We’ve all been there: leaning forward in our favourite chair, eyes wide, staring at the screen, waiting for that fabulous moment when the killer’s luck runs out and Columbo takes ’em down.
At their very best, the Columbo ‘gotcha’ moment can have the audience fist-pumping and whooping with glee as the killer’s smug veneer crumbles away and the realisation that they’re history kicks in. To celebrate these golden moments, I’ve put my thinking cap on and listed what I think are the 10 very best denouements. And to make it clear, we’re talking about the actual moment when Columbo gets his man or woman, regardless of what comes before or what happens afterwards. After all, lest we forget, some of the very best episodes have relatively weak reveals, while some lesser episodes are redeemed by the Columbo knock-out blow at the end.
If your own favourite isn’t here (and I must warn you that some sensational moments have not made the cut), do let me know what your own faves are and why. Now, here we go…
10. Columbo Goes to College (1990)
Purists may rage that the climax of this far-fetched outing from 1990 is selected ahead of some iconic 70s moments, but a man must write from the heart and select according to conscience, not to seek popular approval. Hence the smack-down of frat brats Justin and Coop sneaks into my top 10.
As gotchas go, it’s a bit of a double-whammy. Firstly, Columbo shows the crowd of criminology students how the murder was committed, with a car door remote firing a gun through the air vents on Coop’s rad Hilux hood to shatter a dummy’s head into a million pieces. This elicits not a flicker of a confession from the dastardly duo, of course, and the other dim-witted students seem strangely incapable of deducing that this experiment essentially totally proves they did it!
No, it’s not until Columbo reveals that the car Justin and Coop had planted the murder weapon in (to incriminate a hired goon) was really Mrs Columbo’s car that the wily Lieutenant had tricked the boys into using! Only Justin and Coop had information on the car. Only Justin and Coop could be guilty of the crime.
Reminiscent of how the Lieutenant snared Commissioner Halperin in 1974’s A Friend in Deed, it’s a delicious conclusion to an episode that really proved to a new, young audience (both in the show and amongst the TV viewership) how sharp and relevant Columbo still was.
9. Playback (1975)
Gadget lover Harold Van Wick is certain that his manipulation of CCTV footage showing the shooting of his crone-like mother-in-law will leave him in the clear and free to continue running the family’s electronics empire into the ground. After all, as his flashy digital timepiece (the Apple Watch of its day) clearly shows, he was eyeing up brunettes at an art show at the supposed time of the crime.
Naturally, Columbo’s inquisitive mind (and one good eye) hones in on the only fatal flaw in Harold’s dastardly scheme: his invite to the art show could be seen on the sideboard behind the mother-in-law’s dead body; yet it is gone in the rigged footage used to establish his alibi. Ergo, the shooting occurred before Harold left the building.
The beauty of this gotcha is in the contrasting reactions between Harold and his handicapped wife, Elizabeth. Harold’s quivering, barely controlled rage at being foiled is set against the shock and tear-stained face of Elizabeth. It packs an emotional punch few other episodes get close to.
8. Prescription: Murder (1968)
Dr Ray Flemming is so in love with himself and his massive intellect that there’s no room for anyone else. After viciously strangling Mrs Flemming, he stages an elaborate fight on an airplane with his young lover – scorching redhead Joan – disguised as his wife. She flees from the plane before take off, leaving the good Dr to head off to his alibi in Acapulco.
Once Columbo is on to them, and knowing Joan is the weak link, Dr Flemming is desperate to see the back of her. Imagine his satisfaction, then, when Columbo calls him to Joan’s house and reveals she’s taken an overdose. Upon seeing a bikini-clad redhead being dragged from a swimming pool and covered with a blanket, seemingly dead as a post, it looks for all the world as if Dr Flemming is home and dry.
You got rid of your wife but you’ve lost the girl you loved, so it was all for nothing, chides Columbo. Not so, scoffs the dastardly Doc, unable to resist one last chance to prove his superior mental capacity. Joan was expendable. He’d have found some way to get rid of her.
Lo-and-behold the real Joan emerges from a corner where she’d been skulking, listening to every back-stabbing word. The other redhead was a decoy – Columbo having used Dr Flemming’s own modus operandi against him to make him see what he wanted to see. It’s the ultimate table turn, and with a simmering Joan ready to confess, Dr Flemming’s future is suddenly looking a lot less rosy.
