The Columbo Files – S3 E3 – Candidate For Crime!

Hey, hey, hey, it's Chaos Queen here, and you're

listening to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hey,

it's Mistress Carrie, and you are listening to

Studio 2009. Something I can do for you, Lieutenant?

No, just... See, the streetlight is broken. I

bet the kids did that. I remember that's what

we used to do. Throw rocks, break the streetlight.

We here at the Geekcast Radio Network of Podcasts

are here to entertain you. We are into entertaining

our audience with discussions from media and

content we love, from TV shows, film, music,

comics, video games, and more. However, sometimes

politics creeps into that content. that we consume.

That's the case here with this episode of Columbo.

I'm TF2 and Mike, and my personal opinion that

goes outside of the realm of the Geekcast Radio

Network and is not sponsored by the Geekcast

Radio Network in any way is that all politicians

are corrupt, period, end of line, man. There

is nothing wrong with your podcast player. Do

not attempt to adjust the volume. Hello and welcome

back into our studio. You are now inside Studio

2009. As you have already heard, I am TF2 and

Mike. Joining me once again is that good old

detective, Dave Draper. Hi, Dave. How are you?

That was not the disclaimer I expected, but okay.

Hi, I'm fine. What did you expect? given the

subject matter of the episode, a little more

specific. But, I mean, we'll get there, I guess.

Yeah, we'll get there. It's got politics in it,

folks. It's called... It's just... So, it's weird.

Like, this episode was filmed and created before

even the Reagan assassination, let alone recent

events. Yeah. But there is this almost eerie

prescience to it. And given – let's just say

half the country will feel that this is a very

prescient episode, and half the country would

be like, man, that's just the liberal bias of

the blah, blah, blah. I mean it's not the first

time that this sort of story has been told. I

remember in the 80s or 90s, I think there was

this – I read the book. I think it was called

Favorite Son, and they did a miniseries with

– I can't remember the guy's name, but he was

in Clash of Titans and LA Law. But anyway, it

was – so this – introduce the episode. The listener

will pretty much figure out what we're talking

about pretty quickly. Yeah, I'm here. I'm here.

Did they get you? No, I'm here. I was trying

to find favorite son. Okay. I can't remember

the guy's name. Corbin Bernson? No, not Corbin

Bernson. The other one. The original star of

L .A. Law. Corbin Bernson was a breakout star.

Jimmy Smith? Who else was a breakout star of

L .A. Law? This was the anchor guy, particularly

in the first couple of seasons. Not Susan Day

either. No, no, no. Yeah, I – not – no, Corbin

Bernson was Arnie. The old guy. No! Oh, my God.

I don't know. Anyway. Just introduce the episode

and I will look it up. Yeah, yeah, I'm working

on it. Today we do our journey as we put our

– detective hats on or trench coats or something.

We put something on. Jump back in time with Columbo.

These are the Columbo files here inside Studio

2009. Starting at the beginning, as always, going

forward in time, through time, in order. Main

source online is 2B .TV, but it is also on Peacock

and other places as well. A really crummy DVD

set. They must have gone with a different company

because, man, I'm unhappy. Oh, no. Oh, no. So

they do the cheap thing where like it's a two

sided DVD. Yeah, that was the old garbage. Yep,

yep, yep. That was the old days. Today is season

three, episode three, and we are involved with

a candidate for crime. Oh, boy. Anytime politics.

This is why I've never seen the West Wing. And

it's not I don't do politics. I don't like politics

in my television. I don't like. political shows.

I was fine with... Oh, Favorite Son was before

L .A. Law. I was fine with Winter Soldier because

it was one movie. It was fine. But TV shows?

I don't like long -running... L .A. Law I'm fine

with because it's lawyers. It's not strictly

politics. But shows that center around politics,

I just... tune out. Well, West Wing, first of

all, it's a very good show. I'm not saying it's

not. I know you're not, but what I'm saying is

what was interesting about that is that it was

almost like the fantasy of the president we all

wanted. You know what I mean? Yeah. And it was.

It was the president that we all really hoped

to have someday. Technical difficulties. Let's

move on, shall we? You were saying? Well, West

Wing is, I mean, it really kind of is a fantasy

because everyone's noble. Everyone's doing what

we want the people in those positions to do.

Right. And I think the real world is much muddier

and messier. As I said repeatedly during this

particular election cycle, people don't get to

that level and be clean. You know what I mean?

You don't get to run for that kind of office

and still have your morals and your – you compromise

somewhere along the way. Right. This one is –

and the thing we're dancing around – so the premise

is that Jackie Coogan, right? Cooper. It's so

funny. Jackie Coogan, he's a – Perry White in

the Superman films. Yeah, that's what's so funny

to me. I'm like, I looked at his name like Jackie

Cooper as Nelson Hayward. I'm like. No, it's

Cooper. Is it Cooper? Yeah, it's Cooper. Yeah,

I'm looking at it right now. Jackie Cooper. I

believe you. Yep. Yeah, Jackie Cooper. I'm like,

wait a minute. I know that. That's Perry White

in the Superman movies. He was also, I believe

he was the kid in the Charlie Chaplin film, The

Kid. Oh, very cool. Well, at this point, if I'm

getting the name wrong, I might... I thought

that was the deal. Because he was an old, old...

