So that got me thinking Are the 90 minute episodes overall worse than the 70 minute episodes? And is the padding detracting the quality of them?įans of my blog know that I like to do statistical analysis on trivial subjects and this was going to be no different! I want to compare these two groups of episodes and see if there was a difference in quality. If these scenes were cut, this already good episode could’ve been top-tier. After I noticed this, I read Columbophile’s opinion on the episode and sure enough, they agreed with me this episode was padded out. Even Columbo seems more… Columbo-ey than usual. This makes sense given that the 70 minute episodes have to be smart about their pacing and choose their scenes carefully whereas the 90 minute episodes can take their time and flesh out the story.īut is it too fleshed out? Is there too much inconsequential scenes, padding, and filler in these episodes? After I watched the Candidate for Crime episode, which is about 98 minutes long, I noticed there were scenes that seem pointless like the traffic stop scene, the dentist scene, and other scenes which seem way too overdrawn like the initial investigation scene. Although there are many good Columbo episodes in the 90 minute category (e.g., Forgotten Lady, Any Old Port in the Storm, A Friend in Deed, and etc.) a common complaint the Columbophile has about some of the episodes is the predominance of filler and padding scenes, and the sometimes lethargic pacing. You see, some Columbo episodes are about 70 minutes long while others are about 90 minutes long. I’ve actually started a habit recently where after I watch a Columbo episode I read what the Columbophile thought of it and I started noticing a bias the author seems to hold for the longer Columbo episodes. The blog also has a lot of interesting trivia on the Columbo guests, episodes, and scenery so if you can’t get enough Columbo you should really check it out! I’ve become a big fan recently of the Columbophile blog and if you’re a Columbo fan like me you should check it out! The author goes through each Columbo episode and really dissects the strengths and weaknesses of each episode without being too critical or fawn-like (with some understandable exceptions). He would always go on tangents and thought patterns and will keep yapping and before you know it, it’s bedtime! Gee…you remind me of my…uh…cousin Nickolas…and he could never…uh…finish his story.