Just One More Thing

What happens when the person who’s investigating the murder is the one who committed it? You’ll find out in our next show, covering season thirteen’s “A Trace of Murder,” which finds forensic expert David Rasche teaming up with Shera Danese to frame her wealthy husband for murder. The AV Club‘s Gwen Ihnat returns to the […]

The podcast has finally come around to its final Robert Culp episode, “Double Exposure.” In it, Culp plays Dr. Bart Kepple, an expert in psychological manipulation who uses subliminal filmmaking (with salty expensive snacks and a gun) to murder with his first victim. The second one? He just shoots the guy in a projection booth, […]

As things begin to wind down, the ol’ podcast starts running up against a few lasts. This time, it’s our last Robert Culp episode, “Double Exposure”! In this one, Culp uses a lethal combination of caviar, subliminal film editing and bullets to get rid of a troublesome client. The special guest will be Jeannie Vanasco, […]

Do you like surprises? Of course you do, and “A Bird in the Hand…” is full of them! Not one, but three murders? Greg Evigan doing an outstanding job as the killer? A 90s episode that is actually very good? Yes! All of these things and more, in a greasy little noir-ish story full of […]

Three murders for the price of one! That’s what you get in season eleven’s “A Bird in the Hand…,” which has Greg Evian as an inveterate gambler who plans to murder his wealthy uncle, but someone beats him to it. Who? Find it, watch it, and listen to us in a week or so! The […]

In “Columbo Cries Wolf,” Ian Buchanan is one half of the inexplicably popular skin mag, Bachelor’s World. When the other half, Diedre Hall, decides she’s had enough of his philandering with the magazine’s models and wants to sell out, he kills her. Or does he? Well, yes, eventually. But before that, the two of them spend almost […]

What happens when you have a murder without a body? You have season nine’s “Columbo Cries Wolf,” in which Columbo goes up against a skin mag impresario whose business partner goes missing. Tim Turner (Bitter Bastard Nerdcast) will be the guest.

In “Ransom for a Dead Man,” Lee Grant is a high-powered attorney who shoots her husband, then constructs an elaborate kidnapping plot in order to point the feds in the wrong direction. Unfortunately for her, the local cop assigned to the case is none other than Lt. Columbo. Once the kidnapping crosses over into murder […]

Going way, way back for Columbo‘s second pilot, “Ransom for a Dead Man.” Lee Grant murders her husband (pretty much just for being a boring, okay guy), then tries to cover it up with an elaborate fake kidnapping. Attorney and writer Bob Ingersoll (The Law Is a Ass) and the mysterious “Jim” will be the guests.

So, this pilot for Mrs. Columbo,  this “Word Games.” It has Kate Mulgrew. It has Robert Culp. It has Edie Adams. It has Bob Dishy. It has a host of other good people. It has the car. It has Dog. It does not have Columbo. But, it also has a great deal of unpleasantness. A great deal […]

Well, that whole Mrs. Columbo/Kate Columbo/Kate Loves a Mystery thing had to come from somewhere, didn’t it? In our next one, we discuss the pilot, “Word Games.” Author Amanda Reyes (Are You In The House Alone?: A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999) returns to take it all in. If you really want to see it beforehand, […]

In “How to Dial a Murder,” Nicol Williamson plays Dr. Eric Mason, a behavioral psychologist looking to exact revenge on his business partner, who may have had an affair with the doctor’s late wife. This revenge takes the form of having trained dogs viciously tear the partner apart after hearing the phrase, “Rosebud,” all while […]

On our next show, author Glen Erik Hamilton (Every Day Above Ground) returns to talk about Season Seven’s “How to Dial a Murder.” Ever wonder what Those Amazing Dobermans would have been like with a gruesome death and the Landmark Forum added to the mix? Well, here you go!

The Season One finale, “Blueprint for Murder,” stars Patrick O’Neal as an architect whose big upcoming project is placed in jeopardy due to a minor funding issue. What issue? Well, a Texas tycoon’s (Forrest Tucker) young second wife has agreed to devote a huge chunk of the galoot’s fortune to the project and he’ll have […]

In Season One’s “Blueprint for Murder,” what’s an architect do when a Texas millionaire angrily refuses to pay for his elaborate project? Guess what? The hint’s in the title! Mallory Ortberg (Dear Prudence) returns to smash a whole bunch of tiny buildings with Jon and RJ.

What’s this? A high-ranking delegate from a Middle Eastern nation has committed murder to cover up the the theft of $600,000? Yes, it’s “A Case of Immunity”! Thanks to a mistaken assignment, Columbo just happens to be around when Hector Elizondo starts killing off his embassy staff in order to cover up a sloppy embezzlement. […]

What happens when a foreign diplomat starts killing off embassy staff? Can Columbo even touch him without sparking an international incident? Find out, in Season Five’s “A Case of Immunity.” Joining to discuss will be law professor Emily Houh.

In Season Two’s “The Greenhouse Jungle,” Ray Milland and his nephew cook up a fake kidnapping scheme to get at the nephew’s $300,000 trust fund. The scam goes off without a hitch- well, except for the nephew, who ends up getting murdered by his uncle. It’s a broad, odd anomaly of an episode, but Milland plays […]

Get out your salt and pepper, it’s time to chew some scenery! In Season Two’s, “The Greenhouse Jungle,” Ray Milland happily munches every bit of the set as an evil uncle who has no problem killing off his favorite nephew in order to get at the guy’s trust fund. Joining to discuss will be Kevin Mellon […]

Wayne Jennings is a tennis layabout and wannabe actor who’s romancing several women at once, including a famous romance novelist. When she (apparently) threatens to break off their relationship over the phone, he drives across the great state of California to shoot her in cold blood. Well, except maybe he didn’t? Because she might have […]