Columbo - The Complete Third Season DVD    Columbo DVDs

Buy Columbo - The Complete Third Season

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Universal
EAN: 0025192817823
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Universal Studios
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageSpanishSubtitled
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
MPN: MCAD28178D
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 09, 2005
Running Time: 73 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: September 15, 1971
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Editorial Review:

Product Description:
From the detective series that inspired them all this includes all 15 hours of the third season of columbo plus a bonus episode of mrs columbo. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 08/09/2005 Starring: Peter Falk Run time: 684 minutes

Amazon.com:
Oh, just one more thing, mystery mavens--get ready to be mystified and entertained by the award-winning third season of Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the rumpled but unbeatable Lieutenant. Having taken home Emmys for outstanding limited drama and lead actor in its '71-'72 debut season, Columbo was again named best drama for its third season ('73-'74). The reason for the repeat success? The formula remained the same: intelligent, engaging scripts and direction, guest performances by top actors, and, of course, Falk at center stage as Columbo, the most unlikely of supersleuths, but unquestionably one of the sharpest (the role would later earn Falk three more Emmys between 1975 and 1990). The 10 episodes compiled in this two-disc set again feature top talent from film and television: directors include veterans Jeannot Swarc and Boris Sagal, as well as actors Nicholas Colasanto (better known as Coach from Cheers) and Ben Gazzara (Falk's frequent co-star in the films of John Cassavetes), while the season's scripts feature contributions from Stephen J. Cannell, Steven Bochco, and Larry Cohen. And in regard to co-stars, Falk matched wits with the likes of Donald Pleasance, Martin Sheen, Vincent Price, Robert Culp (in one of four turns on the series), Jose Ferrer, Ida Lupino, and in two novel but effective casting choices, Johnny Cash and hard-boiled mystery scribe Mickey Spillane. And there's even a bonus feature in the form of an episode of the spinoff series Mrs. Columbo, starring Kate Mulgrew as the Lieutenant's oft-mentioned better half. In short, it's 11 hours of solid sleuthing for armchair detectives. --Paul Gaita

Season Three Episode Guide (1973–1974, 8 episodes)
"Lovely But Lethal" (9/23/73)
Vera Miles is cosmetics queen Viveca Scott, whose company has developed a seemingly magic wrinkle remover. The formula has been stolen by Karl Lessing (Martin Sheen), a chemist who refuses to sell it back to her at any price. Ms. Scott then kills her employee and former lover before he can sell it to her competitor, cosmetics king David Lang (Vincent Price). When her rival's secretary (Sian Barbara Allen) reveals that she recognizes the young victim and suspects the motive for the murder, Viveca decides she must kill her too. Only Columbo has the mental acumen to see through the beauty to the truth. French film director Jeannot Szwarc directed this episode.

"Any Old Port in a Storm" (10/7/73)
Donald Pleasence is Adrian Carsini, owner of a small winery that specializes in unprofitable but prized wines. While Adrian inherited the winery, spendthrift playboy half-brother Rick got the land. Tired of Adrian's indulgences, Rick tells him that he has agreed to sell the land to the TV equivalent of the Gallo Brothers, mass producers of cheap, profitable wines. In a fit of anger at the news, Adrian clubs Rick over the head, ties him up, and leaves him to die in an airtight wine cellar, while Adrian jets off for a week in New York to accept an award and attend wine auctions. Upon his return, Adrian concocts a scuba diving accident to cover the crime. Columbo suspects Carsini almost immediately, and he befriends Carsini while slyly searching for clues to link him to the murder.

"Candidate For Crime" (11/4/73)
Jackie Cooper is Senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward. His domineering campaign manager Harry Stone is getting in the way of his womanizing, so Hayward plots to remove him. He trades places with Stone and then kills him in Hayward's garage, thus making it seem to be a case of mistaken identity by assassins after Hayward. Columbo hits the election campaign trail to catch the killer.

"Double Exposure" (12/16/73)
Robert Culp returns in his third appearance as a murdering mastermind. He is Dr. Bart Keppel, who pioneered the infamous subliminal cuts. He uses this technique to kill a major client who is about to fire his company. When his projectionist (Chuck McCann) discovers the "cuts" and then pieces together the plot, Keppel kills him as well. Columbo does not fall for Keppel's psychological tricks, however. This episode, written by Stephen J. Cannell, received the Emmy Award in the category for Outstanding Limited Series.

"Publish or Perish" (1/18/74)
Jack Cassidy returns in his second stint as a murderer. This time around, he is Riley Greenleaf, a publisher with author Alan Mallory under contract, but not for long. Mallory is ironically portrayed by real-life fictional crime author Mickey Spillane. When Mallory decides to leave Greenleaf for another publisher, Riley has no choice but to kill the goose that lays his golden eggs. He hires ex-con and avid homemade bomb enthusiast Eddie Kane (John Chandler), to do the actual job while Riley is off creating an alibi for himself. To cover his tracks, Riley must then kill Kane with one of his own bombs, making it look like an accident. But Columbo discovers the link between the two crimes and the plot blows up in Greenleaf's face. (This episode has a "Split Screen" showing Kane killing Mallory).

"Mind Over Mayhem" (2/10/74)
José Ferrer is Dr. Marshall Cahill, head of a huge high tech Pentagon think tank. Cahill's son Neil (Robert Walker, Jr.) plagiarizes a paper from a recently deceased scientist and passes it off as his own work. When his colleague Dr. Howard Nicholson (Lew Ayres) threatens to expose Neil, Cahill resorts to murder to protect his son. Even Columbo immediately picks up clues that will demolish Cahill's carefully planned murder. Jessica Walter portrays Howard's wife and Neil's psychiatrist Margaret. Robby the Robot appears as the intelligent robot in the cybernetics institution. Steven Bochco also wrote this episode.

"Swan Song" (3/3/74)
Johnny Cash is Tommy Brown, gospel singing superstar. Ida Lupino is his wife Edna, head of the ministry seeking to build a new tabernacle. Since Edna caught Tommy cheating on her with an underage girl, she has been blackmailing Tommy into donating all of the proceeds from his concerts and records to the building fund. When Tommy decides he has had enough, he slips the girls drugged coffee to put them to sleep on their small private plane while flying into Los Angeles and then bails out with a homemade parachute. Edna's brother Luke (Bill McKinney) insists that the police handle the case as a homicide, while the FAA is ready to write it off to an unfortunate accident. In the course of the investigation, Columbo comes to realize that Tommy Brown is one of the most sympathetic murderers he has ever pursued. Nicholas Colasanto (Coach on Cheers) took his second turn behind the camera to direct this episode.

"A Friend in Deed" (5/5/74)
Richard Kiley is police commissioner Mark Halperin. When neighbor Hugh Caldwell kills his wife in the heat of a fight, he seeks help from his friend. Halperin sees an opportunity to kill his own wife, an heiress who refuses to share her wealth. He helps Hugh cover up the first crime and forces Hugh to assist him a few nights later. They arrange it so that a cat burglar who has recently been active in their neighborhood is seen as the culprit. Columbo soon realizes what has actually happened and utilizes the burglar to help him catch the real perpetrators. Actor Ben Gazzara took his second turn behind the camera to direct this episode.