This is the one in which Robert Conrad, as the owner of Milo Janus's Fitness Clubs, strangles a franchisee who has discovered fraud or extortion or embezzlement or exhibitionism or something. It is also the one in which Gretchen Corbett wears a bikini.
The plot is nothing out of the ordinary for Columbo at the top of his game. He unravels Conrad's scheme little by little. But this episode is distinguished by some very good acting on the part of supporting players and it is, arguably, the funniest episode in the series.
In his first two meetings with the murderer, Columbo is required to take vitamin pills for breakfast, drink carrot juice, accompany the egregiously fit Conrad on his morning workout, and cope with a shoe full of sand on Conrad's impeccably clean patio. And he discusses his wife's attempt to lose weight. "She was NEVER thin. I tried to explain. I kind of like 'em with a little (gestures) -- well, that's somethin' else." The comic scene that stands out most in my mind is Columbo's trying to determine the current address of a suspect, Lewis Lacey, through the computer company that once employed him. The computer at the company's office begins to rattle off every datum about Lacey known to man or beast. Columbo tries politely to interrupt -- "What was he a president or somethin'? I mean, all dat stuff --" But the woman behind the desk (beautiful, lissome, professionally competent, and uncredited) only answers him with polite reassurances or ignores him completely. The scene goes on and on. It cracks me up every time. And AFTER this, Columbo tries to call Lacey at his home phone and begins to explain things before he realizes that he's speaking to an answering machine instead of a human being, evidently his first encounter with one of the things. He then explains very slowly, as if the machine might otherwise misinterpret him. "I can be reached at the main department.....The number there is ..... You can look dat up." Collin Wilcox, as the wife of the victim, is superb in a complex role that must combine several mutually contradictory emotions and still express them in a believable manner. She was Mayella Ewell, the fake rape victim in "To Kill A Mockingbird." She resembles Maura Tierney.
You could drive a Prime Mover through the plot holes, but that's always the case. A strenuous effort to suspend disbelief is just part of the price you pay for watching what is one of Columbo's best episodes.
The plot is nothing out of the ordinary for Columbo at the top of his game. He unravels Conrad's scheme little by little. But this episode is distinguished by some very good acting on the part of supporting players and it is, arguably, the funniest episode in the series.
In his first two meetings with the murderer, Columbo is required to take vitamin pills for breakfast, drink carrot juice, accompany the egregiously fit Conrad on his morning workout, and cope with a shoe full of sand on Conrad's impeccably clean patio. And he discusses his wife's attempt to lose weight. "She was NEVER thin. I tried to explain. I kind of like 'em with a little (gestures) -- well, that's somethin' else." The comic scene that stands out most in my mind is Columbo's trying to determine the current address of a suspect, Lewis Lacey, through the computer company that once employed him. The computer at the company's office begins to rattle off every datum about Lacey known to man or beast. Columbo tries politely to interrupt -- "What was he a president or somethin'? I mean, all dat stuff --" But the woman behind the desk (beautiful, lissome, professionally competent, and uncredited) only answers him with polite reassurances or ignores him completely. The scene goes on and on. It cracks me up every time. And AFTER this, Columbo tries to call Lacey at his home phone and begins to explain things before he realizes that he's speaking to an answering machine instead of a human being, evidently his first encounter with one of the things. He then explains very slowly, as if the machine might otherwise misinterpret him. "I can be reached at the main department.....The number there is ..... You can look dat up." Collin Wilcox, as the wife of the victim, is superb in a complex role that must combine several mutually contradictory emotions and still express them in a believable manner. She was Mayella Ewell, the fake rape victim in "To Kill A Mockingbird." She resembles Maura Tierney.
You could drive a Prime Mover through the plot holes, but that's always the case. A strenuous effort to suspend disbelief is just part of the price you pay for watching what is one of Columbo's best episodes.