The Most Crucial Game

Robert Culp is the "bad guy" here, after killing his boss: a young, spoiled owner of a pro football team who is basically a good-for-nothing. Culp, the general manager of the team, does all the work for the team and has little use for the "kid."

He decides to kill the owner while the latter is in his swimming pool during the middle of the one of the team's games. (The owner could care less about his club play) Culp has to make it look like he never left the stadium during the murder, so they can't blame it on him.

In the end, Lt. Columbo figures a flaw in his alibi, but I thought it was kind of weak, to be honest. I wonder, if it was real-life story, if the court would have gone along with it. I doubt it; Culp probably would have walked.

Nonetheless, it's an interesting 75 minutes. It also was interesting to see Valerie Harper's very short (too short) appearance near the end as a call girl. That was bizarre. There were good "names" in here with a young Dean Stockwell playing that owner; James Gregory as the coach and Dean Jagger as the man who used to be the lawyer for Stockwell's dad. Lots of other interesting characters in here, too. Too bad the ending was so abrupt and weak.

THE MOST CRUCIAL GAME is a strong early showing for everyone's favourite TV detective. It features regular guest villain Robert Culp as one of his most belligerent bad guys, the manager of an American football team who decides to do away with the wayward young owner in an almost perfect crime.

I say almost, because it doesn't take long for Peter Falk to get involved in the case and begin to unpick loose ends. As with the other TV movies starring Culp, watching the interplay between both actors is inherently amusing and difficult to dislike. Culp seems particularly short-tempered here, and he certainly gives Falk a hard time as the story progresses.

Also of note is the strong supporting cast, including the likes of Deans Jagger and Stockwell, and Valerie Harper as the call girl. There's plenty of natural, free-flowing humour in this one, particularly in Columbo's hunt for a new pair of shoes. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't have a problem with the ending, which I actually thought was really great in the way it was filmed, with the camera zooming in on both Culp's and Falk's faces as the realisation hits. Top stuff.

Enjoyable enough episode except what was the motive?

An unusual feature of the show "Columbo" is that they recycled actors rather frequently. For example, in season one, Ray Milland (without hair) and Robert Culp were featured. Now, in season two, both are back--Milland (with his wig) and Culp. In fact, Robert Culp would make two additional appearances on the show...a testament to the loyalty the producers showed to many of their guest stars.

Paul Hanlon (Culp) is the high-strung manager of a pro football team. The owner (Dean Stockwell) is a drunk playboy...with little interest in the team or his other business interests. Apparently, this or something else rubbed Hanlon wrong, as he killed the owner and made it look like he died in his swimming pool by accident. But to do this, he dressed up like an ice cream man and did the vile deed during one of the team's games. Is this plan fool-proof or will he end up being caught because his plan wasn't quite so perfect.

In addition to Stockwell and Culp, this was a rather star-studded episode. Additionally, James Gregory, Valerie Harper and Dean Jagger appeared in the show. Together, they are all excellent...and it helped that the script was intelligently written and interesting.

By the way, I am no lawyer but I wondered about something. Someone in the show was involved in doing illegal wiretaps. Later, Columbo was listening to recordings of these illegal taps. Is that legal? It seems if they were illegal that the police cannot use them in any way...but I certainly am no expert.