Columbo - Ranking Season Two

Today I return to the world of the most famous Lieutenant of the LAPD, as I explore the second season of Columbo! Join me as I break down each crime, every killer, and the guest stars that helped Peter Falk bring this series to life.
0:00 Introduction
00:54 Etude in Black - Guest Starring John Cassavetes and Myrna Loy
05:11The Greenhouse Jungle - Guest Starring Ray Milland
09:08 The Most Crucial Game - Guest Starring Robert Culp, Dean Stockwell and Dean Jagger
14:01 Dagger of the Mind - Guest Starring Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman
19:49 Requiem for a Falling Star - Guest Starring Anne Baxter and Mel Ferrer
25:25 A Stitch in Crime - Guest Starring Leonard Nimoy, Will Geer and Anne Francis
31:09 The Most Dangerous Match - Guest Starring Laurence Harvey
36:47 Double Shock - Guest Starring Martin Landau
44:30 Final Ranking
* All clips, images and music from the films and TV series referenced are the property of their respective owners
#Columbo #Ranked #MurderMystery

[@raymeedc]

Little known fact about “Double Shock”, that being the fact that Landau only played one of the brothers, the other unidentified actor wearing one of those undetectable masks used in Mission Impossible😱

[@palacehaunter5442]

Season 4 is the best in terms of sheer quality.

[@WillCWilson]

Thus far in the series [I'm trying to watch the whole show, am currently on Season 5 Episode 2 [A Case of Immunity], I think Seasons 3 and 4 tie for the best seasons, even with some weaker episodes like the one where Columbo takes a cruise [Troubled Waters], I thought that one was kinda boring

[@Lazrael32]

Fun fact (maybe)! columbo was technically Gwenyth Paltro's first appearence, as her mom was very pregnant with her in it and they did a lot to hide her baby bump! also Cassavette's was extremely good friends with Falk, and cast him in many movies. Falk is the one who talked him into doing columbo as mostly Cassavette's hated tv and tv work.

[@HildebrandProductions]

I knew Peter Falk and John Cassavetes were great friends, but I was not aware of Blythe Danner being pregnant during this episode. That is really interesting, thanks for mentioning that!

[@Twerpjuice]

Thank you for feeding my obsession

[@emmagalbraith7763]

This ranking series is great fun! Thank you! I laughed out loud a lot at your humour and episode intros, so funny! Great production value on this, appreciate all your hard work! I thought I knew everything about Columbo but I’m learning more with these! Just one last thing… bravo from a new fan in N.Ireland 🎉

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it and found it funny. It's always hard to know if anyone besides me will find humour in whatever I'm saying, so I appreciate you saying that. And I'm still amazed when people from other countries find my little channel. Thanks again!

[@johng4093]

I love to see someone having fun like this, with your costume changes, or with Most Crucial Game criticizing Falk then thinking, thinking, thinking (with sound effects) what score to give him, ultimately it's 5 stars despite it all.

[@Simona_midulcevida]

Good stuff...really like this. I am going to have to go back and review Double Shock. Season 2 was not my favorite. But I did like a few of them...Etude in Black and a Stitch in Crime. I have to re-review Double Shock.

[@arthurjeremypearson]

That final scene in Requiem for a Falling Star is something I was particularly struck by. She was being overly theatrical because she was exhausted. Tired. Worn out. At her wit's end. But when she realizes Columbo knows and sees the finality of it... She stops acting. The character stopped acting - Ann Baxter acted an act that her character had been playing for years, and it was finally over. Ann acted that actress stop acting. I don't know. I loved it.

[@theamericanaromantic]

Sir? One more thing... please complete this series all the way to the last season! New sub here. Great job!

[@HildebrandProductions]

My intentions are to continue this series, it just might take me some time. But I'm very glad you've enjoyed the video, thanks for subscribing!

[@okay5045]

Daggers of the mind was great they were supposed to be hammy and it was a lovely postcard of London. Have traveled there this episode brought back fond memories.

[@thomaspacull9056]

The actor in the TV show is a young Mark Singer (Mike Donovan in V, The Beastmaster)

[@bonghunezhou5051]

I shall remember this channel - and check back for the 1973-1974 season roundup in February. (Etude in Black is my top pick for this season.)

[@kibagami74]

Enjoyed this video as well. I personally like The Most Crucial Game more and Robert Culp always makes a good antagonist, I'd have ranked it higher. Dagger of the Mind, Requiem for a Falling Star and the Most Dangerous Match are 3 of the lower ranking episodes for me. Dagger of the Mind mostly puts me to sleep and the 2 killers are just too cartoonish to feel real. Of course, it's still Columbo and therefore watchable. Also, agree about how good Dabney Coleman is with Peter Falk, wish they made him a recurring character. Etude in Black, A Stitch in Crime and Double Shock are all pretty great.

[@zerodreaming]

been waiting for more columbo reviews! thanks!

[@HildebrandProductions]

The gap between ranking videos was a lot longer than I'd intended. I'm hoping to shorten that for season three. Thanks for watching!

[@patbannister1]

Loved this. Your ‘intro’ to each episode was so fun!! 🌺🌺🇨🇦

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thank you, I'm very glad you enjoyed them! It was a fun video to put together.

