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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 60 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Columbo
Chili with crackers. He likes his chili with some ketchup, some salt, and especially some saltine crackers smashed into his chili.
044- APD. After the shows movement to ABC, the license number changed to 448- DBZ.
1950 Peugeot. Columbo says it is a 1950 Peugeot, but it is actually a 1959 Peugeot, Model 403.
Hard boiled egg. He also likes to have his coffee black.
Ice cream. Dog also likes to watch some television.
Beethoven. When he took Dog to the vet, the vet recommended calling his dog Fido, Jet, or Munch.
'Etude In Black'. Columbo spent much of the episode trying to come up with a name for Dog.
| Shera Danese has played a part in six Columbo episodes, but what relationship is this actress to Peter Falk, who played the 'rumpled detective'? | Columbo
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wife. Shera played Molly in 'Fade In To Murder', Eve Plummer in 'Murder Under Glass', Vanessa Barsini in 'Murder, A Self Portrait', Trish Fairbanks in 'Columbo And The Murder Of A Rock Star', Geraldine Ferguson in 'Undercover' and Kathleen Calvert in 'A Trace of Murder'.
| What were the names of the two college students who murdered their professor by remote control? | Columbo
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Cooper Redman and Justin Rowe. This episode was unusual in that Columbo was actually present when the deed took place!
| The murder of Louise Barsini in 'Murder, a Self-Portrait' was not entirely due to fear of exposure about a previous murder, and Dog was instrumental in giving Columbo the vital clue. What was the reason? | Columbo
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jealousy. The episode starts, unusually, with Columbo as he takes Dog to a Basset Hound Show, where Dog bites him. Later Columbo is to learn that Dog reacted like that through jealousy and this gives our Lieutenant a vital clue in his case.
| While some actors have appeared in more than one episode, one guest star played the murderer in four separate storylines - more than any other - who was this? | Columbo
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Patrick McGoohan. Patrick played Col Lyle C Rumford in 'By Dawn's Early Light', Nelson Brenner in 'Identity Crisis', Oscar Finch in 'Agenda For Murder and Prince in 'Ashes to Ashes' He also directed 'Last Salute To The Commodore'. Robert Culp and Jack Cassidy each played the murderer three times and William Shatner played the murderer twice.
| In the 1976 episode, 'A Matter of Honor' (sic), another episode was mentioned, not by name, but by description of the murder and its detection - which one was this? | Columbo
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'Troubled Waters'. The Mexican police chief tells Columbo he heard about the case he solved on the cruise liner and wanted his input in a case in his area. Columbo goes on to solve the murder.
| What was the command word or phrase which caused the dobermans to kill in 'How to Dial a Murder'? | Columbo
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'rosebud'. Columbo had the dogs 're-programmed' so the command induced them to 'kiss' instead.
| Where was the episode 'Dagger of the Mind' set? | Columbo
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London. Bond Girl Honor Blackman co-starred in this episode with Richard Basehart, as husband and wife who murdered Sir Roger Haversham.
| In 'Murder of a Rock Star' there is a serious continuity error - what is it? | Columbo
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Although pouring with rain when Columbo goes in to the building it is dry underfoot when he comes out a moment later. Columbo goes out to the bins with the cleaner, and we see that although there was a thunderstom raging when he went into the front of the building, out the back it was a beautiful sunny day with no sign anywhere that any rain fell at all.
| In which episode did Columbo let the killer go free? | Columbo
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'Forgotten Lady'. Former film star, Grace Wheeler, kills her husband, and as Columbo discovers the truth, he finds out that she has only a short time to live, and that she does not remember doing the deed. He agrees to arrest her friend, with the expectation that by the time his innocence is established Grace will be dead.
| When Faye Dunaway asked what his first name was, what did Columbo answer? | Columbo
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Lieutenant . Faye asked this of Columbo in 'It's all the Game'. 'Trivial Pursuit' once claimed his name to be 'Philip' but this has no foundation in the programme at all, and later editions changed this to state that the name was unknown.
