social.noyu.me

columbo thread (have been slowly watching it with gf since june 2022, haven't publicly tweeted about it before? this thread will probably be kinda boring, the purpose is mostly to track what episodes have been watched and if they're good; no livetweeting here alas)

i believe we're currently part-way through season 6 in this dvd boxset's numbering (did you know we like physical media, it's good, it's obviously not the only way to get hold of the series that doesn't require a monthly fee, but it's nice)

the main thing you learn from columbo is that approximately everyone in los angeles california is either having an affair, involved in some sort of blackmail scheme, or both, or wants to kill the witnesses, which is always a good idea and never what will doom you

personally, i would never kill anyone for romantic jealousy reas—[extremely loud incorrect buzzer]

(this is a joke about the plot of “suruga monkey” and not a reference to anything we would actually do in the real world)

columbo is such a cool series because it's not so much a television series as a long, long series of made-for-tv films that all have the same main character, and each film is its own little world, unconnected to all the others; it's a really quite wonderful thing

hikari_no_yume loves worlds, and columbo is a hundred little worlds that supposedly might exist in los angeles california, with the modest but smart protagonist nobody could ever hate; it's so good

we watched “The Conspirators”, which is the Sinn Féin episode of Columbo (the plot literally revolves around, among other things, the phrase “Ourselves Alone”, which is an English translation of “Sinn Féin”)

We watched “Columbo Goes to the Guillotine”, which is the first “episode” of the eighth “season”, and it was made in 1989, almost 11 years after the previous one. So I was scared the show might have lost the magic by that point, but nope! It's a really fantastic episode.

Fake psychic, honest magician, Cold War intrigue, betrayal, actor with a British accent and very flowery dialogue, it has it all. Fairly good “gotcha” conclusion too as Columbo episodes go!

“Murder, Smoke and Mirrors” was… cute.

“Sex and the married detective” is a Columbo episode where the writers have a bit of fun with it

…oh god how many times have they used that same goddamn office set

“Grand Deceptions” contains something utterly unbelievable in a Columbo episode: a couple where one partner has a relatively healthy reaction to finding out the other has been having affairs

oh my god “Murder: A Self Portrait” is such an incredible columbo episode. a man with three lovers who all know eachother and hate him, a dark secret from the past, columbo interpreting repressed memories expressed through dreams, it's really something else

oh man, “Columbo Cries Wolf” (1990)

the murderer is played by a Scottish actor who's struggling to hide his accent lmao. great character though, he really sells it

the twist (…it's is in the title) is fantastically executed if you don't see it coming, that was a lot of fun

the only interesting thing about “Agenda For Murder” (1990) is that Columbo demands an explanation of how fax machines work

the first half of “Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo” (1990) is almost a normal Columbo episode. the second half is a subplot whose outcome you can probably see coming, but it is pretty satisfying nonetheless