Day 259: Columbo, Death Hits the Jackpot

Show: Columbo

Episode Particulars: S10EP4, “Death Hits the Jackpot”, original airdate December 15^th, 1991.

 Summary: Freddy Brower (Gary Kroeger) is a photographer attempting to divorce his wife Nancy (Jamie Rose). While they’re trying to hammer out the final terms, Brower sees on TV that he’s picked the winning lottery numbers and now has thirty million dollars to his name. Not wanting to give half his new windfall to his ex, he goes to his uncle Leon Lamarr (Rip Torn) for advice. Lamarr suggests a little bit of subterfuge; he’ll cash the ticket and then give Brower the money at a later date. Brower eagerly agrees, but what he doesn’t know is that Lamarr needs money himself, and is therefore willing to kill for it. Sure enough, Brower winds up dead in his bathtub, and Columbo’s soon snooping around for answers. One wonders if being around the newly wealthy makes him tempted to ask for a pay raise…

Standalone Thoughts: Overall, I’d say this episode’s decent if not particularly special. If you’re able to separate Rip Torn’s performance from his Foghorn Leghorn accent, you’ll find a pretty good acting job. The scenario is somewhat predictable but reasonably well executed, and you do feel a certain amount of sympathy for the victim, even if he is doing something a little shady. Really, the thing that most stands out to me about the episode are the scenes featuring the people who live in Brower’s apartment building. Unfortunately, that’s not a good thing; even if they were meant to be deliberately annoying, it can still be frustrating to watch. I did get some amusement out of my initial assumption that the episode was riffing on the TV show Friends (especially since I’d heard somewhere there was a monkey on that show), but then I did some research, and while the monkey part is true, Friends didn’t start airing until 1994. Which may mean this episode was one of the inspirations for that show. Having never seen it myself, I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. That aside, the episode is an enjoyable enough outing, but one that probably won’t stick with you for very long.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: 5/6, plus an oblique mention of Dog when Columbo says that he (Columbo) has to go to the vet. Besides that, Columbo keeps bringing up his 25^th anniversary to his wife, there’s one big scene involving his car, one visible and one non-visible case of fumbling, “This Old Man” appears on the soundtrack (including the end credits), and there’s two versions of “Just one more thing” in rapid succession, one of which is literal. Pretty solid turnout this time around.

Other: *I must admit, I like the little grace note of having a harpsichord involved on the soundtrack during the murder, given the costume Lamarr is wearing. It’s cheesy, but it’s fun.

*Apparently, the King George III costume Lamarr wears includes a shirt with no sleeves, if this picture is any indication;

(This is right as he’s taking off the jacket, for the record)

That’s not only period inaccurate, it’s just bizarre. Wouldn’t you be afraid the jacket and vest would chafe?

Would This Hold Up in Court?: Yes. Columbo got pretty solid evidence (legally, no less), and obtained a confession of sorts to boot. And the prosecuting attorneys breathe a sigh of relief.