Columbo

The contributions of Patrick McGoohan to this long-running series were numerous, both as actor and director, but how valuable to the show was he, really? This is the worst-ever episode, and its only competitor for that dubious honour is another segment McGoohan directed, the much earlier "Last Salute To The Commodore". Here, McGoohan also has a writing credit, so there isn't really anyone else to blame, except maybe Peter Falk himself. It's truly painful to admit that Falk here gives a really terrible performance under his old chum's guidance. Columbo makes an utter imbecile of himself, and in a way that would get him a room in the old folks' home rather than a commendation from the police commissioner. The modest ingenuity of the plot is lost in a welter of ridiculous - and also demeaning - jokes, and the incidental details (such as the villain's description of how film music works) aren't at all accurate. Columbo - looking truly ancient, incidentally - should have retired well before this humiliation.

By the time they got around to doing this episode, everyone, including the extras where on auto-pilot. Whenever a show uses the back-lot for a story, it's usually because they don't want to, or can't, spend any money on sets. In this case, I think they were just milking the series for one more show on the cheap. Billy Connolly does a good job as the killer, and he has a chance to show off his musical side, but it's wasted on a so-so script. Peter Falk is just plain phoning it in. Don't get me wrong, I love the series, just not this episode.