Oh, he was Cooper. Who am I? I guess. I'm stupid.

Jackie Cooper is probably somebody else. I am

not quite old enough to have starred in a Charlie

Chaplin film, but... Pretty close. But yeah,

as I remember, he was an old child star who kind

of got a second bite. Anyway, he's... He's playing

a guy named Hanlon, which is – well, I'll mention

that in the next episode, actually. There's a

reference. There's continuity. It's the Columbo

Cinematic Universe. Yes. I was really excited

about that. Yes. But he's playing a guy who's

running for Senate of California. Nelson Hayward,

yep. He's Nelson Hayward, and he's having an

affair with his wife's assistant, and his campaign

manager wants him to break that up. And so he

basically fakes death threats, although – now

keep in mind this is in the early 70s. This is

after Kennedy. This is after the other Kennedy

who died in California. I could be wrong. This

is after Martin Luther King. This is after several

high -profile political assassinations. I think

that's the context of this episode. per se um

so he's he's but he's faking these threats and

he manipulates events so that his campaign manager

is dressed in his camel hair jacket and goes

to his house and he kills him now one of my biggest

issues with this episode i mean they established

that the guy is not very popular the campaign

manager is an unlikable guy but like I think

this has the least motivation of any Columbo

killing – I mean established, like explained.

Usually it's pretty obvious why they're doing

what they're doing. Yeah. I would say maybe 30%,

40 % of the time it's almost sympathetic. Yep.

Whereas this one, it's like you don't like him.

Okay. He wants to break you – like he wants to

– this is back before Clinton where you could

just do what you want. Yeah. I don't know. It

was the least. motivated killing so far yeah

but he gets caught up in like a whole bunch of

but the the fact that it's a political assassination

uh i is is is why i thought we were gonna kind

of pussyfoot around a little bit because we were

recording this in this is like like what well

actually it happened what during the summer point

being there was an assassination attempt on the

The whole question, there is a question in the

country whether it was real or not. Yeah. That

was the point of Favorite Son was that the guy

was running, I think, for president, and he actually

has a guy shoot him. And someone finds out that

the whole thing was staged. It was a staged thing.

No, it's Harry Hamlin, by the way. Oh, yeah.

Harry Hamlin. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I

remember. Okay. As opposed to the Puppet Birds

in Clash of Titans. Anyway. Point being, I think

we're kind of like, you know, you're going to

get in trouble. I feel like you're going to get

in trouble whether you go one way or the other

with what happened in real life, which is why

I think we're a little, which is why you want

to avoid politics in general. And I'm kind of

like, this is a little twitchy. This is the context

of the show. Yeah, it's the context of this episode.

I don't think Columbo has many. killing episodes?

I think this is the only one. Okay, good. Then

we're safe. I mean, the only one out of X number

of episodes of the entire series, including the

reboots and the redos and the... Okay, but I'm

saying, like, I'll look it up later. Yeah, fine,

but I'm saying, like, I'll look it up when we

go to break later, but I'm just saying, like,

one episode... Yeah, I think this is the only

one where a candidate... Stages a fake assassination

attempt. Yeah. I think we're safe. It's okay.

Well, yeah. Like, it's, you know, whatever. And

honestly, like, I remember that whole thing that

happened that you're referring to with the current

president that we have. And I'm like, oh, yeah,

I don't know what to think about. I remember

all the upheaval. When that happened, where it's

like, oh my god. I remember seeing all the news

footage of everybody just running. That's all

I remember. Because I remember the news today,

you can't trust it because everybody has an agenda.

Yeah, that is true. Granted, not that the news

didn't have an agenda. 30, 40, 50 years ago,

but it's more pronounced now. It's more obvious

now that every single news station in this United

States of ours has a specific agenda. Like, we

know certain news channels are certain parties.

Certain news channels. I think the trick, for

me, the trick with news these days is like movie

reviews. You go into it knowing their bias and

accepting that they have a bias. And you view

it through that filter because I think you get

yourself in trouble if you're like, well, my

guys only tell the truth because that's the perfect

way to get lied to and manipulated is if you

just accept that one side is true and one side

is false. Because that's never the way. God,

it's actually a quote from the guy, and I don't

want to make it, but to quote George Lucas, episode

three, there are heroes on both sides. Well,

it is the third episode's 20th anniversary this

year, so why not celebrate it? I mean, on a side

might get rid of Kathleen Kennedy finally. No,

she's gone. No, she's not gone. She was going

to leave at the end of the year, and now there's

rumors that she might stay on just to punish

us. What? Yeah, I've heard. No, I thought the

news was out that she left. It was, it was, she

didn't leave. The news was, I don't know, it

leaked that she was going to. Oh. She didn't

formally announce it. The suspicion is she wanted

to announce it at Celebration Japan or whatever.

