I've been a Columbo fan from way back. I've seen all of them except the very last one. Here's the point. Even though I'd seen "Blueprint For Murder" and "Columbo Cries Wolf" half-a-dozen times each, it was only a few days ago I "got" that they are almost exactly the same show, except in "Blueprint" the murder is committed at the beginning, while in "Wolf" it's one of the last scenes.
If you're familiar with both episodes, think about how (for example) in both of them the press is called, by the murderer, to an impromptu news conference, the point of which is to embarrass Columbo because he has NOT found a body. None of this means I dislike either episode, but wow! It really suprised me how these two are the same.

It's funny but I never realized this before until you pointed it out, but it is the same episode with the one variance being that the murder victim wasn't killed until later. But the basic scheme of "no one would ever search the same place twice after Columbo dug it up once and was humiliated" is indeed identical.

I have to completely disagree. If you're going to say that "Blueprint" and "Cries Wolf" are "the same" then you may as well go ahead and say that "Requiem For A Falling Star" and "Fade In To Murder" are "the same" because both episodes feature murderers in the acting profession who both hold a dark secret from their past. Or you could also say that "Now You See Him" and "Columbo Goes To The Guillotine" are "the same" because both episodes feature magicians who attempt to use their "magic" to commit murder - not to mention that they (ahem!) both hold dark secrets from their past!

In "Blueprint", Elliot Markham chided Columbo into digging up the pile. In "Cries Wolf" Columbo digs up the mansion property all by his own doing. In "Wolf" the "suspect" and "victim" use Columbo for their own purposes which is wanted publicity. In "Blueprint" Markham wants Columbo embarrassed to the point where he'll drop the investigation. There are similarities, yes. Just as many other Columbo episodes have similarities with other Columbo episodes. The stories presented in "Blueprint" and "Cries Wolf" are both very different and are both very creative in their own rights.

ahh..but what about that miss welles girl?
she was a dark haired beauty who was in the musical industry. she had an influential and affluent and married suitor, and she was involved in an affair with him. she had another 'lesser' boyfriend on the side...who subsequently was a suspect for her murder. she wanted to blackmail and expose her 'affluent'lover and he didn't want to take it anymore. she died slumped over in a heap.
now am i talking about jenifer welles in etude in black..or rosanna welles from troubled waters??


(oh darnit! i wish i could have found my original post on this...it was so much more detailed.)

Very interesting CC !
Now for you Cass you are responding to a different posting ( I think ).
-hbe

Cassa: I've often thought before that it wasn't safe being a "music" person named "Welles" on a Columbo set.

Just one thing though, the boys down at the lab have noticed that Etude in Black was "Welles" and Troubled Waters was "Wells", at least according to the credits.

As for the main point, though, of this posting thread...one could argue similarities in a lot of instances.

I would attribute this not to coincidence but more to the writers sticking to the Columbo formula, except for the one embarrassing episode.

More interesting are the previous posts of people who have noticed virtually the same story on another TV series, with writer and production links.

no egg..i meant to post it here...i was going by the title of the thread..'they are the same episode'.

and bob..not to sound like a 'poupee' head, but i checked the columbo phile book and both jenifer and rosanna spelled their name w-e-l-l-e-s.

As significantly different as "Blueprint For Murder" and "Columbo Cries Wolf" are in terms of style, in my opinion the main connection is that perhaps "Blueprint For Murder" should have been entitled "Columbo Cries Wolf." The converse is not plausible, though it brings up the interesting question of "What would 'Columbo Cries Wolf' have been called if it could not use the same name as its predecessor of nearly two decades earlier?"

But Columbo never cries wolf in Blueprint. The murder's already happened. Not so in Cries Wolf, where he is convinced a murder has been taken place because of false clues.

Cassa:

The episode guides on this web site list the characters with 2 different spellings.

I think I first noticed they were different on the videos themselves, either at the beginning or end of the episodes. Then I checked this web site guide and they were spelled differently.

I don't have the Columbophile book, so I don't know how they are spelled there, but i take your word for it.

echo echo echo...where have i heard this before bob??

as i just wrote to you in reply to your email...

"well, or should i say welle, it is only the matter of a little e..nothing to be concerned about. "

I don't know, Cass...in my opinion a little "E" is very important!!!

E

ahh....you are not going to believe this...but when i was typing that i was thinking of you...and i was going to add...that it wasn't a big concern unless i was talking about the big E!!..you!!

Thanks, Cass, for clearing that up!!!

An E can be a very, very big thing. After all, E=MC2 (squared, that is.)

Not to belabor the point...but...

EVERYONE here on this forum certainly should understand how "these little things jsut keep botherin' me".

I guess I'm "pickier" than a vineyard worker at Carsini's Winery.

Oh, that reminds me, my wife wants me to pick up a fifty cent gallon of mouthwash. You don't know where there's a store out here do you? No I guess not?

Now, getting way way back to MY point (I'm not accusing anyone of anything Cass)...I did go overboard in saying they are the SAME episode. What drove me to that post was the murderer-inspired press conferences that are for all intents and purposes the very same scene. It was a "holy smoke how could I have missed that" kind of thing.