Make Me a Perfect Murder

This is a classic case of the "woman scorned" genre. Trash Van Devere is so good in this episode. And the behind the scenes filming were great.

I've read previous comments on this movie. The premise of this movie is a Television executive [Trish Van Devere] wants a promotion she feels is justly deserved. She finds out that her boyfriend has been given the job, he gives her a Mercedes as a consolation prize, of course, she kills him. Temporarily the affiliate gives her the job, until they can find a replacement. This was a great episode! Columbo once again makes the suspect sweat as he gets closer to solving the crime. Ms. Van Devere plays the part of the villain perfectly. She isn't a trained killer, she knows it, and plays the part of a frightened novice criminal with perfection. I'm a die hard Columbo fan from the very beginning of the show. This episode is one of the best.

Kay (Trish Van Devere) is the personal assistant for a network programmer. When she learns he's getting a promotion, she's shocked to learn that he is NOT giving her his old position. So, she's apparently been sleeping with the guy but for nothing! However, she is NOT a woman to be trifled with and she comes up with a plan to murder him and get away with it. Can she do this and still manage to defeat Columbo?!

This is a decent episode (though my wife disliked it quite a bit) but it was heavily padded. For example, in one worthless scene, Columbo is staring at some computerized graphics...and it went on and on and on. Unnecessary and evidence that there just wasn't enough plot. It's a shame they didn't make the show 10-15 minutes shorter....it would have improved it.

By the way, if you DO watch the episode I'd love to know your opinion, as in some ways I think they were vaguely hinting at Kay having a lesbian relationship.

Make Me a Perfect Murder sees Columbo take on the television industry. I remember watching this as a kid because of the final shot of the ring on the corner of the screen.

Kay Freestone (Trish Van Devere) is a determined television executive in California, taking the reins of an expensive television movie in the editing suite. Her boss Mark McAndrews (Laurence Luckinbill) has been given a promotion by the network in New York. Kay is her secret lover and expects to go to New York with him or at least get his job in California.

He gives her neither, citing issues in the way she works and makes decision meaning she is not ready to step up. As they were lovers maybe Mark should had told her of her faults earlier and how to remedy it because he ends up getting shot dead.

Personally I think Kay should had got away with the murder as Columbo should had been jailed for the way he was driving so recklessly early on in the episode!

When Kay is temporarily put in charge in the California station, she proves that Mark's criticism was correct. She makes mistakes, she is seen as cold blooded. Then she has Columbo on her case who uses his guile to trap her.

The episode needed to be tighter and some of Columbo's shtick seems to be wearing thin. There was no need for that bad driving scene.

I'm not saying any person should be killed, but the coldness Mark(Laurence Luckinbill)gives to Kay(Trish Van Devere), after getting a big time job offer, even made ME want to hit him. Let me mention that Van Devere is terrific as the scorned woman, and she was the best among a field of Patrick O'Neal, who was also very good in a cameo or 2, Lainie Kazan, whose New York accent you could chop off with an ax, Ron Rifkin, reliable James McEachin, and Columbo veteran Bruce Kirby. The best scene for me was when Columbo is getting his TV fixed, as the repairman(Kirby)talks to Columbo about his dog, who is also in the shop. Kirby and Peter Falk have good chemistry together, although Kirby's characters usually talk down to Columbo. Look for the rare appearance of a late 70's Mustang, a strange looking model which doesn't get much publicity. Although I sometimes criticize how silly the murderer acts around Columbo, I felt Van Devere gave a somewhat realistic performance as the walls came closing in on her.