Columbo: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'': ''Forbidden's'' Robbie the Robot makes a cameo in one episode, as does Robbie's co-star Leslie Neilsen.

* [[The Ghost]]: Mrs. Columbo. We know she ''exists'', but his descriptions of her vary immensely. He's pretty much always describing her to the perp though, so it's unlikely he'd give them an actual description.

* [[Go Karting With Bowser]]: Even when Columbo knows who committed the murder, or at least is highly suspicious of them, he still makes small talk with them about things like their job and interests. Oftentimes this is to pay attention to subtle things they say or noticeable tells that can unintentionally incriminate them. In some episodes, however, Columbo seems to genuinely like some of his suspects, and regrets having some of them arrested before he reminds himself that it was the right thing to do.

* [[Go-Karting With Bowser]]: Even when Columbo knows who committed the murder, or at least is highly suspicious of them, he still makes small talk with them about things like their job and interests. Oftentimes this is to pay attention to subtle things they say or noticeable tells that can unintentionally incriminate them. In some episodes, however, Columbo seems to genuinely like some of his suspects, and regrets having some of them arrested before he reminds himself that it was the right thing to do.

* [[Gosh Dang It to Heck]]: Throughout the majority of Columbo films, "hell" and "damn" are the extent of the swearing. Later films of the 80s and 90s eventually saw occasional use of the word "bitch" here and there. But the only REAL subversions are likely "Undercover" and "A Trace of Murder" where characters say the word "bullshit". "Undercover" is uncensored on the DVD release, though "A Trace of Murder" has the censoring in place.

* [[GPS Evidence]]: there are quite a number of cases of this. Examples:

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** This was also true of one material witness in the episode "Undercover," the murderer's ditzy, giggling girlfriend who was his alibi. When Columbo reveals that he has evidence that proves she's lying (thus making her liable as an accomplice to murder), her previously dopey eyes turn ice cold and she turns him in without remorse.

* [[Oh Crap]]: Happens roughly [[Once an Episode]] when Columbo finally catches the perp. Depending on the actor, they range from sheer rage to looking as if they've hanglided over the walls of Hell.

* [[Out Gambitted]]: Eventually all of the culprits' plots turn out to be this.

* [[Out-Gambitted]]: Eventually all of the culprits' plots turn out to be this.

* [[Out of Genre Experience]]

* [[Out-of-Genre Experience]]

** "Last Salute to the Commodore" completely scraps the usual idea of showing the murder first. {{spoiler|The man we think is the killer is not. The real killer is not revealed until the very end. This episode also, unusually, has both its murders - the prime suspect is himself murdered - take place offscreen.}}

** While the previous example was a minor one, "No Time to Die" completely went against grain of the series. It abandoned the usual murder plot and told a story of a kidnapping that played like a psychological thriller. {{spoiler|Columbo's nephew, Andy, is married to a model. Immediately after the ceremony, Andy's new wife is kidnapped. Columbo has to work with much of the LAPD police force to find Andy's wife before an insane medical student can rape and kill her. The story takes place over the course of a single night.}}

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** Yes, he was definitely driving around with the top down in ''The Most Dangerous Match''.

** Happens again in ''Murder With Too Many Notes'', as Columbo asks one of the musicians to teach him how to play This Old Man on the piano at the end of the episode. Except he played the song perfectly on piano in 'Try And Catch Me''.

* [[Rewind Replay Repeat]]: Done several times in order to prove that the tape being used for an alibi was faked somehow.

* [[Rewind, Replay, Repeat]]: Done several times in order to prove that the tape being used for an alibi was faked somehow.

** In "Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous To Your Health," the inconsistency Columbo points out is the hedges behind the door in the tape Anders set up for his alibi.

** In "A Bird in the Hand," Columbo replays the news footage of Harold [[Mc Cain]]'s gardener blowing up to show Dolores ([[Tyne Daly]]) that Harold flinched in anticipation of the pipe bomb exploding.

* [[Series Continuity Error]]: A rather bad one happens in the episode "Forgotten Lady". It's mentioned several times that Dr. Willis' bedroom is at the other end of the house from the film projection room, which explains why no one heard the gunshot. Until later on in the episode where Columbo is trying to climb down the tree outside the bedroom... Grace looks out the window of the projection room to see Columbo, hanging from a tree that's supposed to be at the other end of the house!

* [[Shout Out]]

* [[Shout-Out]]

** More than one fan of [[The Prisoner|Patrick McGoohan's 60's spy show]] chuckled when the actor slipped a "Be seeing you" into one of his ''Columbo'' appearances.

** A brief clip of [[The Tonight Show|Johnny Carson]] giving a monologue can be seen in "Forgotten Lady" as well as references to the show being 90 minutes long, as it was at the time.