second actually ... he does lose once in season 1 ... but he doesnt make that mistake again either .... and even in his first episode (the prescription killer) ... he almost made a second mistake ... by pushing one of the suspects too much ... since that episode he never pushed a suspect that way again ... because he didnt want to be responsible fr causing their death ... he still pushes BUT he just keeps the pressure on he no longer says he will he never gets angry at them ... he just lets them make their mistake so he can unravel their story
Terrific episode with great writing, acting and score. What always gets me is Ian Buchanan's subtle eye acting when Columbo is describing him how he did it and how his attitude slowly morphs from overconfidence into fear. My favorite part is at 5:05 when he recognizes the number Columbo is dialing and you can see sheer panic on his face. At that point he already knows that he is fucked and he moves like a shot animal.
@@linix2954 the beeps on the phone, each number is a different pitch. once he recognised it, he realised what was going on. He realised Columbo was dialing her pager.
@@thequietestengine Personally, as a viewer, I only hear TicTicTicTic. Maybe he could hear the tone of each number. He didn't show much emotion. Hard to know when he realize he got cut. He looked confuse on the first 2 alarms beeps. **My bad, you are right, we can hear the different tone on each number.
@@Hellbat_the_Destron Legally? Depends, but in the most literal interpretation of the law he found evidence unlawfully, and therefore you cannot legally use it as evidence in court. So essentially, he made the corpse unusable in his case, pretty much botching the investigation.
The thing about Columbo to is when he's got you (Pardon the pun) he's usually very humble because for him it's a job and no killer should get away...He has taken his ego out of the equation.
plus a smug, arrogant cop might make them less likely to come peacefully, or mess up the case later claiming Columbo harassed him because it was personal or something
It's always interesting to see all the changes in technology Columbo went through over the numerous decades. In the early years it was primitive 60s tech. Rotary phones, phone booths etc. In the 70s he exposed how telephones could make other parties believe the murder victim was still alive. Such as the one where Robert Conrad plays a director of an athletic club set of franchises. Later Columbo learns how to do a fax, Another very late in the series "Columbo Goes to College" he learns abt video camera and car door opening tech. I think Breaking Bad copied some of that. But it's often been changes in telephone usage that provided clues over the decades
"So, Columbo, how can you say I killed my wife when her iPhone says she downloaded a file at 10am, over the WiFi network in our home? I already was in my office at that time, 10 miles away!" "Well, Sir, I don't know anything about smart phones - but Sergeant Carter over there, she's a very smart woman, and she told me there's an app for that."
As far as I am concerned, this is the only episode where Columbo is thoroughly outsmarted by the killer, Sean had Columbo mindlessly falling into his trap the entire episode, making him believe that Dian really died, made him dig up his entire house, giving him free publicity and increasing his profit and stocks tenfold, before revealing Dian to be alive and killing her for real, if he had remembered to wear the jewellery and take it off his victim, he would have gotten away with it.
Yes, from the Smarmy arrogant murderer who thought he had outsmarted Columbo (again) and his look. This is why it worked, the ones that came in to play evil.
This case always sticks with me as a personal favorite. The saddest part is in some way, some form, maybe Dian could have been saved. Maybe it didn't need to happen. I think that's what stuck with me the most. Columbo's victory feels very bitter here, and I enjoy it for that. The music is outstanding too.
I just watched this on TV and was hoping I would find it on UA-cam. This was a classic Columbo. I loved when the camera zoomed in on the beeper and it said “gotcha.” Again classic Colombo love it.
This is my favorite episode of all time. I remember seeing this as my first episode as a child with my grandmother and I was hooked in Colombo ever since.
Wow, what a twist. Simply amazing and great. He almost got away with it but he was so proud he got away with it, he made that one last comment and then Columbo came back. Then it was curtains. Great story.
Columbo is on a never end repeat here in England over three channels - ITV3, ITV4 and 5USA who share the rights of the classic seasons and newer seasons.
Yes, the show is practically permanently on over here. Considering all the crap that's on British television these days, at least they got one thing right!
This is one of the better ABC episodes, probably second behind Goes to College. A big twist halfway through that's a rare instance of Columbo being left completely confused and speechless.
