Directed by Hy Averback, veteran sit-com producer/director, this episode is paced more quickly than many Columbo episodes. It is cleverly written and slickly filmed & seems shorter than other shows.
Faulk not only has an excellent villain in Leonard Nimoy to pursue, but has Will Geer (Grandpa Walton) waiting in the wings as another victim of the evil opportunistic doctor Nimoy. Geers role in this is small but effective.
Columbo gets tortured himself in this one as he has a sleepless night and some bad crab at Nimoy's house party making him sick. This gives him a short temper which finally boils over in Nimoy's office late in the show.
Then, there is Nimoy who is a brilliant surgeon but a bumbling criminal who keeps trying and failing to throw Columbo off the scent. In this show he is the anti-Spock as he is neither logical nor anywhere near as smart as he is conceited. It would have been a crime to name him Dr. Spock in this episode as the real Dr. Spock would have really sued Universal.
Faulk not only has an excellent villain in Leonard Nimoy to pursue, but has Will Geer (Grandpa Walton) waiting in the wings as another victim of the evil opportunistic doctor Nimoy. Geers role in this is small but effective.
Columbo gets tortured himself in this one as he has a sleepless night and some bad crab at Nimoy's house party making him sick. This gives him a short temper which finally boils over in Nimoy's office late in the show.
Then, there is Nimoy who is a brilliant surgeon but a bumbling criminal who keeps trying and failing to throw Columbo off the scent. In this show he is the anti-Spock as he is neither logical nor anywhere near as smart as he is conceited. It would have been a crime to name him Dr. Spock in this episode as the real Dr. Spock would have really sued Universal.