Columbo (season 6)

Creating Columbo (season 6)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	3
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 10, 1976 – May 22, 1977

This is a list of episodes from the sixth season of Columbo.

Broadcast history

The season originally aired Sundays at 8:00-9:30 pm (EST) as part of The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie.

DVD release

The season was released on DVD by Universal Home Video along with season seven.

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Runtime	Original air date
38	1	"Fade in to Murder"	Bernard L. Kowalski	Teleplay: Lou Shaw and Peter S. Feibleman Story: Henry Garson	73 minutes	October 10, 1976
Egocentric actor Ward Fowler (William Shatner), who portrays Detective Lucerne on a weekly TV show, is being blackmailed by his producer and ex-paramour, Claire Daley (Lola Albright), over the fact that he was a deserter in the Korean War. Fowler decides to kill Claire. He drugs a friend staying at his house watching a baseball game, puts it on tape delay, then dons a ski mask and robs a delicatessen where Claire is shopping. After Fowler knocks the proprietor unconscious and takes Claire's money, he shoots her, then ditches the gun and mask. He begins stepping in and out of character to assist Columbo with the investigation. Claire Daley's secretary is played by Shera Danese, who would eventually marry star Peter Falk.[1] Walter Koenig guest stars as a police sergeant.
39	2	"Old Fashioned Murder"	Robert Douglas	Teleplay: Peter S. Feibleman Story: Lawrence Vail	73 minutes	November 28, 1976
Ruth Lytton (Joyce Van Patten) kills her older brother Edward (Tim O'Connor) after he decides to sell the family business, the Lytton Museum, to which Ruth has devoted her entire life. She is assisted by Milton Schaffer, an ex-con who worked at the museum, whom she double-crosses and shoots when he comes to investigate the sound of a gunshot. Her plan is to make it look like the two men killed each other in the middle of an attempted robbery. Celeste Holm plays Ruth's older widowed sister, Mrs. Brandt, who faints whenever homicide is mentioned, and Jeannie Berlin plays Ruth's niece Janie Brandt. When she realizes Columbo doesn't fall for the staged robbery, Ruth, out of desperation, tries to frame Janie. Columbo figures out that Ruth also murdered Janie's father, Mr. Brandt, years ago, and he "forgets" this in exchange for Ruth confessing to the current murders. Jeannie Berlin is Elaine May's daughter.
40	3	"The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case"	Sam Wanamaker	Robert Malcolm Young	73 minutes	May 22, 1977
Bertie Hastings (Sorrell Booke) discovers that his friend, Oliver Brandt (Theodore Bikel), a senior partner in an accounting firm, has been embezzling money to support the lifestyle of his wife, Vivian (Samantha Eggar). Brandt plots an elaborate murder of Hastings at the Sigma Society, the headquarters of a Mensa-type club for geniuses, making it look like a burglary gone bad. Columbo uses Brandt's own Mensa-level intelligence and vanity to trap him. In her TV debut, Jamie Lee Curtis has a small role as a surly coffee-shop waitress. This was the last episode to air under the NBC Mystery Movie brand before it was cancelled.

References

1. Kim, Victoria (May 28, 2009). "Relatives Fight For Control of 'Columbo' Star Peter Falk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-05-28.