7. Now You See Him (1976)
Many a fan’s ultimate favourite, Now You See Him pits Jack Cassidy against Peter Falk for the third and final time in an episode that aired 10 months before Cassidy’s untimely death. Luckily for us, it’s a suitably magnificent send-off with a gotcha moment to cherish.
In a case in which establishing motive and opportunity are so difficult (Santini is allegedly locked in a chest, submerged in water at the time of the crime) Columbo has to use the magician’s methods against him to draw him out. Meanwhile, sidekick Sergeant Wilson’s knowledge of type writer carbon ribbons allows them to secure the crucial evidence they need to prove motive: the victim was about to blow Santini’s cover as being a wanted Nazi concentration camp guard by sending a typed letter to the authorities. Cue an unforgettable encounter in the Cabaret of Magic.
Using slight-of-hand techniques to produce multiple copies of the incriminating document – despite Santini sending one up in smoke as his final act of defiance – it’s a marvelously showy ending entirely in keeping with the theme of the episode. It also delivered one of the series’ best ever lines, after Santini mourns that he thought he’d get away with a perfect murder.
“Perfect murder, sir?” says Columbo. “Oh I’m sorry, there’s no such thing as a perfect murder. That’s just an illusion.”
6. Negative Reaction (1974)
It’s not the first time we see Columbo employing suspect tactics to get his man (plant evidence much in Death Lends a Hand, Lieutenant?), but the conclusion to Negative Reaction is so good because it gives us genuine insight into just what Columbo is willing to do in the line of duty – and how he feels about having done it.
First, he deliberately develops a reversed version of the key photographic evidence in order to blow chief suspect and ace photographer Paul Galesko’s alibi. He then spins a yarn to Galesko about how he’d accidentally destroyed the original photo by dropping it in acid, forcing the desperate snapper to urge the Lieutenant to look at the original negative within the camera. Acting on impulse, and in front of eye-witnesses, Galesko grabs the incriminating camera that Columbo has cleverly placed in plain view behind him. The trap is sprung. Only the killer could know which camera was used. Galesko, stunned, realises he’s done himself in.
Despite ultimately achieving his aims this is a Pyrrhic victory for Columbo, who knows he has has stooped low to conquer. His slump-shouldered reaction at the closing freeze-frame says it all.
5. The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case (1977)
There’s a lot to like about this episode. As I’ll doubtless cover in future posts, this is my very favourite episode and it contains probably five of what I consider the 10 best Columbo scenes of all – the gotcha moment high amongst them.
There is majesty in the editing of the gotcha sequence. Employing simple cuts between the faces of the two leads, director Sam Wanamaker ramps up the tension and accelerates the confrontation to its conclusion as an increasingly agitated Oliver Brandt is driven to prove his intellectual superiority by showing Columbo exactly how the murder was committed – squibs, marker pen, giant dictionary and all. As his roars of self-satisfied laughter fade into the realisation that he’s sealed his own fate, Brandt visibly deflates and sags into the nearest armchair.
Notable not just for its fine staging and the terrific performances from Peter Falk and Theo Bikel, this denouement also features a cracking script, none more so than when Brandt, driven to a frenzy, brays at Columbo: “The man who conceived all this, you make him out to be a BUNGLING ASS!” Solid gold…
4. A Deadly State of Mind (1975)
A hit-and-miss episode in some ways, yet when it most matters Deadly State of Mind delivers a magnificent parting shot that lives long in the memory.
When escaping the crime scene after pokering to death his love rival, Dr Marcus Collier almost drives over a blind man and guide dog on their evening stroll. At the end of an episode, the ultra-smug Doc is confronted by a magnificent set-piece, arranged by Columbo, whereby an identikit man claims to be an eye witness who saw Collier making his getaway.
Dr Collier makes the fatal mistake of allowing his ego to kick in at the expense of his common sense. Never you mind that this man has walked unaided into the room and completed tasks only a sighted person could do, says the Doc. He’s clearly blind! And he sets to prove as much by making the man read from selected pages of a magazine – which of course the man manages perfectly.
Only then does a stunned Collier know he’s been had. This isn’t a blind man at all – but it is the blind man’s brother. And the eye witness who can therefore put Collier at the scene of the crime is none other than Collier himself. Simply sensational stuff.
