Playback
- Episode aired Mar 2, 1975
- TV-PG
- 1h 13m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
2.5K
YOUR RATING
A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Photos
Herbert Jefferson Jr.
- S. Baxter
- (as Herb Jefferson Jr.)
Frank Baxter
- Officer Bronson
- (uncredited)
Henry
- Columbo's Dog
- (uncredited)
Mike Lally
- Man in Snack Bar
- (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey
- Man in Art Gallery
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPeter Falk traveled all the way to Switzerland to persuade Oskar Werner in person to take part in this segment.
- GoofsColumbo has the security video (a wide shot of the room) enhanced and is able to read the wording on a card on the mantelpiece, thereby nullifying the suspect's alibi. This would have been impossible. It is stretching technology and image-enhancement way too far to be able to extract a clear image of the card from something that occupies only a few lines of the video image and to manufacture information that was simply not there in the original image.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Remington Steele: Stronger Than Steele (1985)
Featured review
Excellent early Columbo
Especially in its early years, the Columbo series often showcased modern technology - the IBM Selectric typewriter (yes, before it was obsolete, it was brand new), the Betamax years before it was available to the public, the digital watch, and in this episode, Playback, it's home gadgetry. In order to help his wheelchair-bound wife (Gena Rowlands), her husband (Oskar Werner) has outfitted their home with doors that open when one claps one's hands, etc. He also has a state of the art security system complete with videotape, which he maneuvers in order to show the killing of his mother-in-law, who's about to close down his business, but not her killer, while he's out for the evening. Columbo finds it terribly convenient that the killer managed to avoid the camera. A little too convenient.
Werner makes an excellent villain. He's smooth as silk, and all the more of a sleaze due to the soft and sympathetic portrayal of Gena Rowlands, who seems to truly love this philanderer/murderer. By the time Columbo's through with him, though, he's toast. A really wonderful entry in the series.
Werner makes an excellent villain. He's smooth as silk, and all the more of a sleaze due to the soft and sympathetic portrayal of Gena Rowlands, who seems to truly love this philanderer/murderer. By the time Columbo's through with him, though, he's toast. A really wonderful entry in the series.
helpful•395
- blanche-2
- Dec 10, 2005
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