I just watched Old Fashioned murder and caught that possible laugh when he saw his "Daryl" cut....but ..I can't think of another and actually does he ever ..in character...really laugh? Some of my favorite moments are when he smiles, like when onstage in both Double Shock and Now you See Him etc...

but does he ever actually kind of laugh out loud?

It's not really Columbo cracking up, but I always find it amusing when he is so intrigued by the dancer at Sinbad's in Identity Crisis.

yes...there are a few "female" scenes that make me laugh

Gretchen Corbett at Milo's house in Exercise
The Dancer at Sinbad's
Valerie Harper in Crucial Game
Julie Newmar..Double Schock
The model posing for Mel Sharples (lol) in Suitable


have you ever tried to envision what Mrs Columbo looks like....she's certainly not Kate Mulgrew in my view...

Don't forget Goldie in Blueprint (after her massage) and maybe just a little bit with Barbara Rhoades in Identity Crisis, although it's a bit different. He seems to be having a little fun with her as they look at the negatives.

Yes, Kate Mulgrew was never how I envisioned Mrs. Columbo, which is why I never really enjoyed the Mrs. Columbo episodes.

ah yes Goldie...in her gold lame etc.....to me...THE most annoying character ever in a Columbo episode....agreed?

That was the only episode Falk ever directed and frankly his performance suffered because of it in my humble estimation...agreed?

Actually it was the other Mrs. Williamson (Jennifer) that I found extremely annoying. I didn't actually mind Goldie, and kind of wished there had been some dialogue with Goldie after they finally caught Elliot Markham with the body to give her a chance to thank Columbo for his persistence.

Regarding Falk's performance, I didn't notice that, but I'll watch it again (for the driver's license) and see if I notice what you felt. There were only a few times that I thought Falk's performance was weaker than usual, one of those times being in Last Salute to the Commodore, particularly at the end when they are explaining the murder to the group (however, maybe that was just the script). Also, I found the post 70's episodes to not be of the same caliber of acting as the 70's, but I don't really count the post 70's episodes so much anyway, as they just weren't the same to me.

Sorry, I digress from the original discussion. Thanks for the feedback Stefan!

it's ok Irene...I digress from everything...lol...

it's rare but I just saw one, in "Murder is hazardous for your health", he laughs at the joke about the difference between a hairdresser and a barber.

I would love to see outtakes of when Peter Falk laughed so much the scene had to be retaken. I am sure there were incidents of that. I searched as best I could but found nothing on YOUTUBE etc. Does anybody know of a site where some outtakes would be posted.

Thanks.