3. A Friend in Deed (1974)
The great success of A Friend in Deed was the establishment very early on in the episode that Deputy Commissioner Mark Halperin was an officer of the law we could neither like nor trust. He’s the very antithesis of the honest, humble and earthy Lieutenant and it makes his ultimate downfall all the more satisfying.
After killing his own wife and covering up for the murder of his neighbour’s wife, Halperin endeavours to lump the blame on jailbird and thief extraordinaire, Artie Jessup. He evens uses information from the case files to plant evidence (jewels) at Jessup’s address. Personally leading the search at Jessup’s apartment, Halperin becomes increasingly rattled as Columbo reveals he knows exactly how the Commissioner’s wife was killed – and accuses him directly of committing the crime.
Halperin’s personal crisis appears to have passed when the incriminating jewels are unearthed under a mattress. If the Commissioner killed his wife, how could her jewels be at Jessup’s place? Then comes the coup de grace. This isn’t Jessup’s apartment at all. It’s Columbo’s. Look – here are his shirts. Here’s a picture of his brother-in-law. His pyjamas are in the closet. You see, Columbo changed the address on the case file, and only the Commissioner had seen it.
Try as he might, Halperin can’t utter a word in defence when confronted with such damning evidence. His silence, and his grudging acceptance of his fate, makes for extremely satisfying viewing.
2. Candidate for Crime (1973)
Desperate to prove his innocence following the murder of his deeply unfashionable campaign manager, Harry Stone, senatorial hopeful Nelson ‘His Own Man’ Hayward cooks up an ambitious hoax assassination attempt on election day. While pretending to make private phone calls in his office at campaign HQ, he fires a silencer through his balcony window into a wall behind his desk. He then has the gun smuggled out by an unwitting accomplice and merrily trots off to vote with Mrs Hayward.
Upon his return, he makes a further claim to be making private calls, setting off a firecracker on the balcony to masquerade as a gunshot. Cue pandemonium as Hayward’s entourage bursts in to find him shaken and claiming to have barely escaped being slain by a gun-wielding thug on his balcony, who has, suspiciously, immediately disappeared without trace.
Columbo enters, stating that the gunman is in the room. In fact it’s Hayward himself, he says. Hayward loses it, challenging the Lieutenant to pluck the bullet from the wall and run it through ballistics to prove it’s a match for the gun that killed Harry. There’s no gun in the room, so that proves Hayward didn’t kill Harry, doesn’t it?
No, sir, says Columbo. You see, he already dug the bullet out of the wall just after Hayward went to vote. He knew Hayward wasn’t making calls from his office because he was monitoring the indicator lights on the phone lines (only in the 70s). And Columbo’s busts Hayward’s bluster in unforgettable fashion: “I dug this bullet out of that wall three hours before you said that somebody fired it at you three minutes ago [immense pause for effect]. You’re under arrest, sir.”
All Hayward can do is close his eyes and say a silent prayer. Another one bites the dust…
1. Suitable for Framing (1971)
Magnificent in its simplicity, the take-down of smarmy art critic Dale Kingston remains a joy to behold – whether at the first viewing or the 101st.
Keen to see his crazy Aunt Edna take the rap for the murder of his uncle Rudy, Kingston has planted some stolen Degas pastels in her linen closet, which the police duly find. Things look bad for Edna, but Columbo – late on the scene after seemingly being dismissed from the case – orders that the artworks be dusted for prints as he accuses Kingston of slaying his uncle.
Knowing his own prints are all over the works, ol’ Dale remains cool as a cucumber. But no, it’s Columbo’s prints they’re looking for after he got his mitts on them when reaching into an art folder earlier in the episode. And when there’s a positive ID on Columbo’s prints being on the paintings, Kingston is running short on options.
Entrapment, he claims with desperation. Columbo must have touched the paintings just now while he wasn’t looking! Cue the legendary ‘gloved hand reveal’. Watch closely and you can see Kingston’s lip quiver in panic when the Lieutenant’s hands come out of the raincoat pockets. It’s a brilliant performance from Ross Martin, who was superb throughout in making Kingston a killer you could love to loathe.
I defy anyone to watch this scene without wanting to leap on to their feet and roar with approval. Could this be the single best TV moment of all time? I’ve yet to see a better one…
The take-down of Dale Kingston remains a joy to behold – whether at the first viewing or the 101st.
