Columbo (season 7)

Columbo (season 7)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	5
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	November 21, 1977 – May 13, 1978

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

Broadcast history

Although NBC had brought an end to the Mystery Movie series that Columbo had been a part of since 1971, the network decided to keep the series in production and ordered five new telefilms. The first two aired on Monday nights, the first on November 21, 1977 and the second on January 3, 1978. After that, the remaining three films were broadcast on Saturday nights beginning on February 25, 1978 and concluding with the final film of the original Columbo series on May 13, 1978.

DVD release

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

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Runtime	Original air date
41	1	"Try and Catch Me"	James Frawley	Teleplay: Gene Thompson & Paul Tuckahoe Story: Gene Thompson	70 minutes	November 21, 1977
Mystery author Abigail Mitchell (Ruth Gordon) is convinced that her nephew-in-law, Edmund Galvin (Charles Frank), murdered his wife (Mitchell's niece) in a boating "accident" and got away with it. Mitchell asks him to retrieve something from her airtight walk-in safe, then locks him in it before flying off to New York. Columbo eventually solves the case by piecing together clues left by Galvin as he suffocated in the safe. The most incriminating is the title page of Mitchell's new manuscript, altered to read "I was murdered by Abigail Mitchell". After being arrested, Mitchell observes that if Columbo had been the one to investigate her niece's "disappearance" she would not have had to kill Edmund. Mariette Hartley plays Mitchell's trusted assistant, Veronica, who becomes embroiled in the crime.
42	2	"Murder Under Glass"	Jonathan Demme	Robert van Scoyk	73 minutes	January 30, 1978
Paul Gerard (Louis Jourdan) is a renowned restaurant critic. But he runs a lucrative side business where he extorts restaurant owners in return for good reviews. When one of them, Vittorio Rossi (Michael V. Gazzo), refuses to pay, Gerard kills him with a bottle of wine poisoned with fugu. Richard Dysart and France Nuyen also star. Antony Alda played the victim's nephew, Mario, who spoke only Italian. Falk's wife Shera Danese returns as Gerard's secretary/treasurer. Writer van Scoyk received an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay. After Columbo gets the goods on him, he asks Gerard what he thinks of a meal he has just prepared, and the charming murderer says, "I wish you had been a chef.". This episode was the first television directorial work from Jonathan Demme, better known for his later film work on movies such as The Silence Of The Lambs and Philadelphia.
43	3	"Make Me a Perfect Murder"	James Frawley	Robert Blees	94 minutes	February 25, 1978
West Coast television production boss Mark McAndrews (Laurence Luckinbill) is promoted to a high-level position in New York. He fails to name his lover and logical successor, TV programmer Kay Freestone (Trish Van Devere), as his replacement, since he believes as a professional that she's not ready for the responsibilities. Her consolation prize is a new Mercedes. She's more interested in a gun he holds while jokingly inviting her to shoot him. Freestone takes him up on it during an important preview for a new made-for-TV movie called "The Professional" that she helped produce. She tricks the projectionist (James McEachin) by fiddling with the projector's timer and then sends him on an errand. Freestone sneaks up to McAndrews's office and shoots him, then returns to make the reel change successfully before the projectionist gets back. Patrick O'Neal plays Frank Flanagan, her boss. Van Devere's husband George C. Scott has an uncredited cameo as a technician.
44	4	"How to Dial a Murder"	James Frawley	Teleplay: Tom Lazarus Story: Anthony Lawrence	70 minutes	April 15, 1978
Mind control (or, as the doctor corrects the detective, "life control") seminar guru Dr. Eric Mason (Nicol Williamson) uses two trained Doberman Pinschers, Laurel and Hardy, to kill "best friend" Dr. George Hunter (Joel Fabiani), who had been having an affair with Dr. Mason's now deceased wife. Kim Cattrall plays the resident of Mason's guest house who discovers the body. Ed Begley, Jr. has a minor role as an animal control officer and Tricia O'Neil plays a dog trainer.
45	5	"The Conspirators"	Leo Penn	Howard Berk Based on an Idea by: Pat Robison	98 minutes	May 13, 1978
Joe Devlin (Clive Revill) is a renowned Irish poet, author, raconteur....and secret terrorist. He, along with his own family and the heads of O'Connell Industries, is secretly a fund-raiser and gun-runner for the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He raises money in Los Angeles for his radical cause through a charity ostensibly meant to help victims of terrorism. Despite his hypocrisy, Devlin has a strong belief in honor. Thus, when Vincent Pauley (Albert Paulsen), an arms dealer selling guns to Devlin, tries to skim off $50,000 for himself, Devlin shoots and kills Pauley for being a traitor. Now with Columbo hot on his trail, Devlin must find more guns and arrange their shipment out of the country. This was the last episode of the Columbo series broadcast on the NBC television network. Columbo's last line is "This far, and no farther."