"Columbo Cries Wolf" is one of the best of the later-period Columbo episodes and was written by Billy Woodfield, a very interesting fellow, who was not only a fine writer, but a first-rate photographer and a magician as well. (He also penned another excellent later-period episode, "Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star.") This great "gotcha" was inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe story, "The Black Cat," wherein the sounds of the cat walled up in the murderer's home in the presence of the police gave the murderer away. Poe, of course, was the inventor of the modern-day detective story as well, and the character he created, Auguste Dupin, was the model for virtually every fictional detective since, as the Dupin character would solve murders by observing "little details" overlooked by conventional police methods. Billy Woodfield was also friends with Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, and became involved in events surrounding Marilyn's death. After one of Marilyn's visits to the Cal-Neva casino-hotel (uniquely bordering both California and Nevada), then part-owned by famed mobster Sam Giancana, Sinatra gave Woodfield a roll of film to develop and to share with nobody else. Woodfield developed the images for Sinatra, showing a drugged, unconscious Monroe, essentially getting raped. Woodfield and Sinatra realized that Giancana wanted the photographs to blackmail Marilyn with because of her relationships with both the Kennedys and Giancana. Woodfield gave the prints and negatives to Sinatra, but by that time the point was moot. Marilyn was dead shortly after this incident and corpses can't be blackmailed. Sinatra asked Woodfield what he thought should be done with the prints and negatives. Woodfield told Sinatra that it would be best if they were destroyed. Sinatra took out his lighter and did just that, according to Woodfield.
@@robinstevens7651 That is one of history's unsolved crimes. I can tell you that those who knew Monroe best, including Billy Woodfield, didn't believe the "probable suicide" explanation. Woodfield, in fact, conducted his own investigation into Marilyn's death. That is why so many of the books questioning Marilyn's death cite interviews with Woodfield.
The killers always make a mistake. He should have never agreed to allow columbo to use the phone.... columbo was counting on him to let him use the phone to trap him.. great episode
Well, this is TV fantasy, isn´t it? He was also lucky that the baddie had hidden the body in a place near enough for the faint alarm of the watch to be heard. And the ridiculous idea of a flimsy plastic bag for storing dresses could somehow contain the terrible smell of corruption (not to mention the bursting accumulation of gases)... But anyway, an excellent episode. We don´t watch Columbo to have our suspension of disbelief challenged by the hard facts of reality!
@@javiergilvidal1558 You're *assuming* that the killer intended for the body to remain there permanently...but there's no evidence to arrive at that conclusion. For instance, he may well have planned to dispose of the body once things had quietened down, ergo it was a temporary measure. I mean, would *YOU* leave a corpse permanently in an area where leaks often develop and you might need the assistance of a plumber? I wouldn't!
@@Turrican60 I didn´t assume permanence either, but quite some time would indeed be needed for things to "calm down", at least a week, perhaps even more due to the presence of the repair workmen. I think nasty things may happen to a corpse during that time.... Another point is, the rather foppish killer doesn´t look like a guy capable of stomaching the disentombent of the dead body when things "calmed down". But again, this is all fantasy and corpses can even be beautiful as in this case.....
'Don't worry sir, it's a local call' - this is just hilarious, considering that he is right in the middle of doing something that will put the guy for life in prison, but jokes about him worrying about a couple of cents
@@IoEstasCedonta You are right in relative terms - for average pay you had much less long distance call time than now - it's unlimited I guess since many many years. But in nominal terms, I'm also kinda right, because this episode was aired in 1990 and I checked that average long distance rate then was 65 cents. Anyway, this dude (killer) was a high-flier and lived like a king, so I stand by my original comment.
80s Columbo episode" ?? (1989 is on the temporal border between those two iconic decades; it essentially sat out the 1980s - as well as the tail end of the '70s)
O boy! Let's see what else we have in the storage of crimes! Colombo is perfect detective to reveal them all for us and that is for sure! Thanks for the great movie.