So there we are. I’d love to know what you make of my top 10 Columbo gotchas. Do let me know in the comments section below. Apologies to the Double Exposure fans out there, who may be up in arms that the episode isn’t featured. It was a tough decision, believe me…
Of course, not every Columbo can be graced with an ending as exquisite as these. If you dare, you can have a look at the 10 least satisfying gotchas of the 70s here. Until next we meet, farewell.
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Can’t believe Johnny Cash in Swan Song didn’t make the top ten. He came trudging out of the woods holding the incriminating parachute in plain sight.
It’s too reminiscent of previous gotchas (Death Lends a Hand, Any Old Port in a Storm, Blueprint for Murder) to earn a place here.
I’ve never thought of that, but good point. Though Swan Song easily makes my top 10 favorites, i can’t see the gotcha in the top 10.
Jerry, I’ve always loved this gotcha. Johnny Cash was a legend but I couldn’t wait till Columbo busted him and when he did it was glorious! Sex predators deserve a special place in Hell and Tommy Brown needed to be there – along with Edna of course.
Let me respectfully register my dissenting opinion. “Swan Song” deserves its place in this upper echelon because: (1) is it about as definitive a gotcha in terms of guilt as you’ll find; (2) it involves no questionable conduct on Columbo’s part (compare “Negative Reaction”; “A Deadly State of Mind”; “Death Lends a Hand”; “Any Old Port in a Storm”); (3) it is preceded by a great pre-gotcha sequence (“I knew, then I didn’t know, and then I knew.”); and (4) it is so fully interwoven into the story as a whole (relating directly to a clever murder method grounded in the killer’s specialized skill, but a skill that isn’t obvious from the outset). So many Columbo gotchas are interchangeable. The blind witness gotcha was conceived by Richard Levinson long before “A Deadly State of Mind” was written. The “Candidate of Crime” gotcha could have solved many a Columbo. But the parachute gotcha could only be in “Swan Song.”
I must put in a word for “The Greenhouse Jungle,” because of the SPEED of Ray Milland’s collapse. He goes from complete confidence to complete defeat–from “I’ve got this idiot policeman outsmarted” to “Oh my god he’s got me!”–in the course of a single sentence, really in a single sentence. It is a most satisfactory deflation for one of the show’s most arrogant murderers.
I think A Stitch in Crime has one of the most memorable endings and should definitely be on the list.
I’m not a fan of Suitable for Framing – It feels really, really contrived, though the performances are good. I do far prefer the ones where Columbo’s not had to rely on some fluke of luck to get to that point, so I think A Friend In Deed takes it for me.
Howabout the Columbo that ended with the dead woman buried behind the drywall?
He asked the killer to make one last call.
The call was a typed message/text to a matching bracelet.
When exiting they heard a beeping sound.
Behind the drywall, wrapped in a plastic bag -to keep for smelling- was the victim.
On her wrist was a bracelet that had the message Columbo had just left by means of the phone call.
The message read: GOTCHA!!!
How could that not make the ‘Gotcha’ list?
Yes! Columbo Cries Wolf was an unusual episode to be sure, but the gotcha was classic fun.
As always, CP’s choices are the best but I gotta add Swan Song. Seeing Johnny Cash all happy and smug trying to retrieve the hidden parachute before Columbo busts him is always very satisfying!
My personal favourite
comes at the end of
Short Fuse. Keep in mind, that in that
one, Columbo has absolutely no
physical proof at all that the victims
were murdered. As all of the evidence
burned up with the gasoline in the
explosion. The killer knew this too, and
all he had to do was keep quiet. Still,
Columbo was able to create damning
evidence out of nothing. Brilliant!
My second favourite was Edmund’s message
from the grave at the end of Try and Catch Me.
An honourable mention for the one from
Requiem For a Falling Star. In that case, the
gotcha was the secret that was the motive for
the murder. Which was the irrefutable proof
of a body below the fountain that no one but
the killer knew was there!
Best columbo ever was How to dial a murder with the Two dogs. Brilliant.
What about The most crucial game ?
I love the way Robert Culp react when he realize he’s done cause there’s no clock chimes on the record
I’m not a fan of that one, personally. It’s dramatically presented but Columbo hasn’t made any sort of strong case against Hanlon so it doesn’t satisfy me.