Celebrate. Hey, man, Star Wars used to be worth

celebrating. No, no, no, no, no. What I'm scoffing

at is Celebration Japan. It's not the celebration

part. It's the Japan part. Japanese aren't allowed

to like Star Wars? No, no, no, no. It's not about

the Japanese aren't allowed to like Star Wars.

It's about the fact that how much is a ticket

to Japan? We can't afford that. Okay, how much

is a ticket to America? They can't afford that,

but that's the point, is that it's so dang expensive

to go to any of these dang conventions. This

is a topic for a different day, not for Columbo,

but yeah, I'm still scrolling to see if I can

find a more accurate news source for Kennedy

and her. Yeah, Kennedy and her. Oh, dude. Oh,

Kathleen. Kathleen. I'm getting all tripped up

in my brain. Do you watch Clownfish? Not really.

Okay. Time to time. Okay. Well, all of the videos

that I've seen them put out talking about this,

talking about Kathleen Kennedy potentially leaving

or hopefully leaving, every thumbnail for them.

What they use to describe it is K .K. I don't

know what you mean by that exactly. I honestly

don't. It's just her initials because it's Kathleen

Kennedy, but they use K .K. Well, I mean, I've

seen thumbnails with Wizard of Oz, Ding Dong,

The Witch is Dead. I'm sure a couple of them

have played that. I've seen the Cartman. I've

seen the carbon clip like a dozen times now,

but a chicken air maker gate, you know, like

they just, I don't know. I think it's always

been a mistake to make it personal for me. It's

just like, she has done a poor job managing the

brands. Absolutely. She should have been gone

a while ago. Yeah. They should have put Filoni

and Favreau in charge immediately. Not immediately,

but I mean, not immediately because of her. I

think Lucas recommended her. She was in a co

-role with Lucas before he sold it. She had the

resume. Particularly Solo. I think Solo was the

tipping point. All this is completely relevant

to the episode of Columbo. But Solo was the tipping

point because I think the production was a problem

and the results were a problem. And I think anyone

else would have been quietly shown the door.

Yeah, probably. But heaven forbid, George Lucas'

secretary never be shown the door. No, she was

more Spielberg's. Oh, okay, whatever. I'm sorry,

accuracy. So it's funny that before I even played

the episode, Candidate for Crime. I didn't read

the Wikipedia article, but I had pulled it up

at the same time as I pulled up the episode on

Tubi. And the first thing I saw right before

I switched over was Harry Stone. Just the name.

Oh, yeah. Didn't even. First thought was, wait

a minute. What's Judge Harry Stone from Night

Court doing in Columbo? I missed that. I think

he. Yeah, he did pass away. Yeah, that's what

I thought. I miss that guy. As we often say,

folks, we record two of these at a time. Out

of the two episodes, this is my lead. This one

might actually get my lowest score out of all

of the Columbos we've done. I did not have any

interest in this episode whatsoever. You're right.

This took the longest and most undeliberate time

to actually kill someone. Like, really? For me,

it was more like I still, by the end of the episode,

I don't know why he did it. Yeah, just because

he disliked him for no... Because the guy had

been with him his whole career. Yeah. It was

sort of implied it was to keep the girlfriend?

Yeah. At the end of the day, that's what it really

was. But at the same time, it's like, that's

still... Not enough because that's probably not

his first girlfriend. Oh, no. I mean, it was

implied that they literally say that the marriage

is on the rocks to begin with. Yeah. Oh, my God.

His wife. Is it this episode or is it the next

one? One of the wives in these episodes. It has

to be this one because Robert Culp doesn't have

a wife. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's this one. I

think he does, but you never see her. Okay, fine.

This is the one where. Yeah, because this is

the one she flirts with Columbo, doesn't she,

a little bit? I didn't pick up on that. I mean,

to be fair, my ability to determine whether or

not a girl is flirting with me is notoriously

poor. When we first see the senator's wife. Yeah.

Well, he's not a senator yet, but. Okay, candidate,

fine. When we first see, what's his stupid name?

When we first see Hayward's wife. She's wearing

this. It's at the party. She's wearing this sheer

everything all over. She's practically naked.

I saw her nipples four times in this episode.

I'm not kidding. I did not take screenshots,

but I will take screenshots. I saw her nipples

twice in the first 20 minutes. Not for period

reasons because I have access to the internet,

but you're going to make me go back and use that

horrible DVD. No, I don't remember that at all.

In 70s TV? Are you insane? I'm not kidding, dude.

I saw it. And also, she's like, go away. I'm

having a party. And he's like, uh, please, ma

'am. Okay, well, go get a sandwich. Beat it.

Exactly. There is a shot in here where she is

standing straight up and facing the camera, looking

at the camera, where I swear I can see her nipple

through her see -through gown dress thing, whatever

she's wearing. And I will not make you go back

and look through your horrible DVD. I'm going

to do it anyway now. I will take the screen cap

for you. You don't trust me? Like, seriously?

Okay, I hate to say this because I keep having

to say this all the time with people, but I believe

that you believe that you saw that, but I cannot

believe that that was allowed on TV in the mid

-70s. Okay, here's what we're going to do, folks.

You're not going to hear or see this, obviously.

