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Tag: faked suicide

Ask for Freddy

August 27, 2016
4 Comments

Title

Four our forty-first show, we look at the series’ last, “Columbo Likes the Nightlife.” In it, we find Columbo bumping up against a world of Mafia sons, rave promoters, sleazy tabloid reporters and pastiches of late 90s-early 2000s indie murder films. Here’s the crazy thing- this final attempt to bring Columbo into the 21st century? It kind of works! Zack Handlen (The AV Club) returns to the show to talk about how something that could have gone off the rails actually holds together pretty well.

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Cadaveric Spasm

May 22, 2016
13 Comments

Episode Card - Forgotten Lady

In “Forgotten Lady,” Janet Leigh is Grace Wheeler, an actress from the heyday of big movie musicals, who wants nothing more than to once again feel the white hot heat of stardom. When her wealthy husband refuses to put up the scratch for her big comeback, she murders him and tries to make it look like a suicide. As Lt. Columbo digs deeper, however, the story proves to be even more tragic than that. Also discussed- Dorothy Kilgallen conspiracies, Angela Lansbury exercise videos and much, much more.

Jon and RJ are joined by Kevin Klawitter (@KevinKlawitter), who recently co-directed a stage production of Prescription Murder, the headwaters from which all things Columbo flow. In fact, the show is being staged again this August as a dinner theater production! Click here for tickets and details, if you’re in the Wadena/Fergus Falls/Battle Lake, MN area this summer.

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Murder is Bad, but Suicide is Sadder

September 2, 2014
17 Comments

Episode Card_S01E03 (Ep 3)

Mallory Ortberg (the-toast.net) joins Jon and RJ to discuss “Etude in Black,” which features John Cassavetes as an orchestra conductor who murders his mistress/concert pianist. It’s up to Columbo to unravel how and why the maestro staged the woman’s death as an apparent suicide. Also involved- his long-suffering wife, Blythe Danner; her very, very wealthy mother, Myrna Loy; a precocious neighbor kid; and a drunk, hothead trumpeter.

Also discussed (among other things):

– Mallory’s wonderful essay, The Case For Making Columbo America’s Doctor Who.

– That time Cassavetes, Falk and Ben Gazarra went on The Dick Cavett show in 1970 and were kind of drunk jerks.

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