| In the 1994 Columbo film 'Butterfly in Shades of Gray' (sic) the murderer did the deed because he could not accept that his adopted daughter was no longer a child, and treated her as such. Victoria is very fond of her father and only believes he is not what he seemed when he does what? | Columbo's Children
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he destroys a politician's career on his radio programme. Molly Hagan also played Ruthie in 'Murder, Smoke and Shadows' (1989) and was anything but a child for either of these performances. This episode was included in this quiz because Fielding Chase (William Shatner) treated his daughter like a 16-year old even though the character was supposed to be 25. Molly was actually 32 when this film was released in 1994.
| The 1991 special, 'Death Hits the Jackpot' had an unusual 'child' in it - a young monkey lived with the victim and provided the proof needed to nail the murderer. What was this proof? | Columbo's Children
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the monkey left paw prints on the murderer's medallion. This adorable little primate wore little dresses and had a liking for shiny objects - as shown by a series of photographs found in the victim's flat. Columbo noticed this and checked out the murderer's fancy dress costume, which included a large shiny medallion - and sure enough there was monkey paw prints all over it, proving that the medallion had been at the scene of the crime, and that Leon had to have been there with it.
| There were many young people in 'Columbo Goes to College' (1990) but we only get to know two of them, the murderers. Justin and Cooper are clever teenagers who have more money than sense, and their way of life finally catches up with them. The only way they seem to be able to continue their soft living is to remove their tutor - but how did they actually kill Professor Rusk? | Columbo's Children
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by attaching a remote control lock to a gun. The first clue Columbo had regarding the identity of the murderers was when one of the young people named Justin by his full name, for he had earlier found out that Professor Rusk had left the lecture theatre in order to meet someone of the same surname.
Stephen Caffrey (Justin Rowe) has had many bit parts in television and film since this episode, and Gary Hershberger (Cooper Redman) was a regular in 'Twin Peaks' as Mike Nelson, and in 'Six Feet Under' as Matthew Gilardi, as well as many parts in other programmes and films.
| It seems to be that the innocence of youth gives Columbo the essential clues, but in 'Columbo Goes to the Guillotine' (1989) the young man he meets in the Magic Shop works out how an elaborate hoax was pulled off to fool an august body of officials. Michael Bacall played Tommy, who helped Columbo perform the same trick under the same circumstances to discredit the murderer. Why was this so important? | Columbo's Children
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because the army wanted to relocate the murderer with a new identity. Elliott Blake (Anthony Andrews) conspired with the victim to perform an ESP trick to con the army into believing he could be gainfully employed by them because of his talent in reading minds. It worked, but as he was about to leave in a military aircraft for his new life Columbo stopped him and performed the same trick (as worked out by Tommy).
Michael Bacall appeared in 'The Wonder Years' and 'CSI' as well as voicing for 'Hey Arnold!'.
| Carol Jones (aka Carol Jones-Potter) played a young lady called Caroline Treynor in 1977, and was delighted when Columbo complimented her on her looks, saying it was the first time someone liked her for her body and not her brain. Which Columbo story was this? | Columbo's Children
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'The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case'. The murder takes place in a Mensa-type Club, where Caroline is a member; she gives Columbo a suggestion as to how the murder was done before the shots were heard, thus giving the murderer an alibi. He has to tell her that her idea was not fully correct, then goes on to say that she is a very pretty girl.
Carol also has a lot of titles to her credit, including two different characters in 'The Waltons' and many films.
| Columbo spent two nights in a Military Academy in 1974 after the Colonel killed the Chairman of the Board; the young men assisted him in his investigation due to some cider which had been spotted by the murderer 'By the Dawn's Early Light' - placing him at the murder scene without doubt. After the first night in the dorm, however, Columbo asked one of the young men for something which he was unable to supply. What was that? | Columbo's Children
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a pair of socks. Cadet Morgan (B Kirby Jr - also known as Bruce Kirby Jr) has appeared in over fifty films, and also counts 'M*A*S*H' and 'The Larry Sanders Show' in his credits. He has also directed for television. The other main young actor, Mark Wheeler, played Cadet Springer (the person framed for the 'accident') went on to play in 'Dallas' and other television appearances.