After we finish the recording, I will do screen

share with you, and I will play it live, and

you will see. I'm just like, we are like... We

are literally less than a decade away from people

being allowed to sleep in the same bed. I know,

right? And she's not... She's not a particularly

sexual character. No, she's not. But I'm telling

you, man. I'm not making this up. I would not...

Trust me, I would not make this up. It's just

something I noticed. Because I was like... because

you're right absolutely this is the decade where

the husband and wife sleep in separate beds yada

yada yada button up button up all this all that

everything else i mean there's been a lot of

flirting with a lot of the wives and things like

that in the past especially with oh what was

her um goldie yeah obviously but no the this

wife i'm telling you you could basically see

everything almost at least the top half uh so

yeah um but yeah i particularly didn't care for

this it's it's not one i would revisit like we've

said the murder doesn't seem like like it would

be different if she blackmailed him like if she

tried to get money out of him The secretary?

Yeah. I don't think she tried that. Did she?

No, no. She was a true believer. Yeah. She's

in love with him. I'm like, what is she – aside

from the fact that Harry was trying to break

them up, what does blackmailing him have to do

with Harry getting murdered? Oh, I'm not – I'm

mixing the – I'm pulling a Dave here. I'm mixing

the two up. It would be – yeah. What hurts is

that's accurate. sorry hey you you can pull accuracy

on me anytime you want anytime i fuck up because

i fuck up a lot so but it's one of those things

where yeah it's like it it does there are elements

i don't dislike the episode but there are elements

that feel off i mean at the same time you've

got the the bit with the car I think the bit

with the car is in this one where he's got to

take it into the shop and gets a crushing bill

for $65. It's like, damn. I was going to ask

you about that. So I wrote all of this down because

that was more interesting to me than any of the

political bullshit. So I was going to ask you

about this because he says, what does he say,

$65 .28? Something like that, sure. It was $65.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, it was $65. And then

he does the, like, okay, are you going to ask

me what a counter check is? Because I don't know.

Okay, I'm going to look that up. And I'm like,

how do you write a check from not, like, because

I happen to know my account number just for reasons,

like, maybe most people know their checking account

number. I don't know how many people even have

checks anymore. But, like, it just seems weird

that you'd write this check. on another company's

check thing and it would like because you need

to know your bank number at least it was weird

but I at the time I was well no I was potty trained

by the time I was two so I was potty trained

and reading but um because I was I peaked as

a baby uh but uh um it's been downhill since

then but my point being I was not writing checks

I don't know what counter checks are Okay, so

this is silly. I don't know if they made it up.

No, I'm sure it's a thing. No, no, no. I'm talking

about the term. Even though it's in the Merriam

-Webster dictionary, I don't know if somebody

made it up somewhere or whatever. Essentially,

it's a blank check. He was asking him for a blank

check. According to what this says in the Merriam

-Webster dictionary, a counter check. Counter

check. Merriam -Webster .com dictionary. Really?

Seriously? Noun. A blank check available at a

bank usually to be cashed only at a bank by the

person writing the check. That's what a counter

check is. Why would the auto guy have a blank

check that Columbo could use that isn't attached

to – blank checks have to be attached to your

– wait a minute. Blank checks not be attached

to accounts? I don't know how that works. That

was my point. Yeah, that makes no sense. Yeah,

exactly. That makes absolutely no sense, which

means this episode gets even less points from

me because that's stupid. Look, folks, I don't

really want to give Columbo negative points here,

but this episode is getting lower and lower in

my mind because none of this is making any sense,

and I blame politics. Okay, his needing to get

the car fixed had nothing to do with politics.

No, no, no. Even that part's a little weird to

me because I don't know if I've just been the

biggest criminal my whole life or if I just live

in an area where they don't do inspections for

cars. Because I know that's a big thing in some

places, but I've never had to take my car in

and get it looked at. And Colombo gets stopped

on the street. Yeah, that was weird to me. No,

no, especially in L .A. I can see that happening.

Okay. But, yeah, like, he had not had his car

pass inspection and was missing a lot of things

and having a lot of issues. There was a lot of

comedic bits in this one, like, more so, like,

and what I mean by that is non -associated with

the, well, I mean, kind of associated, but Columbo

doing goofy things off by himself. Yep. Then

we've seen in a lot of episodes, like, because

there's this whole thing. Which is an important

plot point where, like I said, to get Harry killed,

they had swapped coats. And so a new coat shows

up at Hayward's office. And Columbo goes to the

tailor to see if he can get a coat made in a

rush. I mean, the whole point is that he wants

to get the coat, find out if you can get a coat

made in two days, basically. And you can't. And

Hayward has a pretty good argument against that,

which is, well, the coat was old and it was falling

apart. It just happened that I ordered it. And

honestly, I don't know. That's one of those weirder

points where I honestly believe that maybe he

did want it. It's like, had he had this planned

for weeks? This is weird. And then at the end,

I kind of like the ending and I kind of don't

because there's this whole thing about the phone

system. which is literally never mentioned once

until the very end like you were in your room

when you had this phone system and i was waiting

for it lined up and i'm like were you you were

asleep yeah i was paying attention to that because

i was paying attention to colombo this whole

episode because colombo he looked like he's sick

He looked like he got a fever. He looked like

he's got the flu. Isn't this the episode where

he went to the dentist? Yes. That dentist did

something to him. I know he had to have a...

