![]() He drives to a pay phone near Wagner's home, knowing Wagner's phones have been bugged, and holds a radio to the receiver to make it appear he's in his private box at the stadium. ![]() Hanlon sneaks out of the stadium during the national anthem by disguising himself as an ice cream truck driver. Paul Hanlon ( Robert Culp), the general manager of the Los Angeles Rockets football team, wants to create a sports empire, but Eric Wagner ( Dean Stockwell), who inherited the team, lacks ambition. Gloria, Tony's friend, who believes Tony's wife ( Sandra Smith) is the killer and wants to collect a reward, is played by Arlene Martel. It is also the first episode in which the main crime is committed after Columbo's initial appearance. This episode marks the first appearance of Bob Dishy as Columbo's newly assigned and totally unwanted neophyte partner, Sergeant Frederick Wilson, full of the latest techniques from Berkeley. Jarvis, disgusted at the notion, shoots and kills Tony, whom he has always despised, once the ransom is paid, and a careful swapping of guns with Tony's wife casts suspicion in her direction.įinal clue/twist: Columbo searches the greenhouse with a metal detector for a slug Goodland had years earlier fired at a burglar and matches it to the gun which was found in Tony's wife's house, proving Goodland planted the gun there. Jarvis Goodland ( Ray Milland) and his nephew, Tony ( Bradford Dillman), stage Tony's kidnapping in order to break into his trust fund and use his half to bribe his wife's lover to stop seeing her. The episode was directed by Nicholas Colasanto, who later became known for his role as Coach in Cheers. During filming Danner was pregnant with her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow, who was born ten days after the episode aired. Pat Morita cameos in one scene as Benedict's butler. Witnessing their confrontation, Benedict's wife refuses to support his alibi.īlythe Danner and Myrna Loy guest star as Benedict's beautiful wealthy wife and her mother, respectively. Columbo insists this proves that Benedict must have been there the night of the murder. A TV news team records him leaving the house with it, while the recording of the earlier concert shows him being without it. He recovers the flower and puts it back on. While conducting that night's concert he realizes its loss and goes back to the now police-crowded crime scene. ![]() Columbo searches for clues to place Benedict at the murder scene.įinal clue/twist: During the murder, Benedict loses his signature boutonnière. Story by : Richard Levinson & William LinkĪlex Benedict ( John Cassavetes), the married conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra who resembles the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein, murders his mistress, Jenifer Welles ( Anjanette Comer), after she insists on going public with their affair, and tries to make it look like a suicide. The season was released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The season originally aired Sundays at 8:30-10:00 pm ( EST) as part of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie. The conclusion may be a bit too tidy for my taste, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the segment.Main article: 1972–73 United States network television schedule Peter Falk is in fine form, and his chemistry with Culp is superb. There's no need to repeat the plot again, but most of the scenes, including what appears to be a stray dog on set with Avery's character, are quite effective and fun. That being said, this is an entertaining episode revolving around football and there are notable actors performing, such as Dean Jagger, Val Avery, and Valerie Harper there's even a special appearance by none other than Pat Riley of the LA Lakers. I've seen this fine episode many times, and I'm still slightly baffled what was the motive was it because the young owner, played smugly by Dean Stockwell, didn't want to buy a hockey franchise, or was Paul Hanlon(Culp)simply power hungry? This never jived with me. That GM was superbly portrayed by Robert Culp, who's angrier than ever and is the 2nd best Columbo villain, behind only the great Jack Cassidy. Let me get the negative out of the way first, mainly the lack of what I would consider a true motive for such a high-profile murder, carried out by a GM of a professional football team. ![]()
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