You know steve, I brought the Mack thing up a while back in a post. I would have liked to have seen him more on the show, after all, he is a young detective up and coming. But I guess Universal had other plans.

As far as RIP Mrs Columbo, I liked it very much also.

this is also one of the only newer episodes that i like...i like the way columbo plays her while hes eating the marmalade...i also think of that episode whenever i see orange marmalade

"Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo" was the best ABC years episode and better than most NBC episodes too.
It was a phenomenal story. Sergeant Brady was decent as the sidekick. However, it is Columbo's style to basically work alone. Do not expect many recurring sidekicks.

It would be cool to have a scene in a future episode in which multiple sidekicks of the past appear (A surprise birthday party for the Lieutenant as part of the B-plot, perhaps. This worked wonders on "7th Heaven," the episode in which several people Eric Camden helped over the previous year show up at his surprise birthday party.)

I also think this is a very good episode. However, I believe that it was lemon marmalade (not orange) that Vivian gave Columbo.