No, I'm not kidding. He had to have a wisdom

tooth pulled. Yeah, I know. He had to have a

wisdom tooth pulled and they had to do something

to his root canal or to his molar or something

or other or whatever. Or he had to have a cavity

filled or he had to... I don't trust... Look,

as much as... bill cosby is a criminal this is

like hitting all your your triggers aren't isn't

it like dentists and politicians that's right

as much as bill cosby is a criminal i still love

certain episodes of the cosby show and if there

wasn't anything that the cosby show taught me

in the 1980s is the episode where rudy and her

friend uh peter have to go to the dentist And

they did not want to go to the dentist. And the

dentist had to basically sing them a song to

get them to open their mouth. So it's one of

those things where I don't trust. I trust the

eye doctor more than I trust the dentist. So

it's one of those things where he looks bad in

this episode. Like I said, like he's got a fever

or the flu or a cold or something. So he's laying

on this couch. He's flipping and flopping over

like a dead fish. He's switching positions. He's

got the newspaper over his head. He's always,

you know, Lieutenant phone. Now the guy comes

in because he specifically asked that if Hayward

was alone. Right. Yeah. No, absolutely. But every

time he has to take the paper off of his head

because he's got the newspaper over his head.

But he's also watching that – Okay, okay, I believe

you. I didn't really pick up on that, but I believe

you. Yeah, so he's watching this phone. That's

why at the end it may seem like it's a thing,

but he was actually watching the phone to see

if it would light up because the phone systems

are tied together. Well, I – let me put it this

way. I don't think – I wasn't accusing them of

pulling it completely out of nowhere. Right.

I think it was more like the fact that the system

was – he's like, you put in this elaborate system.

It's like, okay, well, you never mentioned that

once. It was like, okay, you were looking at

the phone, but we didn't – I didn't know. Like

the phone system was like a connected thing.

I didn't even realize that was his – I thought

that was just a hotel room that they were in.

I didn't realize it was like a – It's a giant

suite that I have a problem with because at the

end of the episode, there are way too many goddamn

people in that one room. In the room where he

does the shooting. That's what happens because

you don't know much about politics. That's what

happens on election night is they go to a hotel.

They're all crammed into a room together. Right.

Yeah, but still, no. You can have your campaign

headquarters anywhere. Hell, you can still have

your campaign headquarters in a hotel. You can

use one of their banquet halls, which is actually

made for campaign headquartering. You don't need

to. Be stuck in a double deluxe Holiday Inn Express

in the middle of nowhere. Well, some of it also

was – I mean, this is a TV show. I remember there

was like a – I know. I can't remember if it was

– I think it was this episode, but I'm not sure,

where there was like a scene. Oh, it is. It's

the scene in the garage. Yep. And that looked

fake. Yes, it did. They go to an elevator, and

it looked like just a little – it didn't look

like an elevator. It didn't look like the – No.

Like it looked like a little rectangular room.

Which I know an elevator is, but you know what

I mean. There's like mechanics of the door. Yeah,

it did not look like an elevator. It just looked

like the shape of an elevator boxed out. Maybe

NBC was cutting back on the old mystery movies

that year. I don't know. Maybe they were. So

this was an hour and a half, I think. It was

a long one. Yeah, this was an hour and a half.

It took an hour and 14 minutes for the killer

to get caught. So what did they do for the other

15 minutes? I don't know. Usually I take that

time to notice how fast Columbo came in, but

Columbo was kind of in on this almost from the

beginning because of the protection for the candidate.

I did not like this episode. I've said that already

in this podcast. This episode was the episode

so far out of the entire series where I'm like,

okay. i'm gonna go play pong i'm gonna go get

some popcorn i'm gonna go to the bathroom i'm

gonna go check the projection room continuity

for the next podcast i'm going to do everything

i can do to not have to like i wanted to do everything

else other than finish watching this thing this

thing just well we probably should explain that

at the very end like the whole thing is colombo

decides figures out that that that there isn't

someone trying to kill hayward And then they

tried to kill Harry or they did kill Harry. And

Heywood is like and this is actually this seems

to be the moment where Columbo twigs on on Heywood

because Heywood's like, no, no, they're trying

to kill me. They're trying to kill me. And Columbo's

like, it's a good moment, I think. He's like,

yeah, I'd be happy if I found out that someone

wasn't going to kill me. Yeah. And so at the

end, Heywood stages a second assassination attempt

in his little side hotel room, which is why he

was alone and he set it up. He shot the gun into

the wall with a silencer. and kind of tried to

cover it up and then was going to pretend like

afterwards he set off a firecracker on the fire

escape to sound like a gun. Okay, he set up the

gunshot before he left to go vote, and when they

came back, he put a firecracker on the fire escape.

