Columbo
A Bird in the Hand...
TV Flash files “A Bird in the Hand...” as the last listed hour of season 1992 — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1992, episode 2, aired 1992-11-22, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1992E02: listed hour 61 of 69 in the Columbo guide, last listed hour of season 1992. It aired 1992-11-22 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “No Time to Die” (S1992E01). Next is “It's All in the Game” (S1993E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Harold likes to gamble, but as a rule he loses and he is heavily in debt. His uncle is the famous Big Fred who is the owner of a football team and he is a millionaire. But Harold can't get a dime from him. So Harold decides to kill his uncle by a pipe bomb under his car. He is not surprised when he is told Big Fred is dead. He is surprised however that the death is due to a road accident. He rushes to his uncle's house and he finds Lt. Columbo getting excited about the car with the bomb...
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Bird in the Hand... sit in the Columbo guide?
S1992E02 is listed hour 61 of 69 — last listed hour of season 1992, season 1992 episode 2.
When did Columbo S1992E02 air?
A Bird in the Hand... aired 1992-11-22 and is listed at 120 minutes.
Where should I start?
Prescription: Murder for the 1968 trap, then Murder by the Book for the weekly form. If you only have one night, take Any Old Port in a Storm.
In the series
Why this series still plays
For the manners: an inverted mystery that spoils the killer on purpose, then lets Peter Falk talk a guest star to pieces. Prestige anthology in a raincoat — ego as the puzzle, courtesy as the trap.
The opening is a murder you are allowed to watch. That is the thesis, not a twist. Richard Levinson and William Link built Columbo as an inverted detective story: the killer's competence is the first act, Peter Falk's rumple is the second, and the third is a trap made of manners. If you came for a whodunit, the series has already spoiled itself on purpose. The pleasure is structural. How does a man in a raincoat talk a movie star into a mistake. The cut is the polite question that is not polite.
Filed against
- Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo
Peter Falk’s rumpled Columbo inverted the mystery — howdunit trap, one more thing, guest killers as prestige toys. Levinson and Link spoiled the murderer on purpose, then let a raincoat talk a movie star into a mistake. On TV Flash he is…