After watching A Friend in Deed I must admit that I find this the most interesting of the Columbo premises for some reason. I know it's a la Strangers on a Train but it must be Halperin's abuse of his profession that captivates me and I must confess Janice was probably hot but we never saw enough of her. That just adds to the mystery, that wonderful opening where we see Hugh on the phone and his wife stretched out on the floor - lovely to enter mid-scene like that!

So which premise do you guys find most fascinating?

"Negative Reaction" is the most carefully
prepared murder, and he almost got away with it.
Columbo had to trick him to get the goods on him.
Even though Galesko made mistakes like forgetting
about the scraps of paper, none of this was
enough to incriminate him.

"Troubled Waters" is also well plotted by the
murderer, although I think it was dumb to plant
the gun on Lloyd Harrington. If Columbo hadn't
found the feather, there wouldn't have been anything
pointing to Hayden Danziger.

"A Friend In Deed" tops my list too. Always has.