Now, as it happens, when I was a kid, someone

threw a firecracker into my house, and it was

like I had a slate landing or whatever you call

it, a little entry room from the front door,

and there was always a burn mark on that slate

from that. moment on so i'm like you're not gonna

get away with like that not being noticed no

but anyway the point being that colombo because

he had noticed that the phone didn't light up

yeah i'd come in while they were out at vote

and it already dug out the bullet so that's how

he gets him that's how he gets him which is a

pretty good for oh i mean for colombo getting

him that's a pretty good get him yeah the twist

the get him in this was really good yeah Again,

Columbo makes this episode. Columbo makes every

episode. Okay, yeah, but like... Okay, Columbo,

let me put it this way. I think the really exceptional

episodes are the ones, like any port in a storm,

where somebody else helps carry the load. But

for the most part, Columbo makes the episode.

You know what I mean? Right, and we've talked

about this before, where it's not a whodunit,

but it's a howdunit. And this how done it is

so like, I even have a note here about the stupid,

like I said, I even wrote it out with like seven

wise boy, the block letters. I'm like, Oh my

God, you dumb moron. Don't use the serial killer

block lettering. Seriously. Nobody's got no smart

book. God. Oh, Senator for future Senator. But

like there are episodes that we've talked about

so far in the first two seasons and in this third

season so far where we're excited to figure it

out and see how they did it. Even though we know

who did it, we are excited to figure out how

they did it and we're excited to see how Columbo

exposes them. Yeah, I think that the twist is

what you're trying to figure out is how Columbo

figures it out. Right. And this was good on how

he figured it out. It was, but it came in at

the very end. Yeah, it came in at the very end.

And the problem is the rest of this episode.

And again, the murder essentially makes no sense

because other than the fact that just because

you didn't like the guy, like the guy wasn't

trying to blackmail you. The guy was only saying,

hey, look, stop cheating on your wife. Like a

jerk. Oh, God. Yeah. Oh, God. All right, so the

usual questions. Did this show keep your interest

throughout this episode? Not really. Well, apparently

I didn't notice the boobies, so no, I guess.

Well, we'll watch that later. The next episode

is much better than this one, so are we itching

to watch the next episode now? Kind of. No one

should watch this episode. I will blacklist this

episode. I will put this episode in a vault,

never to be seen again. I will bury this episode

in the desert next to that E .T. game. Dang.

Yeah, that's how bad I feel about this episode.

Show me on the doll where the episode touched

you, man. Here, here, and here. Yikes. You asked.

I did. I only pointed to my forehead, my cheek,

and my shoulder, so it's not that bad. All right,

so ratings. Oh, boy. You can go first on this

one, because I guarantee you I'm going to be

way more harsh than you are. Well, I mean, I

was joking about it hitting your triggers, but

apparently it did, and that's... I mean, that's

legit. Like, I've had things where, like, I didn't

like them for personal reasons. It's an okay

episode. Like I said, there are just minor issues

with things. For me, minor issues, which I'm

going to give it a three. It's okay. It's not

one of the better episodes. It's got some stuff

in it that I like. The stuff with him at the

tailor is funny. But, yeah, it's not a favorite.

So three. It's okay. Yeah, the Taylor stuff is

funny and it is good, and yes. And the guy who

plays the Taylor will come back in a different

role. Cool. Awesome. Very cool, very cool. We

also got more of the little Columbo -isms. He

did do this old man. He had talked about his

wife. I always say that his wife loved Hayward

because it's always like his wife loves all these

murderers. So that was funny. Yeah. Just to remind

the audience, in case you haven't listened to

one of our episodes at all on Studio 2009, 3

.0, average, meh. It's not bad, but it's not

amazing either. Nothing really stands out, and

it's forgettable. Now for me, folks, with this

episode, I'm debating between 1 .5 and 1 .0.

The Columbo -isms and the Taylor are great, but

they don't save it from anything higher. They're

good. I loved it. Columbo is really the only

reason why it isn't getting a zero. So you're

saying Columbo is the only reason to watch Columbo?

Okay, well, yes, but... I'm sorry? So, for definitions,

a 1 .5 is really bad. Barely any good stuff,

lots of failures, with a couple of epic disasters

thrown in. The few successes are like tiny islands

in a sea of disappointment. And terrible, which

is a 1, prepare to be frustrated. This is a mess

with almost no redeeming qualities. One or two

achievements are completely overshadowed by the

overall awfulness. Not the worst of the year,

but definitely a contender. So I think for me,

I'm going to give it a one and a half. I don't

think it really deserves a one yet, and I don't

think that there are other Columbo episodes that

I would give grades this low. But knowing me

and knowing my feelings of certain... ways that

politics are handled in media and television

and movies and things like that it just politics

rubs me the wrong way entered i want my entertaining

to entertain if i can talk i want my entertainment

to be entertaining and politics does not entertain

me i understand what you're saying i and i am

sympathetic i i think my thing is i prefer politics

to well like a cop show is a cop show like i

prefer When the thing is actually about politics,

I'm less bothered than when it's about something

else and it is political. That annoys – like

if it's – and I think that's a thing that we're

dealing with these days where everything has

to be political. I do want to add real quick

because you always ask me if I want to add something.

