1973: The Most Dangerous Match
- episode introduced
- an enormous chessboard
- Columbo irritates the champion
- kidnapping, ha ha, what a schlub
- the amazing salt and pepper deduction
- basset hounds and jowels
- episode concluded
1978: Murder Under Glass
- episode introduced
- deadly poison and Frankie 5 Angels
- Frankie 5 Angels impression
- the secret Godfather connection exposed
- commentator makes convoluted joke
- a Vito impression?
- he speaks Italian!
- impenetrable Italian conversations
- words that belie their meanings
- Italian profanity
- chef specials
- commentator is wrong about grits
- the fugu gambit
- proof, Lieutenant!
- making the perp agree
- only conjecture?
- a ridiculous floppy cook hat
- a very able man
- the quote was wrong
- damnedest example of good citizenship
- director of Silence of the Lambs!
1973: A Stitch in Crime
- episode introduced -- so good he watched it twice!
- hilarious title pun deconstructed
- sociological ramifications of role-based address in the medical profession
- a firm open-hand slap on the butt
- Clarence Thomas prefigured?
- Leonard Nimoy: ugly
- like a drunk, but actually an awesome detective
- Leonard Nimoy: not a good actor
- smarter than the... cat
- Columbo vs. Myers-Briggs
- get back to the point, lady
- doddering
- dastardly doctor pumps pretty Paula
- lazy eye
- like as if on a Coke
- recreation of sinister music
- zany dated cinematography described as such
- exactly what is your point, detective?
- the guilty man's smug but foolish admiration
- milking the cat
- wrap up... by Shirl Hendryx? What kind of a name is that?*
* The compiler has looked this name up on IMDB; Shirl is also listed as Shirley, so that's probably her real name. The name Hendryx was originally Irish, but it has been in America since the 18th Century. I imagine it differs from Hendricks and other variants only because of Ellis Island misspellings.
Special bonus commentary
