Columbo episode review — 3.3 — Candidate for Crime

Original air date: November 4, 1973
Director: Boris Sagal
Writers: Irving Pearlberg, Alvin R. Friedman, Roland Kibbee, and Dean Hargrove

Rating: 8/10

At over an hour and a half long, this episode is definitely tedious at times, but the strength of the premise and a few select moments really carry it. Seeing our beloved Lieutenant Columbo go toe-to-toe with a politician makes for some great entertainment. Columbo — the character and the series — is at its best when Falk is matched with people of much higher class — people who are very clever, and worthy matches of his impeccable wit.

And the murderer here — Nelson Hayward (Jackie Cooper) — is ridiculously clever. His murder is one of the most thoroughly planned of the series, and it requires one hell of a denouement.

The episode really is too long, though. It’s essentially feature-length, and the series’s structure works better about 20 minutes shorter. There’s no doubt about that.