just saw this for the first time this weekend. um.....i don't know about this one...

there was some hokey stuff going on here. the hokiest of them all being the tuba scene!! what the heck was that all about????? i for one love all the gratuitous extra scenes in columbo. i have never been one of the ones who prefer the 90minute episodes over the 2 hours. i think all the 'little' scenes make for a more enjoyable episode. but this tuba business was just beyond bizarringly absurd!! as i watched it i felt as if i was on some hallucinogenic drug!!!! what the heck was he doing playing the tuba?!?!? and on top of it, how did he know how to play it?!?!?
the scene with the cleaning lady was absolutely manic!! i actually was getting annoyed watching it. columbo was acting like an a$$!! all that screaming and carrying on was just too too much for me!!
and what was the deal in that one scene where columbo arrives at the music center and sgt. burke is up at the top of the stairs and they are talking to one another...there are 2 guys going up the staircase, one with a cello/bass case and then for some unknown reason they turn around and come down the steps?? why??? what did i miss here??? i don't know and i don't think i want to know!!
oh!! and the scene where columbo was in the offices, and as he walks down the hall everyone is calling them into their office to have him give them sex advice!! hullo!!!! just too hokey for me.

the good stuff would have to be lindsay crouse. she has never been one of my favourite actresses, but here i thought she did a great job. and as the lady in black Lisa, she was darn sexy!!
there was a touch of film noir to this episode, even to the point where the blinds on the doors displayed the shadows on people's faces, a device used often in film noir.
and the music, by patrick williams, was wonderful. very sexy and sultry. i still have it swirling in my head.

maybe i missed something in this episode, i really don't know. it just didn't seem to do it for me.

(and apologies fred. i know you will be reviewing this one soon, but i just couldn't resist posting about it now. )

Actually Cassa I'm watching it tonight so tomorrow you'll have your post............Imagine Dr. Allenby seducing John Cassavetes........?????

i think she'd be too much woman for him!!!!

Cassa, have an extra glass or 2 of wine, the next time you watch this episode. I'm guessing you will enjoy it.

That was the best post ever, Cass. You're right, there was plenty of "hokiness" and I guess it's not a stretch to proclaim some of it "bizarringly absurd!!" The darn tuba scene, even for the 90's, was way strange.

ted said...
"Cassa, have an extra glass or 2 of wine, the next time you watch this episode. I'm guessing you will enjoy it."

and i think i know exactly what you mean!! there are some wonderfully sensuous scenes in this one. the one with david and joan's assistant was steamy!!! and the one between joan and david was downright----um...this is the columbo site right???????????? .........well, it was downright naughty, and i loved every minute of it!!!

c crisp said...
"That was the best post ever, Cass. You're right, there was plenty of "hokiness" and I guess it's not a stretch to proclaim some of it "bizarringly absurd!!" The darn tuba scene, even for the 90's, was way strange"

wasn't the tuba thing weird??!! it made me uncomfortable. i have read here a bit in the past about this scene and i was always intrigued to see it myself. i always thought i would disagree with everyone when they said it was a frivolus scene. but dang it, i just thought it was so insanely foolish.

I like "Sex" a whole lot. But I do have to agree with you, Cassa. I've acknowledged in the past that I find the entire "tuba-playing/dancing fountains" scene to be 100% idiotic. This is an example of the sort of "wrong thinking" that crept into a lot of the ABC episodes; something which I feel detracts from the true substance of those episodes. It's the sort of thing where someone should have spoken up and said, "Hey, maybe if we put our heads together, we can come up with something sensible which compliments the plot."

But here, the Tuba playing has absolutely nothing at all whatsoever to do with the plot. There is no reason for it to be there other than to waste some time when the director/producer discovered that the episode was running short. Extra time like this is usually something which is longed for and sought after on other televsion shows. It gives the writers and actors some time in which to give the plot and the characters some "added" character. Unfortunately, when it comes to the character of Columbo, there isn't much room for anything "new" anymore.

I feel that the scene in "Uneasy Lies The Crown" which features Dick Sargent, Nancy Walker and Ron Cey playing poker, is another of these "useless" scenes put together just to waste a little time.