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!!! I remember my first time watching this and I was literally mind blown couldn’t stop laughing !! Definitely one of my top 5 favorites
From Jan 1990. Remember it very well as an eight year old boy. I was absolutely fascinated then. Am still fascinated by it now. This also had Fine Young Cannibals' She Drives Me Crazy at the beginning... One of the best episodes and Columbo comes out on top yet again. Peter Falk and Columbo are absolute genius.
This is arguably the cleverest ending to any of the 69 Columbo eps (I've had the DVD boxset for a few years now). It deviates somewhat from the usual formula in that it appears like Columbo has been outwitted; his superiors have ordered him off the case, and his returning to the Brantley chateau is an act of wanton disobedience. Brantley may have fooled Hunter, and fatally so, but not Columbo. He gambles on following the money trail, and it pays off. People say that the 70s eps were better but there were still some convoluted plots in the 90s counterparts: Uneasy Lies the Crown, Death of a Rock Star, Death Hits the Jackpot and Columbo Goes to College were another four whose payoffs gave me some satisfaction. Of course there were some great endings in the 70s as well: Payback, Exercise in Fatality, A Friend in Deed, Negative Reaction, Death Lends a Hand, Suitable for Framing, Deadly State of Mind are some that come to mind. I particularly like those where Columbo tricks the perp into incriminating themselves. Just a curiosity about the above episode -- at around 0:51 Columbo says "The only thing I suspect is that you and Dian are setting me up to solve another perfect crime that never happened", but then changes his mind within 2 minutes, at 2:39, "She underestimated you didn't she sir? It never occurred to her that you were setting her up to be an accomplice to her own murder....... the first time she disappeared was all playacting, but this time you killed her". I guess it's all part of his approach toward easing his way into Brantley's favor, before he gradually tightens the noose and delivers the hammer blow.
@@AcuraAddicted there is people dont know paris is the capital of france......also my girlfriend is from peru...they dont know who is columbo no idea what so ever...
I love that show, Best detective show ever, there will never be another columbo, I didn't fully appreciate these episodes when they were making them back in the seventies, but now I see the true genius in them now, same as the Kung Fu series with David Carradine.
jermed2001 I swear this episode and the very last episode where the x-ray the floor and see an outline of a body are 2 episodes I really don’t like watching. It’s brilliant but so creepy. Seeing that woman in that bag buried in the wall is just to real looking and it freaks me out every time.
Yes, you're right. First time we've seen Columbo pick up a crowbar. But he did crack a hard-boiled egg on one in "A Stitch in Crime." While the use of the crow bar in that episode was amusing, when you think about it, it was done in poor taste. After all, the crow bar in that scene was believed to be the murder weapon, but was determined to have no fingerprints on it.
Do you realize that everything depended on Diane Hunter being within earshot of Columbo? Columbo mentioned that it would take an army to search his house so what would’ve happened if he put the body on the second floor or who knows the third-floor then no one would’ve heard the beeping. Gotcha Colombo 😂. Absolutely love the show. It’s a classic!
Splendid episode!!! Lieutenant Colombo spinned quite the story for our killer; so much that it made him squirm. The discovery of the body was the final topping; the murderer had no wiggle room. Such a masterful detective!!!!
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams.
For anyone who reads The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Ian Buchanan would have made a great Gentleman Johnny Falcone, the mob boss in Chicago. I can picture him as Falcone in each novel.
His accent is all over the place throughout the episode, I think that's why its higher rated in the US than it is in the EU. It's very obvious to European audience he is a Scottish actor doing a fairly poor English accent.
As I heard someone say once: If Colombo asks you more than two questions, you're busted.
absolutely right
GOTCHA ! I loved that show. It was a smash back in the day.
@@edwinjones1000 Still is. The reruns have great ratings.
@@Knight-xc2tt What a talent.
Although he might want to ask you just one more thing
One of the best shocker. Just when you thought Columbo's first ever defeat.... GOTCHA.
I remember watching THAT episode and how it looked like a huge mistake had been made. The ending was a real shocker!
Lol
second actually ... he does lose once in season 1 ... but he doesnt make that mistake again either .... and even in his first episode (the prescription killer) ... he almost made a second mistake ... by pushing one of the suspects too much ... since that episode he never pushed a suspect that way again ... because he didnt want to be responsible fr causing their death ... he still pushes BUT he just keeps the pressure on he no longer says he will he never gets angry at them ... he just lets them make their mistake so he can unravel their story
The picture, the atmosphere, the color sounds so late 80s early 90s.