I think this is the one – like I'm always talking

about like these Columboisms that never seem

to show up, which drive me crazy. But this one,

they had like one that I didn't realize was a

Columboism where it's about the car. yeah and

he goes no i've got another car but it's nothing

special that's the second time he said that yep

my wife drives it it's just transportation yeah

it's just transportation it's nothing special

yeah um special so apparently that's a thing

that he does yep yeah that poor car i love that

car All right, folks. We're going to go to a

quick break. You're going to hear some podcast

ads and some other stuff. We'll come back to

close the show right after this. All I can say,

sir, is whoever did it will get them. Hello,

geeks and geekettes. Looking for a podcast that

covers a vast array of topics? Then check out

Altered Geek Unleashed, where we discuss our

thoughts on this week's geeky news, tech, gaming,

television shows, movies, cartoons, comics, and

more. So, get altered, get geeky with the Altered

Geeks. Every Friday on the Geekcast Radio Network.

Kid? Yes? Shut up. Beyond the Night is the GCRN's

latest review podcast. We are covering everything

in the Knight Rider television universe, from

the classic 80s TV series to the 1991 reunion

film Team Knight Rider, and the 2008 relaunched

series as well. So join TF2 and Mike and Dion

the Music Man as they go in -depth in Beyond

the Night, only on GeekCast Radio Network. You

can find Beyond the Night on iTunes and on www

.geekcastradio .com. Yes, Michael. Just keep

driving. Because the world needs another movie

podcast. The Geek Cast Radio Network presents

for your listening pleasure, The Cinema Geek.

Hosted by Amanda, Kevin, Matt, and Dan. Each

week, we dive headfirst in the landscape of movies

as we discuss movie news. play movie games, go

in -depth on reviews, and even have a top ten

countdown or two. Also, don't miss our director

retrospective series, where we review noted directors'

movies, film by film. Bottom line is, if you

love movies and love podcasts, you need to experience

The Cinema Geeks. You can find us on iTunes or

geekcastradio .com. Yo, Joe, and welcome to the

Cracktastic Plastic Podcast, where a punk rock

band of brothers get together to talk about one

of our shared loves, toy collecting. Toy hunt

by day, punk rock band by night. We'll take any

excuse to get in the band. We all collect different

toy lines like those of real American heroes.

G .I. Joe. To the toys that are more than meets

the eye. Transformers. To He -Man and the masters

of the universe. From vintage to modern and all

topics in between, you can always expect some

rowdy and passionate discussion because we love

talking toys here on the Cracktastic Plastic

Podcast. Hi, I'm Dan and I'm the host of the

Rock Nerd Radio Show, which airs live on HudsonRiverRadio

.com every Wednesday evening at 8 .30 p .m. Eastern

Standard Time. It also gets backed up as a podcast.

which you can find on your preferred podcasting

platform. Every week on my show, I talk about

all kinds of pop culture. I talk about music.

I talk about movies, TV, comics, collectibles,

and so much more. I also feature a guest on my

show periodically, which you might enjoy. I have

a couple of special segments on my show, one

called the cover song of the week and my favorite

thing in the world this week. If you think this

sounds cool, check it out sometime. I hope you

do. For the best in science fiction, join Mark

Baumgarten, Vicki Jakubowski, Zion Quiros, and

Juan San Miguel on the award -winning podcast

Marku42's Universe. Doctor Who, the Marvel Cinematic

Universe, Star Trek, and more are all fair game

with Marku42, which has been around since 2012

in one form or another. Marku 42's universe is

proud to be a part of Geekcast Radio Network,

the best place to get your geek on. Listen to

us bi -weekly or weekly if we have a topic relevant

where you are listeners. Marku 42 on Geekcast

Radio Network, a match made in a galaxy near

you. What's up, folks? My name is Mike, and I

am the host of the Mike Seibert Radio podcast,

your favorite Transformers adjacent podcast.

And I've got 60 seconds to tell you all about

my show. Good thing I've got a catchy theme song

to do most of the work for me. I also talk about

the Transformers the movie about as much as I

talk about Boba Fett. My guests are independent

artists who tell their stories and give terrific

advice about pursuing your creative interests,

and I encourage you to do the same thing, even

if I can't take my own advice. Gravity is not

my first best strength, but you can subscribe

to Mike Seibert Radio on most podcast apps so

you never miss an episode. Make good choices.

It's time for Mike Seibert. for a podcast of

your favorite 80s comic books, G .I. Joe, Transformers,

Ninja Turtles, He -Man, etc. Where are you going

to go to find us? Welcome to Star Joe's Podcast.

I'm your host, Ryan. And I'm Chuck. That's right,

everybody. We're the Star Joes. We host a podcast

called Star Joe's Podcast, where we talk about

your favorite comic books, your favorite toys

of all the 80s properties. Star Wars, G .I. Joe,

Transformers, Mask, Thundercats, Voltron, you

name it, we cover it. If it's in the 80s, we

will cover it at some point. Yeah, so what you

want to do to find us, you can go to iTunes.

