Episode 40 – Columbo: Murder By the Book

“Just one more thing…”

In this month’s Single Serving Selection, we join Ask an Atheist‘s Sam Mulvey to snoop around the first episode of the beloved inverted-mystery series, starring Peter Falk’s rumbled detective: 1971’s Columbo: Murder By the Book.

When one half of an award-winning mystery writing team learns that his more-talented partner is leaving for a solo career, he sees his meal ticket slipping away. The only way to save his career and claim a sizeable insurance policy is to commit the perfect murder. The only hitch is that the crime is being investigated by a personable and seemingly-clownish police detective who just might have his number.

4 thoughts on “Episode 40 – Columbo: Murder By the Book

  1. Nice discussion, gentlemen – although I would think that the whole Columbo phenomenon would merit an entire regular episode rather than a single serving. It’s a show that I think holds up really well. Also nice to know that there’s a few episodes posted on YouTube – I’ll have to check that out.

    • Thanks for the kind words, as always!

      I did have some thought about this being a full-on Columbo panel episode, but two things made me ultimately decide to tackle it as a Single Serving:

      1.) We only do two panel episodes a year — one moderated by me, and another by Casey. And I’ve already chosen my 2020 panel, and Casey is putting his to a vote later this year, after his 2019 panel is released. So, we’re booked for a while.

      and…

      2.) The combination of this episode being a Spielberg/Bochco joint as well as Columbo’s consistent structure and format meant that we could talk a bit about all of Columbo through the prism of this specific episode of Columbo. I think we did an alright enough job of squaring that circle. Or I hope we did.

  2. I got referred to your podcast by Council of Geeks. I was interested when I heard that you are going to review every Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. But when I saw this episode about Columbo I was sold. I’ve been a huge fan since I was a kid and I was so excited to listen to the podcast. Hope to hear more in the future. <3

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