The Dale Kingston gotcha is so magnificent I rewatch that sceneat least 5 times every time I watch the episode. Ross Martin’s reaction is fantastic.
It will always, in my opinion, be the greatest TV moment of them all.
One of the best comical scenes is when he’s with the landlord who claims she has a photo of “Dale”. His facial and hand expressions when she’s looking through the photo album is priceless 😂
What it is about the “glove handed reveal” that you love so much? Would you say that it there is no say out for dale at the point or could a good lawyer get him off?
The beauty of the reveal is that Columbo so perfectly anticipates Dale’s defense — police shenanigans — that he is able to rebut Dale’s potential out without saying a word. At the same time, Columbo proves definitively to everyone in the room how ahead of the game he is, driving home the certainty of speechless Dale’s guilt.
I don’t think a lawyer is going to get Dale off. The stolen painting can be traced back to him as well as the opportunity to frame his aunt. Once police find out his art protege is also missing/dead …
Publish or Perish could have been on here if they had reversed the order of the evidence. Columbo uses the better evidence first (which doesn’t phase the killer) before concluding with slightly weaker evidence, which is what gets the killer to finally accept defeat.
It’s not a gotcha moment as such, but I do love to see Oskar Werner as Harold van Wick getting increasingly rattled by Columbo’s persistent questioning of everything, in Playback.
Yes, the gotcha moment for Playback is on the list in fact, and it is a great gotcha moment.
I agree that Suitable for Framing is the best gotcha. But I just watched Murder, Smoke and Shadows, which I don’t recall ever seeing before. I thought the gotcha in that was pretty great. Setting Brady up with the same kind of setup Brady used on him was pretty genius. And he used the lights and shadows in the studio when introducing his cast of witnesses–I loved that.
Never too late to join a thread 🙂 One of my personal favorites is from “Try and Catch Me.” It may be quite a coincidence that the victim had the opportunity to leave a message in that fashion, but it’s such a satisfying conclusion, especially when Ruth Gordon reads that message out loud. The dialog that follows is great too.
I may very well be a year too late adding to this thread but how on earth can the Gotcha from Troubled Waters not be a top 5 never mind a top ten ?
In Negative Reaction, Galesko simply could have said: “Lt., that negative could only have come from that TYPE of camera! Being a professional photographer with decades of experience, I would know that! Any more questions, Lt. Columbo?
He may later try that ruse in court, but the way Columbo works him round to a nervous frenzy with his lies about destroying the origins photo is masterful!
Yep he probably did, but I don’t think the jury would have bought it; the camera was surrounded by 12 other cameras that he didn’t even consider (and where it was placed it would only catch your eye if you recognised it). Columbo carefully put the camera where an innocent man wouldn’t see it.
The camera wasn’t in front on the shelf. The camera was behind a row of cameras on the shelf. Galesko had to move the front row of cameras over to take the camera off the shelf, which is proof positive he knew exactly what camera he was looking for.
My number one remains “A friend in deed”. Seen 100 times i still loose my mind when Columbo says “these are my pajamas…”
Just reread this article and they are all great gotcha’s. However only 1 of my personal top 3 features in your list, so here’s my top 3:
1. A stitch in crime
Just perfect. I envy all those people who have never seen it before. I remember so well doubting my very own mind: how did dr Mayfield get away with it? And then Columbo re entered and said: ‘ there was only one thing we didn’t search,… me.’ And a very satisfying gotcha it was too because dr Mayfield actually made Columbo mad.
2. A friend in deed
For all the reasons you’ve mentioned already.
3. Double exposure
It’s like catching a gravedigger by digging a grave, if the gravedigger were as arrogant as dr Kepple, who’d never guess that someone else would have the brains to think of using his subliminal cuts like that. Kepple’s astonishment at being caught is priceless.
So true, all three of those episodes are in my top 10 favorite list with Double Exposure at #1. A Friend In Deed was probably the best gotcha with a similar scenario used years later in Columbo Goes To College.
Double Exposure is my favorite of all. The interplay between Falk and Culp is top notch. He basically accuses Culp of the crime, but admits he has no evidence, before the halfway point. But Culp is so crafty Columbo has to work hard to break the alibi down.
I agree, also this is the 1st episode i remember watching via re-run in the mid 80’s and thinking how much better this show was than anything of its kind. Also Kepple showed amazing courage not just in the murder plot, but in wearing that lavender belt and yellow jacket.
