Omicidio telecomandato

Columbo is guest lecturer for a criminology class. The students invite him along for their after-class get-together. Transiting the nearby parking garage, they discover their regular teacher, next to his car, dead from a gunshot wound. (No, Columbo was not after the man's job.) As a class project, Columbo involves the students in his sleuthing.

Two students, tentatively identified by the viewer as culprits, were in the lecture hall for the entire class. Furthermore, surveillance camera tapes of the parking garage show that no one other than the professor entered or left after he was last seen unexpectedly departing the lecture hall.

Reversing the normal routine, Columbo is the one that is pestered by the evil (?) duo, eager for progress reports and an ear for their theories. Forensic evidence is almost nonexistent. Solution of the case hinges on some eventual and interesting good luck.

On first viewing, it seemed that Columbo had swallowed whole the culprits' misdirection; however, on repeat viewing, small details revealed that not to have been the case at all.

This reviewer has yet to tire of "Columbo Goes to College."

Stephen Caffrey and Gary Hershberger play two smart but spoiled college students named Justin Rowe and Cooper Redman who are confronted by one of their teachers named Professor Rusk who accuses them of stealing a copy of an upcoming test, and threatening to have them flunked or expelled. Fearing for their futures, they devise an elaborate plan to kill him in a parking garage while attending a lecture, which by coincidence is given by Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) who takes charge of the crime scene, and comes to realize that the two "helpful" students are responsible, but just how and why will be the problem... Robert Culp makes his fourth appearance, but in a supporting role(though not as the killer). Fine episode with intelligent and clever writing elevating this one, with a memorable ending of the astonished students getting their deserved comeuppance from the underestimated Lt. Columbo.

PLOT: Two spoiled frat boys (Stephen Caffrey & Gary Hershberger) murder their professor in an inventive way after he threatens to flunk them and expose their fraudulence. Robert Culp is on hand as the VIP father of one of them.

COMMENTARY: This is my favorite episode of the latter-day series (1989-2003). The spoiled college guys are overconfident and mock Columbo behind his back but, despite the Lieutenant's appearance and geniality, he's not naïve or clueless. Speaking of which, the clues gradually mount up, leading the rumpled detective to one of the best 'Gotcha' conclusions in the series. Everything clicks for a superb entry.

GRADE: A

This episode of "Columbo" features a pretty clever twist. The two murderers are college kids that aspire to be lawyers, so they get to 'help' Columbo throughout his investigation and throw in as many fake leads as possible. These are really well-written villains, because they clearly show no respect for a character the viewer has been respecting for twenty years. They're just seeing how far they can go, barely able to contain their laughter while talking to Columbo. It makes the inevitable big climax when they're caught so worthwhile.

This is one of my favorite episodes because Peter Falk is just amazing in it. Columbo never appears as smart as he actually is, but here the character has to take playing dumb to a whole new level. He needs the killers to see him as no threat whatsoever, he needs to jump on every obvious red herring that they feed him. These college kids clearly have no idea who they're dealing with, and he has to pretend that he's not gloating. It's a fantastically nuanced performance by Falk, and it makes this an infinitely rewatchable episode.

Not one of the strongest of the Columbo movies, but still pretty entertaining. There seem to be some echoes of "Compulsion"(1959) in the plot conceit of two college boy murderers who start insinuating themselves into the police investigation of the killing of their law professor, both to divert attention from themselves and to keep abreast of how much the police are finding out. But in this case, they are up against a much wilier opponent in Lt. Columbo, and their excessive self-confidence and politely suppressed scorn for the rumpled detective eventually lead them into a trap. Despite the fact that the murder plot hinges a little too much on fancy technology to be really plausible (could anyone really work out such a complicated conspiracy, requiring careful timing and gadgetry in just 24 hours?) it is still enjoyable to watch Columbo play the buffoon, lulling the culprits into complacency, and then proceed to wipe the smirks off their faces in the final revelation scene.