List of Columbo episodes - Wkp:
Fourth season (1974–1975, 6 episodes)

3. "Playback" (3/2/75) imdb

Oskar Werner is Harold Van Wick, an electronic-gadget obsessed man, who runs his mother-in-law's I tht she was familiar, not famous? well yes her name is Martha Scott she has a Hollywood star & lots listed at imdb company. When she decides to remove him from his position, he retaliates by removing her instead. He uses his high-tech home security system to tape the murder, which he then plays back to the guards' monitor on a time delay, making it appear as if the murder occurred after he had left the house for a party. Columbo uses the same system to break his alibi. Gena Rowlands portrays Harold's wheelchair bound wife, who proves instrumental in convicting her husband.

I rented from Hollywood on Friday a disc #3 of fourth season with this (and the following re psychiatrist)

imdB: Columbo: Playback (1975) (TV):

A classic Columbo, 20 November 1999
8/10 stars Author: Rosabel from Ottawa, Canada
This is one of the best Columbo episodes, with a tightly wound plot, beautiful pacing, and excellent acting from the guest star. Oskar Werner plays an electronics expert who has completely outfitted his house with gadgetry to help his wheelchair-bound wife. His clever plan to murder his interfering mother-in-law and to use a delayed videotape of the murder to establish his alibi seems to be working, until Lt. Columbo starts looking into the case. The climax of this movie is wonderful, as the killer is trapped with the very technology he has set up to establish his innocence.

-Highly recommended - if you haven't seen a Columbo adventure before, this will highlight what you've been missing and it is very representative of the quality of the series as a whole.


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This is my favorite Columbo movie -- professor_of_gamez well looks like I sure picked a good disc!
It was, for the time, a very clever and innovative way to cover up a murder.