Culp is probably the best dressed killer in the entire series. And yes, while that yellow jacket and lavender belt would make fools of us mere mortals, damned if Culp doesn’t stylishly pull it off.
David, I think the main reason Keppel’s final gotcha isn’t included is because of the staging of Columbo and the police photographer. There’s no way Keppel would have walked into his office and not seen both of them, barely concealed behind the potted plant.
All my favourites are here. There may be others, but this is a great list!
Death Hits The Jackpot has a fine gotcha ending…with extra gravy added when Uncle Leon blabs about Freddy’s wife calling his house pretending to be Freddy. Columbo’s dangling the 30 million dollars in front of them both was highly entertaining and very clever.
However I wonder who gets the 30 million dollars? I can see Mrs. Lamar claiming it, On the other hand the police recognize Freddy as the rightful recipient so his next of kin (perhaps parents) should be in line for it.
I agree regarding Negative Reaction and Deadly State of Mind being great “gotchas”. I think Blueprint for Murder should also be on the list. However, my personal #1 which didn’t even make the list is Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo. That gotcha line is also my most favorite Columbo line of all time.
Disagree with others as Columbo Cries Wolf is one of my least favourite episodes. The gotcha at the end isn’t worth the really cheap twist that happens before it that ruins the episode for me.
I have a soft spot for that one, perhaps because it’s the first Columbo episode I ever saw when I was only, say, 12 years old. Of course later on I discovered other episodes were better, but I can still enjoy Columbo cries Wolf very much. Ian Buchanan (also excellent in Twin Peaks) is a real challenge for Columbo, he actually manages to fool him(!), and I like his arrogance as well. And I’d have to agree with some of the other comments here, love the gotcha and Columbo’s satisfactory look when he has his revenge.
Well explained choices. I really did like Columbo Cries Wolf though. I really think it was a brilliant ending.
Even though it’s a “Movie Collection” episode, I really enjoyed the “Gotcha” in “Rest in Peace Mrs. Columbo”
I thought “The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case” was a poor gotcha. Columbo does not prove that Oliver was the one who committed the murder, doesn’t catch Oliver in a lie, doesn’t place him in that room. It reminded me of “Forgotten Lady”, another otherwise excellent episode in which Columbo never actually proves the killer did it.
Indeed Columbo doesn’t prove anything. Brandt could say, intelligent as he is, that he figured out by himself how the imaginary smart killer did it, after Columbo informed Brandt about the circumstances. Just by connecting the dots, he doesn’t become guilty. But let’s say, it would have been proof. It still would be a weak ending as Columbo doesn’t have Sgt. Burke around to be a witness of how Brandt gave himself away. In every other episode when the killer traps himself in the situation (“Death Lends a Hand”, “Short Fuse”, “Blueprint for Murder”, “The Most Dangerous Match”, “Negative Reaction”, “A Deadly State of Mind” …), Columbo always has a witness so it wouldn’t be word against word in court.
I have nothing against the ending of The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case as it is one of my favorite episodes. To say that Columbo should have to have a witness with him, as if truth is decided by majority vote, when he is sworn in court to tell the truth, and is testifying as to what he actually heard, not hearsay, is a stretch. I’d say that the dumbest thing that Brandt did was to draw the red line on the dictionary. Since it is on the bottom of the dictionary, he wouldn’t even be able to see it in order to balance the book, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. He’d be able to balance the book just as easily by trial and error.
My only problem with Suitable for Framing (and a few other episodes) is you don’t get to see the smarmy murderer squerm long enough.
For me the best Columbo take down bar none was Columbo Cries Wolf – dials in a beeper message to reveal the body hidden behind a wall – “GOTCHA”. And the killers face is a picture. Lol absolutely brilliant.
If they had shown Dale Kingston’s face after the gotcha for five more seconds, I would have had the impression that the director is hailing himself for his terrific movie and enjoying Columbo’s victory – but this is something that should be left to the audience only. That’s why the absolutely fabulous ending of “Suitable for Framing” couldn’t get any better than this.
And yes, the gotcha of “Columbo Cries Wolf” is similar in its high quality and satisfaction for the viewer.
The end of Suitable is PERFECT! I wonder change a millisecond of it. The camera was on Kingston long enough to perfectly encapsulate his descent into panic and despair. Bravo to all involved!