Have you ever noticed a lot of the earlier Columbo's had an actor who was very po****r at the time play the Villain? Jack Cassidy in Murder by the Book was very po****r in 1971, Robert Culp was very po****r at the times of his first 3 appearances, Roddy McDowall in Short Fuse doing the Planet of the Apes movies (along with Kim Hunter in Suitable for Framing although she wasn't a villain) usually though there were great at-the-time stars who appeared in Columbo I can just see them begging their Agents, "you gotta get me on Columbo"...