| Steve Spielberg was a mixed-up child in a grown-up world, but for all that a very likeable character. Incredibly smart, he is estranged from his ordinary family and works in his own laboratory in the Institute. He helps Columbo with his dog, and gives him a vital clue in that he had been sent to the drive-in on the night of the murder - an unusual occurrence as people did not treat him as a kid in the normal run of events. His project at the institute was a robot with a clinical name - what was that name? | Columbo's Children
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Double-M-Seven. The robot (which was Steve's seventh robot; the first was a Mickey Mouse) gave the murderer his alibi, as it was programmed to take his place on the computer, and Columbo, with Steve's help, worked this out.
Lee H Montgomery, who played him, had a long career in film and television, including composing for films since 2001. His credit list includes appearances in 'Dallas' and 'Medical Centre'; he also appears as Lee Montgomery and Lee Harcourt Montgomery.
| Audrey is seen playing with a dog when the murderer leaves the scene of the crime, and she does not see him. This is unfortunate, but she does point Columbo in the right direction when she tells him how she looked after Chopin the cockatoo; in contrast to this, the murderer tried to imply that it was a suicide and the victim didn't think to save the bird first. At one point in the programme Columbo goes looking for Audrey to speak to her - where does he find her? | Columbo's Children
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at a dance class. Audrey was played by Dawn Frame in 'Etude in Black' (1972). Her character played well with Columbo in this story, as she was an animal lover, and this story saw the introduction of Dog.
A notable fact I discovered while researching this story was that the murderer's wife was played by Blythe Danner, who was pregnant with Gwyneth Paltrow during the filming!
| Margaret was the daughter of the victim in 'Ransom for a Dead Man' (1971) and assisted Lieutenant Columbo in catching the murderer by forcing him/her to part with some of the marked ransom money which supposedly had gone to the kidnappers. Who was the murderer, in relation to Margaret herself? | Columbo's Children
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her stepmother. This was the second film in which Columbo appeared; it wasn't until six months later that Peter Falk became the real star. The murderer in this case was played by Lee Grant and showed how she killed her husband (Margaret's father) and then worked out an elaborate kidnapping plot to cover her tracks.
Margaret was played by Patricia Mattick (aka Patty Mattick), who had many bit parts in the 1970s, including TV movies and programmes such as 'Ironside' and 'The Streets of San Francisco'.
| This Brit fiddled while Rome burned in 'A.D.', married the young lady of the house in 'Upstairs, Downstairs', played Edward VIII to Jane Seymour's Mrs Simpson and changed from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde in 1989, the same year he nearly chopped Columbo's head off in 'Columbo Goes to the Guillotine'. Who was this actor? | Leftenant Columbo
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Anthony Andrews . This particular Columbo film, although slow in places, is a good one. Andrews plays Elliott Blake, who very nearly escapes from Columbo's clutches by means of being relocated by the military; a young lad helps our rumpled detective, and he is uncovered as a fraud. Soon after this, Columbo takes a chance and tricks Blake into attempting to decapitate him.
| In 1978 Columbo came across a Sinn Fein conspiracy to send guns to Ireland after Joe Devlin murdered his arms dealer over a double-cross. The actor who played him (Clive Revill) was a New Zealander, but there was one Irish actor amongst the cast. Which character did Sean McClory play in 'The Conspirators'? | Leftenant Columbo
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the ship's captain. With all the Irish accents in this episode, it was surprising that only one listed actor came from the Emerald Isle! Clive Revill, who is often mistaken for a Brit, had a wonderful southern Irish accent, but the character claimed to come from Belfast, which is in Northern Ireland. The ship's captain, who only speaks in one scene, when being asked to delay the sailing, was played by Sean McClory, who appeared in 'The Quiet Man' with John Wayne.
Technically speaking, Sean McClory is not a Brit, having been born in Dublin, which is in Eire (only Northern Ireland is part of the UK), but I am twisting things a bit because the Irish would also pronounce Columbo's rank as 'leftenant'. Awful reasoning, but there you are.
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