controversial episode was a nihilistic, anarchistic mess, which I would have imagined goes against Patrick McGoohan's world view and it is a mystery why he made it that way.

Sorry, I forgot to write that I was referring to the final episode.

I suppose I'm not the first to comment that the midget with the question mark mask posed the whole question of the meaning of life?? Or maybe that people who rise to the zenith of power do by making themselves smaller and selling out all their beliefs to the point that they are quesion marks?? Of course, I haven't seen that episode since I was 14--but it made quite an impact.

Well as a former member of the "Six of One" fan club I disagree that McGoohan didn't like the shows fans.

He is the President of the fan club which, given he is a noted man of principle, I find it hard to think he would accept if he didn't like the fans.

Six of One fans were disappointed that he always declined their requests to attend the conventions, however, the prevailing opinion among fans was that McGoohan didn't attend so as to preserve the mystique of the show.

I think McGoohan realised that it was the endless speculation about what various episodes meant was part of what kept the show alive.

I agree with Barfly on this one. McGoohan has stated that he has answered all the questions he wants to on the Prisoner; not because he dislikes the show or the fans, but rather because the show was intended to make viewers think and question everything, and if McGoohan were to spell it all out it would defeat the point. There would be nothing left to question if he gave us all the answers. Also, he drives a limited edition, (chassis number 6!), Prisoner replica Lotus Seven. Is that the action of a man who dislikes The Prisoner or the fans?