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Tag: Season Thirteen

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.

You wanna banana?

In “A Trace of Murder,” Shera Danese and David Rasche are having an affair and try to get her husband out of the way by framing him for the murder of a business rival. Here’s the thing, though- Rasche is the CSI lead on the case! A perfect way to make sure all of the evidence points the wrong way. But whoops- here comes Lt. Columbo with a bag of bananas and a sneaking suspicion that the clues are lining up a little too perfectly. The AV Club‘s Gwen Ihnat is here to talk about the weird recap at the end of the episode, Dennis Franz nudity, the possibility of a Columbo reboot and oh, so much more.

Ask for Freddy

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.

vicious_rumors_@hollywood_heartbeat.com

Episode Card - Ashes to Ashes

In “Ashes to Ashes,” Patrick McGoohan is Eric Prince, Hollywood mortician to the stars, who has no problem stealing from his clients, revealing their secrets and romancing their widows. When an ex-girlfriend/gossip columnist threatens to reveal these creepy practices, he violently murders her, cremates the body and passes off the ashes as someone’s late husband. As Columbo goes after McGoohan for the last time in the series, he navigates a path strewn with surly assistants and countless character actors. Molly Eichel (The AV Club, Philadelphia Inquirer) returns to the podcast to talk about the episode, Rocky, the crematory code of conduct, Cannonball Run and the latest dish on Bob Dishy.