You can go to www .starjoes .com. And remember,

the Force will be with you. Because knowing us

is half the battle. It's Showtime Synergy. The

latest review podcast from the Geekcast Radio

Network is here. So join TFG1 Mike, Nicole Halestorm,

and myself, Lady Rek, as we will be reviewing

all 65 episodes of Joe and the Holograms in a

25 -episode long podcast. You can find Showtime

Synergy on iTunes and geekcastradio .com. We

are the truly outrageous podcast that you want

to be listening to. Good morning, loafers, and

welcome back to a fantastic show. We've got with

us today Brian Blanchard and Brian Johnson, the

social loafers. Every episode is a new episode.

We have different categories. We're talking movies

mostly, and everything we do is off the cuff.

Different. It's fun. It's tangential. And we

do it live. Don't forget to follow us on the

Social Loafer Facebook page. Follow us on Twitter

on Social Loafer 85. Check us out on Spotify,

iHeartRadio. Loafers out. On the Simplistic Reviews

podcast, we talk movies. We talk TV. We talk.

Hello, Julie, what the heck are you doing? Trying

to make our spot sound more exciting by adding

explosions. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could have

got the point across with sound effects, not

the real thing. Download the show on iTunes or

at simplisticreviews .blogspot .com. I'm sure

your insurance company will cover that. No, they

won't. No, they probably won't. I've already

dug the bullet out of the wall. And ballistics

is already verified. That it came from the same

gun. Here's the bullet. Here's the ballistics

report. No bullet in the wall. Bullet's right

here. It's in my handkerchief. Yeah, there she

is. You see, sir, this afternoon when you told

Sergeant Vernon that... We're going to come in

here to make some private telephone calls. I

was over there in the press room. Now, this room

is 615 and the press room is 616. When you call

from here, it lights up over there because you

installed that special three -way rotary system.

So I kept watching the phone for 615 to light

up. Yeah, it's lit up now. You see that? I kept

waiting for that button to light up. curious

and when you and your wife when you went to vocal

i took advantage of that opportunity to come

in here and look around and i found that bullet

hole in a glass door and that took me to the

wall i dug this bullet out of that wall three

hours before you said that somebody fired it

at you three minutes ago We are back here inside

Studio 2009, only on the Geekcast Radio Network.

We are on our way to 200 episodes of this podcast.

Any final thoughts for this political assassination

of a Columbo episode, sir? I want to walk a very

fine line here. Okay. Weirdly, it's not the fine

line that I thought I was going to be walking

when we started recording. I feel – I understand

where you're coming from, but I also feel maybe

you're – not everyone is going to have the same

reaction that you did. Obviously. And so I think

you're being a little harsh on the episode, but

I understand that it hits your wrong nerves.

So I'm just saying more for the audience. I'm

not saying this is a great episode and he's crazy

and don't listen to him. He's a madman. It's

an okay episode. I think Mike has been turned

off by certain things and is coming down a little

harder than the episode necessarily deserves.

But that's all I'm going to say. Not a hill I

want to die on for this. You're right. I'm not

arguing. You're right. Absolutely. This episode

is not for me. 100%. I agree with you. It's not

for me. And that's the greatest thing about podcasting

is that we can watch something and we can have

differing opinions. We can have, like, how many

times have you seen Attack the Block? Three or

four, I think. Okay, and it's something you'll

go back to, right? I mean, at this point, I don't

– I get what you're saying. Theoretically, yes.

I don't know if I will before I die, but I don't

know how much longer I have. Stop it. Has the

doctor told you something that you're not telling

us, Dave? Okay, good, because – i've got plenty

of revenge movies to get you back with anyway

you like that movie yeah no i enjoyed my experience

but my point is is that you'll go back to what

you'll watch that movie again i won't that's

the thing same thing with this episode you may

watch this episode again and and like it I probably

will never watch this episode again and like

it, and I'm sure vice versa. There's plenty of

things that I've had you watch that I absolutely

love that you just don't give two rips about

and you'll never watch again. That's the point

of the I like it, you don't, you like it, I don't.

It's okay. It's not a big deal. It's not the

end of the world. The world is not going to explode

because two guys on a podcast don't agree. Well,

we don't know that, but I guess we'll find out.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. Opinions

like assholes. All right. Any other final thoughts?

Let's get out. Let's get the one that we like.

Oh, boy. Thank you for joining us here inside

the studio. If you'd like to get in contact with

us, leave feedback for the show. There are some

ways to do so. Visit the website geekcastradio

.com where you can listen to and comment on all

of our content. You can also check out shop .geekcastradio

.com and buy all of our stuff. Send any email

to feedback at geekcastradio .com. You can check

us out and all the pie -catching clients you

choose to use. You can follow us on Twitter.

Yes, I still call it Twitter. I don't care. At

Geekcast Radio for the network at itsstudio2009.

I am at TF2 and Mike. Dave doesn't do social

media. No. Become a fan on Facebook. Go to facebook

.com slash geekcastradionetwork. You can also

check out Studio 2009 Podcast over there as well.

Join us next time when we will be discussing

Season 3, Episode 8, Double Exposure. For now,

I am TF2 and Mike with... David Raper. And we'll

hear us back in the studio soon.