First, I would like Mike to explain HOW he could POSSIBLY think that "Undercover" was the worst episode - and not "No Time To Die"?!!! "Undercover" was ssssslightly better.
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Of the 69 episodes of "Columbo", I consider 10 of them to be of "below par" quality. Or Two and Half Stars **1/2 or less.
Here are all 10 of those episodes, in running order.
Death Lends A Hand (**1/2)
Any Old Port In A Storm (**1/2)
Mind Over Mayhem (**1/2)
Last Salute To The Commodore (**1/2)
The Bye-Bye Sky-High IQ Murder Case (**1/2)
No Time To Die (*)
Columbo: Undercover (**)
Strange Bedfellows (**)
A Trace Of Murder (**1/2)
Murder With Too Many Notes (**)
"No Time" gets one star (*) based merely on the fact that Peter Falk was in it and the name "Columbo" was attached to it. Otherwise, the story, acting and even the production was absolutely terrible.
I have seen two stinkers recently from the "new" Columbo series: "Undercover" and "No Time To Die".
Of the original series I really found "Old Fashioned Murder" hard going. I also thought that "Lovely But Lethal" and "Double Shock" could have been much better.
I have never understood why so many people dislike "Lovely but Lethal." Although I wouldn't consider it among the very best, I love the setting, the eerie music with the scratching noises, and a really unique and clever final clue that pays homage to the old saying "caught red-handed." Vera Miles may not have been among the best villains, but I still thought she was amusingly *******
Anyway, now for my least favorite episodes:
Short Fuse
Mind over Mayhem
Old-Fashioned Murder
The Conspirators
Having just watched the S5 DVDs I have to say Commodore is one of the worst. If there ever was a candidate for a 90-minute ep, this is it. Some cuts I'd make: The ending took over 20 minutes, was very drawn out and boring. The meditation scene was a waste. The mizzinboom (spelling?) scene was tedious, in fact the entire ep was difficult to follow. Having Mac and Bruce Kirby made things more cluttered.
About the only thing good that came out of watching Commodore was seeing Wilfred Hyde-White - he caused me to go and watch Dagger again LOL.