The 5: Harris Anderson’s Top Five Columbo Guest Stars
Photo Credit Matt Miller
One of Canada’s promising comedic talents, Harris Anderson, released his new musical comedy EP called ‘Songs No One Asked For’ in early 2022. In his brand new EP, Harris switches gears, weaving his hilarious thoughts into his music. His farcical ohmage single/music video, Joe Rogan, came out in November 2021 with a tongue in cheek video love letter to the podcast celebrity Joe Rogan, asking him to share his all-knowing alpha wisdom. Harris dreams about spending a day with Joe, with cameos from the uncanny ‘Joe Rogan’ look-a-like comedian Jason Glass and Juno nominated Shirley Gnome, directed by Kevvy from the band Fake Shark. This video and EP are being released through Vancouver’s independent record label Comedy Here Often?, under 604 Records
The ‘Songs No One Asked For’ EP was produced by the Juno award winning comedy album producer Kevvy, who previously worked on Harris’s 2018 debut album ‘Above & Beyond’. The main difference between these releases is the 2022 EP is focused on smart, hilarious songs with no stand up. Kevvy has recorded with comics all across Canada/USA and happily reunited with Harris, saying: “The reason I wanted to work with Harris again on another record is he constantly surprises me with what angles he takes on a subject. His writing is never lazy, and his mind is very eccentric. He’s very funny and always getting funnier.”
Since moving to Vancouver in 2013, Harris has consistently performed at stand-up clubs and independent venues around the city and country. He’s appeared regularly at JFL Northwest, recognized for his sharp memorable performances. Also, Harris won the final championship at Vancouver’s iconic Yuk Yuks Comedy Club’s annual Yuk Off Competition in 2019. Currently he continues to tour in BC with fellow all-star comedians, including: Sam Tonning, Simon King, Myles Anderson & Juno winner Jacob Samuels!
Watch the ‘Joe Rogan’ Single Music Video Link here.
This week on The 5, Harris shares with us the five greatest celebrity guests on the long running series, Columbo. Enjoy!!!
Chief Wiggum: Hey, I crack cases all the time. Like the case of the symphony conductor who murdered his star cellist.
Lou: That was an episode of Columbo, chief. They show you who the bad guys are at the beginning of each one.
Chief Wiggum: Yeah, but you have to remember.
-The Simpsons
Columbo is one of my favourite television shows of all time. From that magical afternoon in the late nineties when, while home sick from school, I caught my first episode on A&E (Candidate for Crime, 1973) I was hooked.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure, Columbo was a long-running detective series in which Lieutenant Columbo, a rumpled, unassuming Los Angeles police detective played by Peter Falk, solves a murder over the course of an episode.
However, this is no typical whodunit. In fact, unless you have short-term memory loss, there’s no ‘Who?’ at all in the equation. Columbo starts with the murderer committing their foul deeds, y’all! This was pretty revolutionary for a detective show at the time. With no mystery on the viewer’s part, the entertainment came from watching Columbo, through a mixture of persistence, intuition, and showing up at the murderer’s house at extremely inconvenient times, destroy the murderer’s alibi and bring them to justice. And, as California has the death sentence for first degree murder, the murderer is likely executed for their crimes. (This is never touched on in the episode.)
Each episode of Columbo featured a guest star as the murderer, a celebrity of the day ranging from the instantly recognizable (“Hey, Johnny Cash!”) to the more obscure. (“Alejandro Gillaume? What was he in?”) This was often a chance for actors to shed their good guy/good girl personas and play a more dubious character.
In this list, I will go through my picks for the top five Columbo guest stars of all time. Just five. I promise there will be no “Just one more thing” jokes.
Honest.
#5. Leonard Nimoy (A Stitch in Crime, 1973)
“Leonard Nimoy, beloved science-fiction icon is number FIVE?! Who could number one possibly be?” I hear you cry. Hold your tongue, whelp! This is my list and you’d best buckle up.
Leonard Nimoy plays a calculating surgeon who conspires to murder his colleague through the use of a dissolving suture in the latter’s heart surgery. When he is found out by a nurse, he kills her, evidently deciding she should neither live long nor prosper. This episode is often cited as one of the series’ finest, and Nimoy brings it as the smooth, detached doctor. In one scene, his smug demeanour riles Columbo so that the policeman strikes Nimoy’s desk with a statuette, a rare display of anger indeed for the famously amiable lieutenant!
#4. Ross Martin (Suitable for Framing, 1971)
Columbo is a great detective show, but it is also a potent working class revenge metaphor. Almost all of Columbo’s suspects are well-heeled socialites that live in mansions, and when Columbo shows up to question them they usually treat him with a mixture of condescension, disdain, and curiosity. Watching Columbo remind these snobs that no one is above the law is a pleasure.
No one exemplifies this better than Ross Martin as art critic Dale Kingston, who shoots his uncle in the episode’s first minutes and steals his art collection. One of Columbo’s less cuddly foes, he will later murder his accomplice and try to frame his aunt for his uncle’s demise.
Ross Martin, best known as the star of the television series ‘Wild Wild West,’ is perfect as the oily Kingston who reckons the dowdy Columbo is no match for him. He is, of course, proven wrong in what ranks as one of the series’ best denouements.
#3. Patrick McGoohan (Agenda for Murder, 1990)
Some guest stars were so well received that they came back for multiple appearances, like Mr. McGoohan. McGoohan racked up four appearances as murderer-of-the-week, and his performance in Agenda for Murder is my personal favourite. I also enjoy saying his name out loud. Sounds like Irish Mr. Magoo.
MC Goo brings the heat as Oscar Finch, a defence attorney with political aspirations. When a former client threatens blackmail, Finch decides to get his murder on to save his political future. McGoohan brings an icy intensity to the part that is often frightening, and watching him collide with the affable Columbo is terrific stuff.
#2. John Cassavetes (Etude in Black, 1972)
Independent film legend and frequent Falk collaborator John Cassavetes plays a maestro who murders his cellist after she threatens to take their affair public. Columbo’s weakest guest stars treated their appearances as winking send-ups of their personas, but Cassavetes commits to the part and brings a gravitas to the proceedings that only the best episodes boast. He also helped direct the episode, uncredited. A classic.
#1. Robert Culp (Death Lends a Hand, 1971)
Like Patrick McGoohan, Robert Culp was a fan favourite who returned to the show multiple times. While his first appearance in Death Lends a Hand is his strongest, his other murderous exploits are well worth revisiting.
Culp plays Carl Brimmer, a private eye and the head of his own agency. Brimmer is an unsual addition to Columbo’s rogue’s gallery in that he commits the murder by accident and is then hired by the victim’s husband to aid Columbo in the investigation. He also adheres to the famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote “Game recognizes game,” by offering Columbo a job, albeit partially as an effort to throw the gumshoe off his scent.
For his multiple contributions to the series, his performance in one of the series’ best episodes, and having an awesome last name, Robert Culp takes the top spot.
So there you have it. Sixty-nine episodes of Columbo were made in total. Not all of them are winners. Some of them, frankly, are pretty bad. But the series’ best outings rank as some of the best detective fiction ever put on TV, and these five guest stars proved worthwhile adversaries to one of the greatest sleuths ever created. Check them out. Or watch The Office for the fifth time. I don’t really care.
