Columbo: Agenda for Murder

I love watching the actor Patrick McGoohan...he was just terrific in shows like "The Secret Agent" and "The Prisoner". But he was also really good in various TV shows as guest stars...and I particular loved his several appearances on "Columbo". This being said, I was not completely in love with "Agenda for Murder" as it was his weakest appearance on the program. Now it isn't bad....but the finale seemed a bit too easy and hard to believe.

Oscar Finch (McGoohan) is a very important mover and shaker--the sort of guy who is good at pulling strings and he has a strong future in politics. However, out of the blue, a man from the past threatens to derail so much Oscar has built for himself. So, he does what any sociopath would do...he kills the guy. However, Oscar is no dummy....he meticulously plans the killing and it appears to be foolproof. Of course, being on "Columbo" you know it isn't.

Watching this with my wife was a big plus, as she writes thrillers and knows a lot about crime...perhaps too much! So, when they used very tenuous dental evidence in this one, I told her this was ridiculous....and she said that in the early 90s it was believed to be an exact science and folks WERE convicted using it. However, she also admitted that in recent years, they've come to realize that it is NOT an exact science and isn't as reliable as they'd assumed. So, perhaps some of my gripe is simply about the misuse of such evidence...not in the writing of the show. Still, the ending DID seem very abrupt and anti-climactic. Enjoyable, of course, but not among the better episodes....which is generally the case with these later "Columbo" episodes.

Columbo I have always loved, and Agenda for Murder is a perfect showcase as to why. Although it is one of the later episodes, it is an episode that while not quite one of my favourites is just as good as the episodes of the 70s. Columbo has always been well made, and with the striking photography and slick editing, Agenda for Murder is no exception. The dialogue is very crisp and clever, adding so much to the playful and tense tone of the episode, oh and the flasher gag and bird puns are a hoot, and the story never has a dull moment and advantaged further by a totally unexpected ending that even shocks Finch as well as the audience. Peter Falk is wonderful as he consistently is, and Patrick McGoohan deservedly won an Emmy for his very pompous, stern yet very intelligent performance here. The scenes between him and Falk are a joy to behold, some of the most inspired rapport of any Columbo episode in my opinion. All in all, a fine entry to the series and just as good as the episodes of the 70s. 10/10 Bethany Cox

The effervescent Patrick McGoohan plays a Columbo murderer for the third time (and does a directorial turn to boot), as he depicts the hitherto untouchable lawyer, Oscar Finch, whose past comes back to haunt him in the form a notorious racketeer, Frank Staplin, who threatens to expose a 21 year old scandal in which Finch bribed the District Attorney at the time, Paul Mackey (who is now running for Vice President) to discard vital evidence that would have had severe consequences for Staplin.

McGoohan's performance deservedly won him an Emmy - McGoohan encapsulates the "charm" of a Columbo villain effortlessly with a crisp, precise and purposeful portrayal, tinged with a mild eccentricity, ensuring that his scenes with Falk have a razor-sharp entertainment value.

The script-writer, Jeffrey Bloom, also ensures that the vital commodity of humour is inserted at several well-timed moments in this TV movie, and like the 1973 episode from the original Columbo series "Candiadate for Crime", Columbo's intrusions with key personnel become increasingly antagonising as the presidential campaign reaches it's climax.

Satisfying as a whole, the episode is really only guilty of losing some its initial zest and pace around its mid-section when some of the investigation becomes a little drawn-out as the discussion of the clues becomes deliberately selective and individualised.

The resolution is totally unexpected and it astounds the murderer and viewer in equal measure: a devilishly clever element to a largely solid, well-made adventure for Columbo, which is probably one of the most polished stories of Columbo's latter-day movies.

The main difference between the early Columbo's and the later ones from the late eighties and 90's were I felt the later episodes lacked the star power of the shows from the 70's. But in 1990 long time actor and director Patrick Mcgoohan returns to play the villain for the third time in Agenda for Murder. This episode was just brilliant and to see Falk and Mcgoohan playing cat and mouse 16 years after their first stint in " By dawns early Light " was just breathtaking. The line of the show is when Columbo parks in Mcgoohans parking stall and Mcgoohan states sarcastically to his secretary " What is that oxidized relic doing in my parking spot ". My God that was great and this show will keep you on the edge until the very end. It's the best the later episodes have to offer so seek it out.

This is one of the best Columbos. The reason for this is the cat and mouse games Columbo and the bad guy, Patrick McGoohan (who won an Emmy for this one, I believe), use against each other. Also the way Columbo catches him is really funny. I always enjoy Columbo but I enjoy it even more when McGoohan shows up. (For those of you who don't know McGoohan watch the old British tv show "The Prisoner" or more recently watch him as Edward I in "Braveheart.")

McGoohan makes the man he murders looks like he committed suicide. No one knew that McGoohan was showing up excpet for the man he murders. Lt. Columbo is still able to figure out that he did it. To give away more would be wrong, so I won't do that.

The dialogue between Columbo and McGoohan is some of the most entertaining out of all the Columbos that I've seen. McGoohan really thinks he is going to get away with it but he's up against Columbo and we know how that will work out.