An Exercise in Fatality

Episode aired Sep 15, 1974
TV-PG
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

YOUR RATING

Peter Falk, Robert Conrad, and Gretchen Corbett in An Exercise in Fatality (1974)

Cop Drama Police Procedural Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A health and fitness franchiser who sells supplies to his franchisees at exorbitant prices murders one of them after they discovered his criminal business practices. Lt. Columbo has to outsm... Read allA health and fitness franchiser who sells supplies to his franchisees at exorbitant prices murders one of them after they discovered his criminal business practices. Lt. Columbo has to outsmart the crafty killer to solve this one.A health and fitness franchiser who sells supplies to his franchisees at exorbitant prices murders one of them after they discovered his criminal business practices. Lt. Columbo has to outsmart the crafty killer to solve this one.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

YOUR RATING

STREAMING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews61

Featured review

Brain meets Brawn

Excellent "Columbo" finds the perceptive detective matching wits with health guru Robert Conrad who bumped off a business partner and made it look like murder. The contrast between the self-effacing but brilliant detective and the vain, arrogant icon of physical fitness is highlighted throughout. Conrad never dares Falk to knock a battery off his shoulder, but his sense of superiority makes him less sympathetic than most of Columbo's adversaries, and it's very satisfying when the usually mild-mannered detective displays a rare flash of temper during a conversation with his prey. One of the best episodes in the series.

Helpful•55

bwaynef
May 21, 2003
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Trivia
Columbo meets Milo at the same beach where Jim Rockford lives in The Rockford Files (1974). He walks down to meet him past the restaurant outside Rockford's trailer. Also, Gretchen Corbett, who plays Milo Janus' secretary, played Jim Rockford's lawyer (and sometimes girlfriend).

Goofs
(at around 18 mins) Just after Columbo arrives at the crime scene, on his way to to Stanford's office, he walks down a corridor. In the end room, a chair is visible in the distance. Somebody is hiding behind it and ducks down as Columbo approaches.