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I always enjoy MSW episodes featuring reformed jewel thief turned insurance investigator Dennis Stanton. This installment delves more into Dennis's past as he encounters an old rival whom he suspects is attempting to defraud his company for millions with a purportedly lost Mark Twain manuscript.

The episode keeps viewers guessing as the questions shift from "Is the Twain manuscript a forgery?" and "How did the expert forger pull it off?" to "Who killed the rare book expert?" Keith Michell is as charming and roguish as ever as Stanton, and the enmity between him and Lawrence Erlich, played by David Birney, simmers under the surface, with unresolved issues involving Stanton's late wife.

Roy Dotrice, Nehemiah Persoff, Diane Baker, James Sloyan, Hallie Todd, and Ken Swofford round out a top-flight cast.

"Nashville 99" was one of those mid-season replacements that didn't survive for very long, but I remember enjoying its brief time on the air. Claude Akins as the no-nonsense Nashville cop Lt. Stoney Huff (badge number 99), played well against Jerry Reed as partner Detective Trace Mayne, who provided comic (and musical) relief and would star just a month later in the classic "Smokey and the Bandit." Though the show took plenty of advantage of its Nashville setting with appearances by country music stars like Charley Pride, Mel Tillis, Chet Atkins and Tammy Wynette, it also showed other sides of Tennessee life, and made for an atypical cop show.

One episode that I still remember was the haunting drama "Joldy," featuring veteran character actor Pat Hingle. As Huff and Mayne hunt for two brothers on a crime spree, the brothers are in turn hampered by their delusional father (Hingle), who never recovered from the death of his youngest son Joldy and believes he's still alive.

Earle Hagen provided the score, including the catchy theme song sung by Reed. Hearing it again for the first time in over 30 years on You Tube of all places, it was just as I remembered it. I only wish I could find a recording of it somewhere.

The show only lasted for four episodes before heading off to television oblivion. It's unlikely that the show will ever find its way to DVD, and perhaps my memory of it is subjective, but I would be curious to view it today and see how it fares with the passage of time.

Seeing Ross Martin duel with Columbo is a treat. Whereas his best-known character, Artemis Gordon from "The Wild Wild West," was laid-back and mischievous, his portrayal of art critic Dale Kingston embodies the worst traits of a professional critic: cold, calculating, and arrogant. He makes the perfect antagonist for the rumpled detective. Kingston appears to cover all his bases, manipulating everyone (but Columbo) for his own ends, whether through seduction, simpering, or browbeating. For awhile, he even stymies the great detective. But in the end, he is shocked to discover that Columbo has been one step ahead of him, besting the art critic with what has to be the most unexpected piece of evidence in a surprise ending! I never tire of watching this episode!