Just One More Thing

Politics. No one’s tired of that yet, right? Ha. Ha. Ha. Yeah. So, in “Candidate for Crime,” Jackie Cooper is Nelson Hayward, a US Senate candidate who’s sick and tired of his campaign manager telling him what to do. Does he fire him? Nope, it’s a literal Saturday Night Massacre, as the pol kills him in cold blood, then tries to pin it on a mob assassination attempt. Of course, Columbo doesn’t buy this angle for a minute and engages in a one-man filibuster against.... murder. JD Ryznar (Beyond Yacht Rock) returns to the program to talk about the (rather uneven) episode, Dixieland jazz, the arcane world of writing credits, and oh so much more.

Next up is Season Three’s “Candidate for Crime,” in which a politician figures he can get away with literal murder and still get elected. That could never happen in a million years, right? Right? ANYWAY, JD Ryznar (Beyond Yacht Rock, Hot Streets) joins us to discuss this wildly implausible scenario. The episode is available on DVD and Netflix Instant (for now).

Yes, we talked about “Now You See Him” way back on our seventh show, but we felt it was worth revisiting with a more, shall we say, open-minded guest. The episode features Jack Cassidy creeping it up as a creep magician/ex-Nazi SS officer who kills the creep magic club owner who’s blackmailing him over his evil past. Also- Columbo has a new coat! Robert Loggia’s in charge of the kitchen! There’s a hidden Hollywood legend! Lots of other stuff we never got to when we tried talking about the episode with that first guy! Since it’s the world of magic illusion, we brought back our resident expert, Leigh Beadon (techdirt.com), to discuss.

Next time, it’ll be Season Five’s “Now You See Him,” with Jack Cassidy doing his slimy best as a murderous magician. Yes, it is a do-over, for obvious reasons. Joining us will be Leigh Beadon (techdirt.com). It’s available on Netflix Instant and DVD.

Murder is no game. Well, except for “The Most Dangerous Match,” wherein chess genius Laurence Harvey is terrified at the prospect of losing to someone even more genius-er than he is. Instead of just playing harder, he tries to kill his opponent by shoving him into what passes for early-70s green technology (a massive garbage crushing machine). When that doesn’t quite work, Columbo investigates the not-quite-yet-a-murder, trying to stay one move ahead of this Bobby Fisher analogue, putting his dreams of getting away with it in check. Appropriately, game designer Nathan Paoletta is the guest, helping Jon and RJ put the pieces in place. Games.