Columbo: Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star

I caught the references to Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe.

Good thing Shera Danese married Peter Falk, as she sure can't act.

John Finnegan has played janitors, waiters, bums on the street, and other characters. Now all of a sudden he is the chief of police. I don't buy it.

Dislike it when Columbo's legal "superiors" don't get what he is getting to. With his track record there should be much more believability.

This Columbo story has Peter Falk assigned to a double homicide of a former rock star who is the live-in mistress of wealthy defense attorney Dabney Coleman. Coleman has a reputation of never losing a criminal case. But mistress Cheryl Pais has enough information on Coleman and his methods that could ruin him. Still he wants her out of his life and he'll get her out one way or another.

Several years earlier a new word entered the English language courtesy of Michelle Triola Marvin and her attempts to collect alimony from Lee Marvin whom she lived with but never legally married. Her victory started a flood of those kind of suits and palimony became a word.

Coleman arranges the murder of both Pais and the guy she's been seeing on the side. Being a criminal lawyer he knows how to do it. He's even got a suspect suitable for framing.

One thing about this episode that had a different twist. Usually Columbo has to insinuate himself with the object of his suspicions to get close to him. Here Coleman uses whatever pull he has to get close to Columbo, the better to keep the eye on the investigation.

Coleman even has an alibi cooked up courtesy of his new law partner Shera Danese. You have to see what it is and how Peter Falk blows it apart at the climax.

Coleman who has taken a patent out on playing these smarmy characters is at his smarmy best in this Columbo story. Great to see him taken down.

Although we've owned (and have repeatedly viewed) the complete collection for years; this is my first episode review. You know what that means?

I only have 68 to go.

Ok, Dabney Coleman actually does a pretty good job here. The story line is pretty good and the "clue collection/interpretation process", by Columbo is Ok, not bad/not great.

It's a bit slow and Falk even more so. Still, it's far superior entertainment than 99% of anything else y'all can find on the boob tube.

Slow at times but still, decent intrigue.

Bob R.

I am one of the biggest Columbo fans. I just love Peter Falk and his most famous character, Lieutenant Columbo. In this one, Dabney Coleman plays a wealthy corrupt attorney who kills his rock star girlfriend and sets her male lover with the crime. We don't actually see the crime since it's not Columbo's style to show a victim in a degrading matter. We are only given hints of what he does to her. It's fine by me. Columbo episodes are always tastefully done rather than carelessly graphic. What makes Columbo episodes so entertaining is the empathy for the victims regardless of judgment. Dabney Coleman as a popular LA criminal defense attorney tries to outsmart Columbo but fails. No criminal is smart enough to beat Columbo.

COLUMBO AND THE MURDER OF A ROCK STAR is a pretty good entry from the second incarnation of the raincoat-wearing sleuth. It features Dabney Coleman (BOARDWALK EMPIRE) who offs his cheating partner in an ingenious way, only to perplex the cops by offering a cast-iron alibi and a seemingly obvious suspect.

Sometimes these later stories can feel a little strained due to the lack of enough plotting to sustain a 100-minute running time, but that's not the case here. The murder is a complex one that takes plenty of (interesting) preparation, and there are various twists and turns thrown into the case to keep the viewer's attention right until the end. There's the occasional continuity error (such as the placement of a champagne bottle, which I was convinced had some relation to the plot) and unbelievable moment, but it's not enough to detract from the experience.

Falk is on fine form, although I was sad to see his comedy routines are limited to the single highlight, involving a funny fish tank contraption. Still, Coleman makes for an effectively grumpy villain, and the novelty of a Little Richard cameo can't be ignored. Falk's wife, Shera Danese, appears for the fourth time in the series. There's even a role for '70s actress Sondra Currie, playing virtually the same character she did in POLICEWOMEN.