In fact, the episode had been released on January 1990
Magic era.
Terrific episode with great writing, acting and score. What always gets me is Ian Buchanan's subtle eye acting when Columbo is describing him how he did it and how his attitude slowly morphs from overconfidence into fear. My favorite part is at 5:05 when he recognizes the number Columbo is dialing and you can see sheer panic on his face. At that point he already knows that he is fucked and he moves like a shot animal.
Also his arms are crossed and I kept watching his fingers on this left hand. @1:52 - @2:21
How can he recognizes the numbers when he is not even on the same chamber as Columbo? The panic came from the missing coat bag.
@@linix2954 the beeps on the phone, each number is a different pitch. once he recognised it, he realised what was going on. He realised Columbo was dialing her pager.
@@thequietestengine Personally, as a viewer, I only hear TicTicTicTic. Maybe he could hear the tone of each number. He didn't show much emotion. Hard to know when he realize he got cut. He looked confuse on the first 2 alarms beeps. **My bad, you are right, we can hear the different tone on each number.
The part where Columbo uncovers the body will always stay with me. It's so sad
Same! The music really adds to the melancholy
And he ruined his case by causing damage by searching without a warrant
@@TheSwedishAssassinHe found the goddamn corpse. Doesn't that count for anything without a warrant?
@@Hellbat_the_Destron Legally? Depends, but in the most literal interpretation of the law he found evidence unlawfully, and therefore you cannot legally use it as evidence in court. So essentially, he made the corpse unusable in his case, pretty much botching the investigation.
@@TheSwedishAssassinthey won’t need to submit the corpse as evidence, he has three witnesses, the man will probably confess before it goes to trial
The thing about Columbo to is when he's got you (Pardon the pun) he's usually very humble because for him it's a job and no killer should get away...He has taken his ego out of the equation.
Ego can get in the way and put you on the wrong path to solving the case,the columbo character knows this thats why hes so good.
plus a smug, arrogant cop might make them less likely to come peacefully, or mess up the case later claiming Columbo harassed him because it was personal or something
@@MyoclonicJerkCough Columbo always deserve being arrogant so that he is too much clever and cautious over the details.................
GOLD!
That's why he was able to respect or even like the murderers in some cases.
It's always interesting to see all the changes in technology Columbo went through over the numerous decades.
In the early years it was primitive 60s tech. Rotary phones, phone booths etc.
In the 70s he exposed how telephones could make other parties believe the murder victim was still alive. Such as the one where Robert Conrad plays a director of an athletic club set of franchises.
Later Columbo learns how to do a fax,
Another very late in the series "Columbo Goes to College" he learns abt video camera and car door opening tech. I think Breaking Bad copied some of that.
But it's often been changes in telephone usage that provided clues over the decades
"Butterfly in Shades of Grey" had a 'cell phone' and lack of 'cell coverage' as an element in the 'Checkmate' move.
I was just thinking that the other day. The type of telephone date stamps the episode.
"So, Columbo, how can you say I killed my wife when her iPhone says she downloaded a file at 10am, over the WiFi network in our home? I already was in my office at that time, 10 miles away!"
"Well, Sir, I don't know anything about smart phones - but Sergeant Carter over there, she's a very smart woman, and she told me there's an app for that."
@@BrokenCurtain
Superb!
@@BrokenCurtain
Another classic surprise ending.
Yet in real life most all of Columbo's murder suspects would have lawyered up and remained silent.
"She underestimated you, didn't she sir?" I always loved that line.
As far as I am concerned, this is the only episode where Columbo is thoroughly outsmarted by the killer, Sean had Columbo mindlessly falling into his trap the entire episode, making him believe that Dian really died, made him dig up his entire house, giving him free publicity and increasing his profit and stocks tenfold, before revealing Dian to be alive and killing her for real, if he had remembered to wear the jewellery and take it off his victim, he would have gotten away with it.
One of the greatest episodes of the series.
