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Tag: Leonard Pierce

The Servicing of Dixie Daisy

From the early days of this podcast (In what, 1986? 2002? 2014?), there has been one episode set aside for the very last Columbo we’d watch. Well, this is it, folks. The last roundup. The final act. The fourth quarter. The seventh ogre. Here, now, is “Strange Bedfellows.”

George Wendt is the owner of a racing horse farm who’s having trouble living up to the standards of his late father. Throw in a brother who’s an inveterate gambler and the guy’s wound a little tight. When little brother owes the mob tons of money, he sees an opportunity to not only kill his brother, but also a gangster in order to clear the debt away. He didn’t count on the local mob boss being a scene-chewing Rod Steiger who has no problem whatsoever working with the cops to entrap Norm Peterson in a third act gaslighting nightmare. Joining us to wrap up the podcast is the same guy who helped start it off, Leonard Pierce.

Pocket-Sized Hemingway

title-card_publish-or-perish

When a best selling author tries to leave Riley Greenleaf’s (played by Jack Cassidy) publishing company, the smooth, smarmy operator sees no choice but to have the writer killed, then blow up the creep he hired to do the deed. “Publish or Perish” is the last Jack Cassidy Columbo episode we’ll be covering, and it’s a doozy. Mickey Spillane! Bomb-making books! Bad interior design! Chili with catsup! Alan Fudge! The Valley! Leonard Pierce (leonardpierce.com) returns to the podcast to give it all a good look-over.

Artie Stokes. Salt Lake City.

EP17_titlecard

“Undercover” is not a typical Columbo, by any stretch of the imagination. Columbo carries a gun. The mystery (such as it is) isn’t solved until the end. There’s no one central murder. He kind of has a partner. A lot of this is due to it being based on an Ed McBain 87th Precinct novel. But still, why on earth…? And the whole Tyne Daly thing? Anyway, Jon, RJ and returning guest Leonard Pierce (leonardpierce.com) try to figure out why this season 12 episode happened. It is a very, very strange thing.

Damn Viking Daggers

Episode Card_S01E09 (Holiday Ep)

Our holiday gift to you, dear listener, is this- a discussion of the Mrs. Columbo episode, “Caviar with Everything.” Gather family and friends around the mp3 player on the mantel with room-temperature egg nog and listen to New York Times bestselling author Mallory Ortberg (Texts From Jane Eyre, the-toast.net) join Jon and RJ to talk about this slice of (not-very-good) television history. Kate Mulgrew stars as Mrs. Columbo, in a spinoff in which Lt. Columbo never, ever appears, but his car and dog do. She’s a reporter who becomes embroiled in a wicked tale of spurned lovers, catering and food allergies. Also, Jon and RJ are visited by The Ghost of Christmas Future (Leonard Pierce). Truly, holiday fun for all.

If, after all of this, you want to see the episode in question- it’s on YouTube.