These shows, from Perry Mason to Murder She Wrote, take us from competitive chess thru tennis to opera. This is Columbo's classical music episode, and it's not bad.
I'm watching the whole series to catch up on it. Previously I've only seen a few here and there, enjoying the distinguished guest stars, the location shooting, the ingenious methods of murder. Columbo's world is very expansive, with wide shots of luxurious mansions (love those) and, well, the Hollywood Bowl. I love anything set in Los Angeles. I like Columbo's method of noticing the odd details that don't add up.
But... you knew there was going to be a but. No disrespect to Peter Falk, but I don't really "get" the central character. He's treated as a buffoon. He seems constructed out of a kit of parts.
He has an amusing dog. I loathed the scene at the vet's. Not funny.
He has a beat-up car that nobody recognises. Is this funny? I suppose in a world where money is positively worshipped and everybody has to have a new, shiny car this might be funny. I suppose we are meant to enjoy looking at the latest shiny cars but I can't drive and cars mean nothing to me.
He is shabby and his shirt is coming free from his waistband. Is this funny?
Is the big joke that he is working-class among all these successful snobs, and he doesn't seem to notice their status and riches? Is it a comment on their shallowness, etc? That could be funny.
And he talks as if he was eating his moustache. I wish he wouldn't do that, but I've noticed that Americans think it's funny. He probably has what we'd call a "common" accent.
Why does he slump so far that he's looking at the floor? Why does he hold one arm in the air? It's baffling. He sometimes holds his hand over his blind eye - like Nelson showing that he sees far more than you think he could?
He smokes all the time, in ritzy drawing-rooms. Yuk!
But back to this episode. Cassavetes is devilishly handsome - but his head is almost on a level with Columbo's. I get the feeling I'd have towered over him if we met. And he smokes on the actual podium while waving a baton!
Wow, Blythe Danner is pretty. I noticed she was pregnant, too.
I'll go on watching, though, for the reasons stated.
I'm watching the whole series to catch up on it. Previously I've only seen a few here and there, enjoying the distinguished guest stars, the location shooting, the ingenious methods of murder. Columbo's world is very expansive, with wide shots of luxurious mansions (love those) and, well, the Hollywood Bowl. I love anything set in Los Angeles. I like Columbo's method of noticing the odd details that don't add up.
But... you knew there was going to be a but. No disrespect to Peter Falk, but I don't really "get" the central character. He's treated as a buffoon. He seems constructed out of a kit of parts.
He has an amusing dog. I loathed the scene at the vet's. Not funny.
He has a beat-up car that nobody recognises. Is this funny? I suppose in a world where money is positively worshipped and everybody has to have a new, shiny car this might be funny. I suppose we are meant to enjoy looking at the latest shiny cars but I can't drive and cars mean nothing to me.
He is shabby and his shirt is coming free from his waistband. Is this funny?
Is the big joke that he is working-class among all these successful snobs, and he doesn't seem to notice their status and riches? Is it a comment on their shallowness, etc? That could be funny.
And he talks as if he was eating his moustache. I wish he wouldn't do that, but I've noticed that Americans think it's funny. He probably has what we'd call a "common" accent.
Why does he slump so far that he's looking at the floor? Why does he hold one arm in the air? It's baffling. He sometimes holds his hand over his blind eye - like Nelson showing that he sees far more than you think he could?
He smokes all the time, in ritzy drawing-rooms. Yuk!
But back to this episode. Cassavetes is devilishly handsome - but his head is almost on a level with Columbo's. I get the feeling I'd have towered over him if we met. And he smokes on the actual podium while waving a baton!
Wow, Blythe Danner is pretty. I noticed she was pregnant, too.
I'll go on watching, though, for the reasons stated.