Good ending
Best episode
Yes, from the Smarmy arrogant murderer who thought he had outsmarted Columbo (again) and his look. This is why it worked, the ones that came in to play evil.
"don't worry it's a local call"
Some of the best dialogue from the murderers is no dialogue, just the faces. That's why we keep coming back.
Simply brilliant!! Nobody can outsmart the Lieutenant ☺
Christopher Kraft 🆗️💯
Nope.. You can't fool Columbo. 😁👍
The greatest ever detective. Full stop.
one did ... and got away with it .... ironically ... the end of the story the killer was killed in a foreign country ...
This case always sticks with me as a personal favorite. The saddest part is in some way, some form, maybe Dian could have been saved. Maybe it didn't need to happen. I think that's what stuck with me the most. Columbo's victory feels very bitter here, and I enjoy it for that. The music is outstanding too.
That tape with "GOTCHA" imitating an LCD screen is always killing me.
LCD?
@@garyjones2561 Liquid crystal display, I think.
Saddest yet BEST Columbo "Gotcha!" scenario.
Saddest how?
@@garyjones2561 I;m with You, Gary. Saddest? How?
I guess it's kinda off topic but do anybody know a good website to stream new tv shows online ?
@@forrestquinton2231 Peacock.
@Forrest Quinton i use Flixzone. Just search on google for it :)
I clearly remember seeing this on TV in England when I was a boy. It left quite the lasting impression on me. So happy to finally see it again here!
Me too
I remember seeing this episode as a kid when I was around 10-14 yo and having a bad nightmare after it.
The writing is brilliant and Peter Falk is an excellent actor
Zoom in on "Gotcha" . Looks like they used a piece of tape with electronic-style font. I miss this show!
Lol, not even taped in straight. XD
Well spotted.
Yup. Very common to do this in filming because the actual LCD technology looks much worse and cannot be read clearly.
Yup 😁
Call the police.
Just floating on top🙌🏾🤣😂🤣
Dont worry it's a local call oh yea it was definitely LOCAL
I just watched this on TV and was hoping I would find it on UA-cam. This was a classic Columbo. I loved when the camera zoomed in on the beeper and it said “gotcha.” Again classic Colombo love it.
One of the best Columbo episodes. And the villain is played brilliantly - expressive but so, so subtle.
This is my favorite episode of all time. I remember seeing this as my first episode as a child with my grandmother and I was hooked in Colombo ever since.
It was my first episode too and the only one i have seen any more episoded to reccomend
"Before I send you to the electric chair, do you mind if I use your phone, sir?"
More like 25 years to life
Natmanprime Colombo would have used his phone anyway.
Wow, what a twist. Simply amazing and great. He almost got away with it but he was so proud he got away with it, he made that one last comment and then Columbo came back. Then it was curtains. Great story.
That “just one more thing” at the end shows Colombo was so elated at his gotcha result his voice sounded as if he was on helium.
I remember watching this when I was a little kid, couldn't understand English that much at that time. Man it really got me into watching Columbo
Ian Buchanan played Duke Lavery on the long-running daytime soap opera General Hospital.
I think this is one of the best episode enjoy to watch his work Columbo ❤
Columbo is on a never end repeat here in England over three channels - ITV3, ITV4 and 5USA who share the rights of the classic seasons and newer seasons.
Yes, the show is practically permanently on over here. Considering all the crap that's on British television these days, at least they got one thing right!
@@Turrican60 wolves fan ehh?? Must be local to me 👍
EPIC play, such an awesome build-up with a fantastic pay-off! They don't make them like this anymore!
Columbo: every killer makes one mistake. And it's that one mistake which gets them caught
love the way he sometimes acknowledges how smart or clever the crook was. He also admits when he gets lucky.
The mistake of committing murder.
Wow Columbo is a pure genius. “Gotcha “!
Awesome ending. The GOTCHA message was perfection!
I thought I had seen all the Columbo episodes but I don't remember this one. Now I gotcha find the complete episode.
Same here. I got excited. lol
But it's the best episode.
petitsinge33 :I like ‘etude in black’ with the arrogant conductor...or the one when the old lady kills her nephew-in-law in the safe....