[@julieborel3043]

Thanks for another well done, enjoyable video!

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thanks very much!

[@martinboyle9163]

I loved your first ranking. I love this one as well. I can't hate any episode, but I agree some are better than others. Great review! ❤

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thanks very much, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@claratrevlyn5304]

DISCLAIMER: As an avid Columbo viewer since the early 1970s, I'm already loving these reviews. Well done. Please continue! BUT... sorry, but there is something flawed with a ranking system that puts "Dagger of the Mind" at anywhere other than the worst Columbo episode of the entire Classic run, never mind Season 2. And I'm British. And yes, I have seen Last Salute to the Commodore. It's simply too much of a parody. It's far too obvious that it's partly recorded in London and partly in California, even without the limousine whose tyres change colour mid-journey. The British characters are embarrassingly awful. (Couldn't they at least make up their minds whether to say LOO-tenant or LEF-tenant?) Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman obviously enjoyed chewing the scenery, but just don't take it seriously at all. For me, it's simply not a Columbo episode. The other episode with a British supporting cast, Troubled Waters, was so much better.

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thank you, I'm glad you've enjoyed the Columbo videos so far. I've heard from a few people now that 'Dagger of the Mind' is their least favourite, and looking online it seems that opinion is shared by many. For whatever reason, I didn't have the visceral reaction to it that everybody else does (although I suspect the reason is seeing Columbo on vacation, those scenes can paper over many flaws). It is definitely "London through Hollywood eyes." Another example of that is Brannigan, starring John Wayne, a movie that I've been a fan of for most of my life. If I was British, as you are, these cliches might make me cringe, but so far I don't mind them. I can relate though when it comes to caricatured Canadian characters. Outside of SCTV, seeing characters like that pop up anywhere gets my patriotic indignation going.

[@claratrevlyn5304]

@@HildebrandProductions I also enjoyed Brannigan. It features a bar brawl in a pub called The Lamb Tavern, in which I've enjoyed many a happy after work drink. It's located in Leadenhall Market, which doubled as Diagon Alley in the first Harry Potter film.

[@DadgeCity]

I'd have to rank the London episode last - the script and the acting leave a lot to be desired. Happy you put the Martin Landau episode first - it wouldn't be my choice but he was one of my favourite actors.

[@frankiegreer6258]

We know Columbo caught all the killers but we don't know what happened during the trail?. Why not a Columbo reboot of all the court cases?

[@JoJoJoker]

RE: “The Match” - he wrote the letter in his native language because that was the only logical justification for asking him to write it.

[@noelleparris9451]

AND the note was supposed to be for the woman Clayton was dropping, not for Clayton himself. THAT´S why it was to be written in.... not Russian. I don´t believe there was anything said to indicate Dudek was Russian. And the flag shown was most definitely not the Russian flag.

[@robertprior9964]

Thanks for your overview, always interesting to hear other peoples opinions especially when I have such strong ones myself on this subject. I disagree with some of your scoring of individual parts of the episodes (I would have rated Ann Baxter higher) but have no issue with your final ranking except for Dagger of the Mind. In my opinion it is the worst episode of all the early Columbo's and second worst overall. So much so that when re-watching them I have been known to skip it entirely.

[@HildebrandProductions]

As this is my first time going through the series, I'm curious to see if my opinions will change at all over time. There's so much to enjoy in these episodes, I'm sure the next time I'll appreciate other things about them. As for Dagger of the Mind, if that's near the bottom of your list, I'm sure that speaks to the great quality of upcoming episodes and seasons. I can't wait! I appreciate your feedback!

[@scattygirl1]

Dagger of the Mind was awful imo too. Maybe it's because I'm British and found the stereotypes of the Brits really cringe-making, but even without that, Honor Blackman is such a great, fun actress that I found it painful to watch her and her husband being so hammy. But one dud in a whole series is a pretty good average.

[@giarc888]

Second season was just fair compared to season 1 and 3.

[@robertprior9964]

i agree but still good.

[@rawn4203]

Appreciate your review but no way is double shock better than stitch in crime. We agree 2 disagree. Nice job though and thanx 4 sharon your thoughts!!!

[@raymeedc]

~ Like so many of these and most other detective shows, the “vital” evidence presented at the end would not only rarely be able to convince all members of a jury to convict without a reasonable doubt, but in real life almost nobody would admit to being caught/guilty when confronted with such or any evidence….. just sayin’ ~

[@scattygirl1]

Another great discussion- thanks 🙂 On a side note- how many of the viewers also say "*on* accident"? I know it's a growing thing, but I'm curious as to how much. I was born in the 1960s and say by accident. (I also once taught a child who would say "by purpose"; interesting why that preposition choice didn't catch on but its corresponding partner did) Thanks

[@HildebrandProductions]

Thanks very much! Now you've got me thinking, I believe I use both "on" and "by". But you're right, "by" would be grammatically correct.

[@scattygirl1]

@@HildebrandProductions I wasn't correcting you 🙂 Language naturally evolves. I'm just interested in the places and age ranges where it happens.

[@peterolbrisch8970]

Once again, Robert Culp is culpable.