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Jackson Gillis wrote some of the best scripts for the 70's Columbo series and he's on hand here to modify the old Columbo formula in this 1990 production.

The admission by producers with these "new" Columbo adventures is that the detective's well-known and well-received characterisation is no longer singled-handedly able to support an ordinary, Murry mystery script. This TV movie is a case in point - we are never quite sure who the murderer is until the end, something that completely goes against Columbo tradition...

It's too long for what it finally reveals and some of the acting is soap-opera style at best, but the character of Columbo remains charming to this day (something that Peter Falk deserves a lot of credit for). Watchable, but there are better "new" Columbo adventures around and it it still hard to bear largely second-rate stars acting as the murderers when some of the top actors/actresses graced the Columbo series in the 70's.

"Murder in Malubu" is among the worst episodes of "Columbo"...and it's a shame because I like the shows. But the writing was just terrible and the story made little sense.

Theresa Goren is a very successful romance writer. However, despite her many accomplishments, she is a sucker for Wayne (Andrew Stevens)...a compulsive womanizer who really knows how to use and seduce women. When Goren is found murdered, Lt. Columbo is on the case and soon it becomes apparent that the woman was shot twice--and the second time they know that Wayne did it. But she was already dead....so who killed her the first time?

The plot to this one is way too complicated and the murderer's plan just seemed ridiculous. Add to that some characters who really make no sense at all (Brenda Vaccaro's character) and you have an episode that really leaves the viewer cold and disappointed. In addition to being nonsensical, the episode also lacked the usual charm and fun (an odd word for murder mysteries, I know) you'd expect.

Good lord, this is atrocious. First the good news. Peter Falk is as terrific as always. Anybody in a scene with him in this movie pales in comparison. He is basically wasted in this thing. His sleuthing, especially toward the end, is solid.

The acting by everybody else is soooo bad, its unreal. Andrew Stevens is just beyond bad. He over acts or he's bland. There is no in between. Geez, is this really the best they could do ? The story is boring. Long winded. I was glad when this movie ended. By the time the end came i did not care. Everybody besides Falk was mediocre to pretty bad. This was painful to watch. I did like some of the ocean and beach scenery. Maybe because nobody was talking. Lol.

Best moment : there isn't one.

This is the lowest score I've ever given to a Columbo episode. Andrew Stevens may be about as bad an actor as exists. If he hadn't been arrested for murder, they should have arrested him for that. The plot is stupid to start with. The guy is handsome, but the drool level all over must have required a cleaning company after women met him. Anyway, he thinks he is being exposed, so he kills his potential fiancee. He has no heart, probably a sociopath. The woman's sister, played by the overrated Brenda Vicarro, is also awful actress. The times it is played for laughs just don't work well. The final scene as they are combing through women's underwear is just stupid.

Except for Peter Falk, who is as good as ever in his Columbo role, all the other cast members fail to play their role convincingly. It was like watching a bad soap. Maybe the director of this episode, Walter Grauman,is partly to blame for that ?

Weak plot, lots of continuity mistakes, lots of camera shadows on people, stretched-out phone ringing, car following and walking scenes that hampers the flow and reveal a thin scenario. This episode could have lasted at most an hour, instead of stretching it to an hour and a half.

Also, the attempt at moving away from the usual Columbo recipe by not showing how the murder took place is only confusing and not helping the story telling.

All in all, one of the very few very bad Columbo episodes, fortunately.