Very interesting!

Another place where a "Columbo" clip just gets popped in, is the Adam Sandler movie "Big Daddy".

There’s a scene, soon after the kid arrives, where Sandler and his Russian immigrant buddy (Rob Schneider) are watching TV – specifically, a clip from “Last Salute To The Commodore”. Columbo's temporary sidekick, Theodore "Mac" Albinsky, can be seen in the background of the clip.

The Russian guy aptly sums up Columbo: “This Columbo, he pretends to be stupid, but he is really smart as a tack.”

The clip's insertion is not entirely a coincidence. Dennis Dugan, who played "Mac", is also the director of "Big Daddy", and plays a cameo role in the movie. If you rent the DVD (which I don't necessarily recommend), you might enjoy revisiting the older, but still very recognizable "Mac" in his interview for the DVD "extras".

"Big Daddy" is the only Adam Sandler movie I ever allowed myself to be dragged to see in the theatre. Since I spent the majority of the movie twiddling my fingers and crossing my eyes to concentrate on the tip of my nose, I missed the scene with the "Last Salute..." scene.

Cassa, the Farmer's Insurance commercial didn't replay during the then current episode of "The Office". Therefore, I've not seen it again. "The Office" will be on again next Thursday night 1/19/06, so perhaps the commercial will be run again then. I'll let you know.

Is it when they are doing a toast and the one guy says, "And ten more years of happiness!" That's the only thing that might be it, unless they have a longer comercial for farmers insurance... I had the office taped, so I went to check.

That could be it, Baha. The commercial ran again this afternoon on the Hallmark channel during "Diagnosis Of Murder". Unfortunately, I had the commercials muted and looked up just as Bugs Bunny was on the screen followed by Kathy Bates. So I missed the "Prescription: Murder" part.

Speaking of that "Diagnonis" movie. Dick VanDyke was a lot of fun in the movie, but the plot was pretty bad and the revelation of the murderer came across as a sort of "by the way..." Very inferior to "Columbo".

It is indeed William Windom uttering the line "Ten more years of happiness" or however it goes in the anniversary party sequence.