You mean down the embankment in The Greenhouse Jungle 1972 with Ray Milland as the bad guy. He had a side kick detective played by Bob Dishy. Broke my heart to see the E-Type jaguar get pushed over the edge in that one.

I'm not a car person and yet I feel the same way. Bradford Dillman really makes you feel that way, with that hurt look on his face.

Hi, malcolm - thanks for the 'Greenhouse Jungle' info : All I remember of the episode was Columbo slip sliding down a bank and it being just one of the funniest examples of 'physical humour' that he ever used.
It's difficult to believe that some of Peter's stumbling and wild moves weren't simply an accident of the terrain but if they weren't - he was showing amazing skill in using his balance !
I'm going to TRY to get hold of a copy of this episode 'cos my wife and I fell about laughing when we first saw it.
thanks again !

Malcolm - I found it on You tube ! No, it wasn't staged. There's notes elsewhere confirming this and you can clearly see him losing his footing , first in the rear view camera and then [ look at the expression on his face ] in the forward camera. He does come a hefty old crash on his back at the bottom of the hill.
You Tube : 'Columbo falls down hill'.
Looks like they edited his reaction . The man's a trooper !
if you can watch this without laughing - check your pulse.

It's probably somewhere among the first COLUMBO moments I ever saw, so that's a big extra reason for me to like it.

4/5 of years ago...pre Netflix etc...I was remembering that stumble and was trying to find it...to my amazement it came up as 'Columbo hill" on Youtube...and was one of the very first Columbo scenes I shared with my then 8/9 yr old daughter...we howled with laughter and still do.
"the quickest way down"...lol
having said Greenhouse Jungle is a major stumble in and of itself....terrible episode in my opinion...but I digress