Hello Bryce-san,

Thank you very much for your comments ! I appreciate it.

According to one of Japanese Columbo fan sites, at least four scenes, which were in the original script, were later deleted. One of them, I believe, is a scene with Darrel Zwerling.

The website says (in Japanese): "After Columbo said, 'I've got to talk to my wife' to Steve in a computer room, he drove his car to his mother-in-law's house in Fresno where his wife and kids stay. But, on his way to Fresno, the dog gets sick and Columbo then drops by a motel in order to leave his dog, where he happens to see a TV news reporting Neil confessed that he had plagiarized his paper from Dr. Finch. Then, Columbo makes a phone call to his wife to tell her that he can not come to Fresno anymore, because he has to see Dr. Cahill and his son, Neil, as soon as possible."

Now, I believe that Darrell Zwerling was supposed to be in this motel scene, where Columbo tries to leave his dog with Zwerling (in fact, Zwerling is credited as motel manager). This, I think, explains why he is actually credited; but he does not appear in the episode.

Link: http://mystery.co.jp/program/columbo/explanation/023/trivia/

Regards.

Hide from Japan

Hide-chan, I actually have that site bookmarked on my browser, and I'm glad you brought it up, because for those American fans who haven't seen it, it's a real treat! I've been wanting to point it out on this forum, for those who didn't already know about it, but I'm not too good with computers and don't know how to post a link, as you did. So thank you very much for posting that web address, and I'd recommend it to any fan. Although I myself can't read Japanese, I find those cartoons for each episode so amusing, with the character likenesses captured brilliantly. I did have some kind of translation option added to the browser, but unfortunately it translates very poorly, but it's still good for a laugh. Having said all that, the trivia you pointed out is very fascinating. I've long wondered about whether there were any deleted scenes throughout the production of the series, and although there are many rich sources of information about "Columbo" in America (not the least of which is "The Ultimate Lieutenant Columbo Site") I myself have yet to come across anything directly related to deleted scenes. Perhaps other users of the forum will be able to shed light on this matter. Again, thank you for sharing the web address, and hopefully you'll find your answer!

Bryce-san,

My pleasure. Thank you for your comments.

There are many Columbo fans and freaks in Japan too. One of them, who I have recently known of on the web, is Ms. Kanako NOMA. According to the website (URL attached below), she graduated from the architectual and interior-goods design course at Bunka Gakuen University in Shibuya, Tokyo, and her graduation work was about houses and interiors goods appeared in Columbo episodes. She made illustrations and architectural drawings of them. If you are interested in them, please visit the link here:
http://mystery.co.jp/program/columbo/home_collection/index.html

Well, one of her interesting researches reveals that the movie set (House) used in the episode #30 "Playbeck" is the same as the one used in the episode #31 "A Deadly State of Mind", though some parts were redecorated and redone in some ways. You can check how they are different and how they are similar on the link attached here: http://mystery.co.jp/program/columbo/explanation/031/trivia/set_img.html

I hope you can find someone who speaks Japanese, so that you can understand her works deeper.

Yours,
Hide

* (Bunko Gakuen Univ) http://bwu.bunka.ac.jp/news/detail.php?id=853

I'm definitely going to have to check that out, Hide-chan! That house is one of my favorites in the series. Thank you!