This is one of the better ABC episodes, probably second behind Goes to College. A big twist halfway through that's a rare instance of Columbo being left completely confused and speechless.
The decor and color palette screams 'Golden Girls', pastels and wicker...Big hair, shoulder pads and chunky Lady Remington jewelry, I'm loving it🙌🏾🤣🫶🏾
This episode had amazing soundtrack.
7:00: "Gotcha." Predecessor to all our text messaging. This was a memorable ending. "Columbo Cries Wolf" -- 1990. Th, 03/05/2020
Have you noticed that if he likes the guy, kinda understands, he’s nice to them in the end.
3:45 "You know I can't tear this place apart..." Proceeds to tear place apart justifiably.
I saw this when it first came out and whenever someone mentions Columbo, it is that final gotcha which comes into my mind. Best climax ever.
He thought he could outsmart Columbo, but a pager would nail him.
I love how this episode was essentially a spoof of the pilot episode.
"Don't worry sir. It's a local call."
Ian Buchanan is fantastic here. He was never allowed to show his full potential in the second season of _Twin Peaks,_ for example.
I wonder how many times I can watch this clip before it gets old?
So brilliant and casual! *Why* Columbo was the top homicide detective to be rightfully feared by the wicked!
"Columbo Cries Wolf" is one of the best of the later-period Columbo episodes and was written by Billy Woodfield, a very interesting fellow, who was not only a fine writer, but a first-rate photographer and a magician as well. (He also penned another excellent later-period episode, "Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star.") This great "gotcha" was inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe story, "The Black Cat," wherein the sounds of the cat walled up in the murderer's home in the presence of the police gave the murderer away. Poe, of course, was the inventor of the modern-day detective story as well, and the character he created, Auguste Dupin, was the model for virtually every fictional detective since, as the Dupin character would solve murders by observing "little details" overlooked by conventional police methods. Billy Woodfield was also friends with Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra, and became involved in events surrounding Marilyn's death. After one of Marilyn's visits to the Cal-Neva casino-hotel (uniquely bordering both California and Nevada), then part-owned by famed mobster Sam Giancana, Sinatra gave Woodfield a roll of film to develop and to share with nobody else. Woodfield developed the images for Sinatra, showing a drugged, unconscious Monroe, essentially getting raped. Woodfield and Sinatra realized that Giancana wanted the photographs to blackmail Marilyn with because of her relationships with both the Kennedys and Giancana. Woodfield gave the prints and negatives to Sinatra, but by that time the point was moot. Marilyn was dead shortly after this incident and corpses can't be blackmailed. Sinatra asked Woodfield what he thought should be done with the prints and negatives. Woodfield told Sinatra that it would be best if they were destroyed. Sinatra took out his lighter and did just that, according to Woodfield.
thanks
So who killed her?
@@robinstevens7651 That is one of history's unsolved crimes. I can tell you that those who knew Monroe best, including Billy Woodfield, didn't believe the "probable suicide" explanation. Woodfield, in fact, conducted his own investigation into Marilyn's death. That is why so many of the books questioning Marilyn's death cite interviews with Woodfield.
Marilyn Monroe??
Well you just would wouldn't you? 😂
So she was raped and blackmailed and that's why it's not a suicide?
The killers always make a mistake. He should have never agreed to allow columbo to use the phone.... columbo was counting on him to let him use the phone to trap him.. great episode
Well, this is TV fantasy, isn´t it? He was also lucky that the baddie had hidden the body in a place near enough for the faint alarm of the watch to be heard. And the ridiculous idea of a flimsy plastic bag for storing dresses could somehow contain the terrible smell of corruption (not to mention the bursting accumulation of gases)... But anyway, an excellent episode. We don´t watch Columbo to have our suspension of disbelief challenged by the hard facts of reality!
@@javiergilvidal1558 You're *assuming* that the killer intended for the body to remain there permanently...but there's no evidence to arrive at that conclusion. For instance, he may well have planned to dispose of the body once things had quietened down, ergo it was a temporary measure. I mean, would *YOU* leave a corpse permanently in an area where leaks often develop and you might need the assistance of a plumber? I wouldn't!