Other than the tuba and the dancing fountains, I really enjoy "Sex and The Married Detective".

headache said...
"I like "Sex" a whole lot."


i bet you do, my friend!!

but really, what you have said here headache is so true. in other earlier episodes there was a reason for some side scenes. case in point...negative reaction has some wonderful ones, with joyce van patten and vito scotti and larry storch. those scenes not only amused and amazed me, but they also were part of the plot advancing.
and i agree, i think if they had put 'their heads together' they could have come up with a better scene or two to carry the story along as well as having some amusing moments. but it seems they gave up here a bit.

and on another note, i guess i was remiss in commenting on the actual plot of the episode. i thought that the whole idea of it was cool. the whole keys thingy reminded me of poor edmund in try and catch me. the ciggie butt and ashes was good too..although the lady in black could have flicked those ashes in the fireplace.(joan should have mentioned that!)
the moments before the murder were wildly erotic. and that's always a good thing! look at david's face!!! the man was.......um....nevermind.

hell, headache! i'm gonna work my way through these abc ones...and i just hope you'll be there for me to guide me through!!

Boy, we have beaten this episode to death before I get to my 2 cents worth. I totally agree with everyone that the "Tuba" thing was assinine. What the hell was Peter thinking to agree to do that??

I also hold with the fact that this episode could have wrapped up in 90 minutes, not 2 bless-ed hours. I actually couldn't wait until it ended. And what was with the police woman dressing up in black? What did that prove anyhow? Well, I've watched it, it's over, and I have to stick my neck out to give it a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Hello , i'm searching the name of the theme of the episode.

This song is fabulous !!!

Thank's a lot

Whenever I think of that ep all that comes to mind is that grating, repetitive score. Man, it's annoying.

Also the filler scenes where Joan's assistants one by one ask Columbo for advice was also a grand waste of time. This was easily a 90-minute program.

fred, the only thing about the police woman dressing up as Lisa/the lady in black was the fact that dr. joan didn't mention to columbo that she saw her. she should have said something. he knew she was there, but why didn't she mention it to columbo??

and frank, you really didn't like the music score to this episode?? i'm surprised. i thought it was so wonderful. would you rather hear swan's song's "i saw the light"??? (just teasing frank! )

LOL Cass. The score itself wasn't bad just way too repetitive. And hey . . I like "I saw the light"

Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down was also top-notch. I actually went out and bought Cash's Greatest Hits after seeing Swan Song. He was a great country singer.

I like 'i saw the light' and the tuba scene, why can't he show his many talents? can't columbo have a surreal side? he can laugh at himself!! give the guy a break, this is a columbo fan site????

yes it was repetitive frank, i agree. but i liked the music so much that it didn't annoy me.

and sunday morning is a goodie!

My wife dressed up in a black coat with a black hat yesterday and I said to her 'you look just like Lisa'. She almost belted me; evidently she didn't get my Married Detective drift. True story.

i liked this episode, its always funny how the perfect murder has so many errors. I think this one is somethin close to reality that i could see on court TV or somethin where the police do research and check that she was in another state buying the same clothes that were seen spotted on the suspect.

where did she get that fake blood from?

gee...this thread is almost 2 years old.
and boy oh boy, i was really rough on this episode.

Did you change your mind, then?

It's nice to see that old posts are not buried and still raise reactions.

yes, as a matter of fact i did change my mind after watching it a few more times.

i still say that the tuba scene was ridiculous as well as the other scenes i mentioned above, but i really thought it was a good episode on the whole.
i think the best part of it was the film noir quality of it. they managed to get the genre down pretty well, albiet in an updated way.

So where did she get that blood?

I'm sorry I cant' be of any help, but I'm interested to know. (I don't own this episode and I don't remember anything of it, I've seen it only once.)

christy, rosebud brings up a good question. i would also like to know where she got the blood from.

I think the musicians turning around on the stairs and leaving has sonething to do with the apparition in the 1983 book The Lady in Black. It was a play at the time and I think it still might be done regularly even now. That's my best guess.

My bad lol. The book and play and movies are The Woman in Black. The first movie was aired in December 1989, 8 months after this Columbo episode, but I believe the play had been a hit for years.
That's all.i enjoy these discussions you all do!