With two decent movies (Prescription Murder and Ransom for a Dead Man) and a solid first episode already made (Death Lends a Hand), the premiere episode Murder by the Book stands out as the first bad Columbo installment and one of the worst episodes ever made.
To begin with, Ken's murder plan always struck me as odd and baffling. I could never understand the benefit of committing the murder live over the phone for an ear witness, even if the witness believes it is happening at her husband's office in LA though it's actually happening in Big Bear (not to mention the likelihood that telephone records would show that the call did come from Big Bear). From the start, it seemed to me as if there were gaping holes in this plan that were sure to be exposed by lesser detectives than Columbo. And we quickly see the flaws of the murder plan come to light. The police (without Columbo's involvement) point out that there is no sign of a murder in the office, which would all but destroy the purpose of Ken's plan. It MUST have happened somewhere else. Upon dumping the body in the middle of his lawn (How could nobody in the neighborhood have seen this?), Ken calls police and Columbo immediately questions Ken's decision not to fly to LA and notices that he opened his mail today right after learning of the shooting over the phone--both of these are timing questions made possible by his decision to commit the murder live on the phone.
The episode totally lacks the battle of wits seen in previous episodes because whereas previous villains had shown Columbo respect and went along with his hunches, Ken right away bosses Columbo around about the motive of the murder, very actively leading the discussion all while showing very clear contempt for Columbo. It seems as if Columbo is perpetually trying to stand eye to eye with Ken but never succeeds. To make matters worse, Columbo is fruitlessly following Ken around except for the day that Ken decides to kill a blackmailing witness. Columbo sure picked the wrong day to give Ken a break!
And the piece of evidence that seals the case is very lackluster: a story idea written by Jim (not Ken) on a slip of paper that vaguely resembles the crime (the episode should have been titled Murder by the Slip of Paper). The really unconvincing thing is that moments after Ken threatens to sue Columbo for liebel, a story idea written by another man that vaguely resembles a plot that Columbo has yet to even prove causes him to buckle and confess. The really odd thing is that physical forensic evidence plays no part whatsoever in this episode. None. Columbo doesn't look at a shred of physical evidence and his case is entirely hypothetical. A very lazy script that is an insult to our intelligence.
To begin with, Ken's murder plan always struck me as odd and baffling. I could never understand the benefit of committing the murder live over the phone for an ear witness, even if the witness believes it is happening at her husband's office in LA though it's actually happening in Big Bear (not to mention the likelihood that telephone records would show that the call did come from Big Bear). From the start, it seemed to me as if there were gaping holes in this plan that were sure to be exposed by lesser detectives than Columbo. And we quickly see the flaws of the murder plan come to light. The police (without Columbo's involvement) point out that there is no sign of a murder in the office, which would all but destroy the purpose of Ken's plan. It MUST have happened somewhere else. Upon dumping the body in the middle of his lawn (How could nobody in the neighborhood have seen this?), Ken calls police and Columbo immediately questions Ken's decision not to fly to LA and notices that he opened his mail today right after learning of the shooting over the phone--both of these are timing questions made possible by his decision to commit the murder live on the phone.
The episode totally lacks the battle of wits seen in previous episodes because whereas previous villains had shown Columbo respect and went along with his hunches, Ken right away bosses Columbo around about the motive of the murder, very actively leading the discussion all while showing very clear contempt for Columbo. It seems as if Columbo is perpetually trying to stand eye to eye with Ken but never succeeds. To make matters worse, Columbo is fruitlessly following Ken around except for the day that Ken decides to kill a blackmailing witness. Columbo sure picked the wrong day to give Ken a break!
And the piece of evidence that seals the case is very lackluster: a story idea written by Jim (not Ken) on a slip of paper that vaguely resembles the crime (the episode should have been titled Murder by the Slip of Paper). The really unconvincing thing is that moments after Ken threatens to sue Columbo for liebel, a story idea written by another man that vaguely resembles a plot that Columbo has yet to even prove causes him to buckle and confess. The really odd thing is that physical forensic evidence plays no part whatsoever in this episode. None. Columbo doesn't look at a shred of physical evidence and his case is entirely hypothetical. A very lazy script that is an insult to our intelligence.