OK I've seen some pretty decent quizzes here but how about this one:

Name the episode pairs where Columbo references a previous case or a minor character with the same name on screen reappears from a previous episode. Bob Dishy, Bruno Kirby etc don't count of course.

To get you started, I'll start off with mention of the bite marks in the cheese in the Goes to College lecture (alluding to the cheese left behind by Patrick McGoohan when he killed Louis Zorich).

tim carey appears as bert , the chili guy, in both ransom for a dead man and dead weight.

It wasn't Colombo making the reference, but in A Matter of Honor, I believe the Mexican authorities mention Columbo's solving of the murder in Troubled Waters as the reason they got him involved.

"Columbo Cries Wolf" mentions Superintendent Durk from "Dagger Of The Mind" though he does not appear.

In "Double Exposure", Columbo says that he has been "working late on the Hayward case." This refers to Nelson Hayward, the politician who murders his campaign manager in "Candidate For Crime". ("Double Exposure" was originally broadcast as the next Columbo episode after "Candidate For Crime" -- apparently Columbo was working on both cases at the same time.)

"Candidate for Crime" is mentioned again in "Publish Or Perish". Columbo tells killer Riley Greenleaf (Jack Cassidy) that he wants to write a book about his experiences as a policeman. As an example of his potential book material, Columbo describes the plot of "Candidate For Crime". (Then Greenleaf tells him, "Lieutenant, very frankly, I don't give a **** about your Senator or your story.")

Great answers! Thinking about recurring actors reminds me of course of the ever present Mike Lally.

Was in "Now you see him" the only time he was ever mentioned by his real name? Because if not, that would certainly qualify as a repeat.

This site is great!

Warm regards, Frank in the USA

wasn't mike lally terrific!? what a sweetheart!

and if i haven't said it before......hi frank

Hi, Cassavetes!