@@Turrican60 I didn´t assume permanence either, but quite some time would indeed be needed for things to "calm down", at least a week, perhaps even more due to the presence of the repair workmen. I think nasty things may happen to a corpse during that time.... Another point is, the rather foppish killer doesn´t look like a guy capable of stomaching the disentombent of the dead body when things "calmed down". But again, this is all fantasy and corpses can even be beautiful as in this case.....
That look of satisfaction on Columbo's face...priceless.
'Don't worry sir, it's a local call' - this is just hilarious, considering that he is right in the middle of doing something that will put the guy for life in prison, but jokes about him worrying about a couple of cents
Wasn't long distance a lot more expensive back then?
@@IoEstasCedonta You are right in relative terms - for average pay you had much less long distance call time than now - it's unlimited I guess since many many years. But in nominal terms, I'm also kinda right, because this episode was aired in 1990 and I checked that average long distance rate then was 65 cents. Anyway, this dude (killer) was a high-flier and lived like a king, so I stand by my original comment.
"Dont worry, its a local call" is a pretty ingenious line
“Sorry, Lieutenant, I don’t consent to allow you to make a phone call.”
I think this episode might be the best 80's Columbo episode. On par with the 70's series, even.
80s Columbo episode" ?? (1989 is on the temporal border between those two iconic decades; it essentially sat out the 1980s - as well as the tail end of the '70s)
Colombo was the best tv show. His little quirks, cigar, cracking hard boiled eggs 🥚 & the shells, “just one more thing”, rain coat, …etc… CLASSIC.
Absolutely ADORE the soundtrack in this movie
"Can I use you phone?"
"No."
"Ok."
Columbo defeated. Credits roll.
O boy! Let's see what else we have in the storage of crimes! Colombo is perfect detective to reveal them all for us and that is for sure! Thanks for the great movie.
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!!!
I remember my first time watching this and I was literally mind blown couldn’t stop laughing !! Definitely one of my top 5 favorites
Tonyiisme ALL of the Columbos' were brilliant ! ...
For me this was the most gratifying !!! 👌
your mind was "literally" blown? how long were you in a coma?
Recorded this on virgin. The recording ended at 6:20. Thank you so much for uploading this!
This episode is what 40 plus years
I still remember jumping when the sound of the watch went off lol
From Jan 1990. Remember it very well as an eight year old boy. I was absolutely fascinated then. Am still fascinated by it now. This also had Fine Young Cannibals' She Drives Me Crazy at the beginning... One of the best episodes and Columbo comes out on top yet again. Peter Falk and Columbo are absolute genius.
The way he found Dianne is the scariest moment in the entire show. It has stayed with me for a long time.
One of my favorite episodes.
This is arguably the cleverest ending to any of the 69 Columbo eps (I've had the DVD boxset for a few years now). It deviates somewhat from the usual formula in that it appears like Columbo has been outwitted; his superiors have ordered him off the case, and his returning to the Brantley chateau is an act of wanton disobedience. Brantley may have fooled Hunter, and fatally so, but not Columbo. He gambles on following the money trail, and it pays off. People say that the 70s eps were better but there were still some convoluted plots in the 90s counterparts: Uneasy Lies the Crown, Death of a Rock Star, Death Hits the Jackpot and Columbo Goes to College were another four whose payoffs gave me some satisfaction. Of course there were some great endings in the 70s as well: Payback, Exercise in Fatality, A Friend in Deed, Negative Reaction, Death Lends a Hand, Suitable for Framing, Deadly State of Mind are some that come to mind. I particularly like those where Columbo tricks the perp into incriminating themselves.
Just a curiosity about the above episode -- at around 0:51 Columbo says "The only thing I suspect is that you and Dian are setting me up to solve another perfect crime that never happened", but then changes his mind within 2 minutes, at 2:39, "She underestimated you didn't she sir? It never occurred to her that you were setting her up to be an accomplice to her own murder....... the first time she disappeared was all playacting, but this time you killed her". I guess it's all part of his approach toward easing his way into Brantley's favor, before he gradually tightens the noose and delivers the hammer blow.
1:36 IT'S HECTOR SALAMANCA
Classic television! Thanks for sharing!
Never saw this one before. Wow, a sure classic.
Hoool! loved the VCR at that time,I was always struggling with Betamax and VHS tapes but was so exciting to watch a new movie,RIP the 80-90's :-(
Sam Jeremy a decade can’t die, it’s not living.
You know it's funny, some people my age or younger won't know what a pager is. so this beeping will be confusing to them lol
My work colleagues: “Who’s Columbo? What’s VHS?” Aaargh.
Impossible! Who doesn't know Columbo?
Murder them and see what they say when no-one comes to investigate
@@AcuraAddicted Honestly I did not know of Columbo until this year. Now I have seen every episode at least twice!
@@AcuraAddicted there is people dont know paris is the capital of france......also my girlfriend is from peru...they dont know who is columbo no idea what so ever...
I love that show, Best detective show ever, there will never be another columbo, I didn't fully appreciate these episodes when they were making them back in the seventies, but now I see the true genius in them now, same as the Kung Fu series with David Carradine.
Ian Buchanan seemed to always play characters who you WANTED to see go to prison.
The early episodes were really good, the later ones not so much. But this one was very good.
A early 90s golden boy trying to dodge Columbo.
He better have thought twice
Damn...that was haunting..
jermed2001 I swear this episode and the very last episode where the x-ray the floor and see an outline of a body are 2 episodes I really don’t like watching. It’s brilliant but so creepy. Seeing that woman in that bag buried in the wall is just to real looking and it freaks me out every time.
@@mikerenlund6433 You're so right. It really is creepy.
The "GOTCHA" message (at 6:53) is printed on a piece of paper.
What were they thinking?😂
Was a good episode this one. Was different.
I remember watching this episode as a kid. It’s always remained my favorite.
6:15 "She's dead... wrapped in plastic"
You know what, even though I think the early Columbos are Smithsonian-worthy, I have to admit that the writing here was very good. :)
The most sinister ending of the entire run; the body being there when the killer's rumbled 😬
There were many gotchas. This one was really satisfying.
This was such a good episode
The first time Columbo ever picked up a crow bar.
Interestingly, he only fired a gun twice in the entire series, in two episodes in Season 4, and they were test shots.
Yes, you're right. First time we've seen Columbo pick up a crowbar. But he did crack a hard-boiled egg on one in "A Stitch in Crime." While the use of the crow bar in that episode was amusing, when you think about it, it was done in poor taste. After all, the crow bar in that scene was believed to be the murder weapon, but was determined to have no fingerprints on it.
Prolly one of the more macabre Columbo endings.
You can't get nothin over on "Big C". Brilliancy at its best!
My favorite 🤩 episode ❤
Do you realize that everything depended on Diane Hunter being within earshot of Columbo? Columbo mentioned that it would take an army to search his house so what would’ve happened if he put the body on the second floor or who knows the third-floor then no one would’ve heard the beeping. Gotcha Colombo 😂. Absolutely love the show. It’s a classic!
The Columbo episode with soap opera stars.
Murder She Wrote kept them in paychecks also💖
1:36 Hector Salamanca cameo
LOL! I remember this one. I was a kid when I saw it (I loved Columbo). I remember being super-hyped at this ending!
Splendid episode!!! Lieutenant Colombo spinned quite the story for our killer; so much that it made him squirm. The discovery of the body was the final topping; the murderer had no wiggle room. Such a masterful detective!!!!
one of the best endings ever!
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams.
For anyone who reads The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher, Ian Buchanan would have made a great Gentleman Johnny Falcone, the mob boss in Chicago. I can picture him as Falcone in each novel.
Perfection~ It never gets old!
When angry at 4:45, a scottish accent sneaks into our villain's voice.
happens to me, laddie!
His accent is all over the place throughout the episode, I think that's why its higher rated in the US than it is in the EU. It's very obvious to European audience he is a Scottish actor doing a fairly poor English accent.
I was thinking he looked a little like Pierce Brosnan!
Excellent episode except of the murder itself. Neck-snap with one hand - even Steven Seagal is jealous :D
seagal can barely chop carrots
One of my favorite episodes!
The first time I saw the body when I was a kid, it was really scary.
Amazing score in this episode.
A brilliant episode, my personal favorite