Amber & Best Double-Whammy Guest Stars Ever

First, Jessica Walter makes a cameo in my episode of Columbo.

Then, Robbie the Robot.

Amber & Just One More Thing...

Oh my goodness, I love Columbo.

I have been watching episodes from Netflix which aired on the Mystery Hour from the early 1970s and they are fantastic.  Unlike most modern mystery programs, the first 20 minutes show the murder so we, the audience, know the identity of the murderer and therefore more than Columbo.  We then get the pleasure of watching him slowly, slowly, and persistently circle in on the answers, picking up clues and putting them in the pockets of his rumpled trench coat.  He is the anti-Poirot: thinking aloud, imprecise, and clean-shaven.  And yet somehow, in the midst of his sloppiness and annoying questioning and self-depreciating asides, he brings calm and justice.

Peter Falk is fabulous.  His Columbo is an enigma.  Just how goofy is he really?  Is his tangential babbling all a rouse to disarm the crooks?  Or is he simultaneously bumbling and genius?  Whichever he is, he is likable.  The anecdotes about his wife ("My wife says I am the second best [detective].  She says there are 80 guys tied for first place.") round his person.  The episodes are filled with little human moments like when our hero blushes when kissed by a hooker played by Valerie Harper.  (I guess we know what happens in season 3 of Rhoda after her marriage to Joe dissolves.)  (I never liked that Joe or his temper.)

And the guest stars!  John Cassavetes (who directed Falk in some fantastic roles), Leonard Nimoy, Julie Newmar, Eddie Albert, Roddy McDowall (whose Lord Love a Duck is also on Netflix streaming), Anne Baxter and Edith Head (playing herself and choosing a new tie for the detective).

Dare I say it?  I may enjoy Columbo more than either Castle or Bones.

God bless, Peter Falk.  My favorite angel-seer über Berlin.





Who better to explain the simple joys of being alive?  Compañero.

Amber & Epic Stories

Some days, I miss Veronica Mars.



Maybe there's just not enough sassy girl detective in my life these days.  Kate Beckett comes close, but her hair isn't nearly as flippy.

Or, maybe I miss teen romances that span years and continents--lives ruined, bloodshed-- and summer break.  They don't write songs about the ones that come easy.

P.S. I snost and lost, too.

Amber & Places I Remember

I'm on a bench in Fort Tryon Park. In college, Jimmy and I came here
once and found our T.A.'s making out on a blanket. I also came here
once, a couple years later, with Kevin and we ate fried chicken. Back
in thise days, it seemed horribly far away and exotic.
Now that I live uptown, I come here all the time. I was here just a
short time ago with Nick, Matthew and Shelley after dim sum, and now
it's my favorite place to read detective novels and soak up spring.

Amber & Starring Surprise Guests

This is my week for stars surprising me by guesting on my regularly scheduled programs.

First, there was my suave sweetheart Robert Wagner on NCIS, proving that fate doesn't punish you for killing Natalie Wood by taking away your hair.

Then, there was my BFF Scramble2 For Free by Zynga on 30 Rock.

And, tonight, I discovered my Empire Records and (much underrated Dick Wolf revamp of) Dragnet fave, Ethan Embry, on my much beloved House.

Despite the fifteen years that have passed since Empire Records, Ethan is still adorable, even when playing a culottes salesman.  But he seems to have less and less hair as time goes by in a hair cut kind of way.

Maybe there's some inverse relationship between notoriety and plushness of hair?  Maybe hair can get in the way of being taken seriously as an actor?  Maybe as he ages his hair just doesn't grow as long?

I sure don't take Robert Wagner very seriously with all that lushness on his head, but if Ethan's hair continues to shrink, I'll be scared when he makes his 80-year-old appearance on whatever procedural detective show I am having downloaded into my brain 2058.

Amber & Dream Teams

You may have noticed that I didn't get to blog yesterday. It was my mulch manager's last day in the garden, and I needed to very quickly learn everything she knew about mulch before she left.

While I was busy mixing organic residues, grass clippings and Raiser's Edge queries, James was busy assembling his Dream Nero Wolfe Team in the form of icons for his hard drives.


Although we disagree on the merits of the A&E series, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, we agree that there was some amazing casting. I am absolutely smitten with Timothy Hutton's Archie Goodwin. He's everything I imagined while reading the novels and maybe even a little more dapper.

Amber & The Dude

Tiggy and I watched The Big Lebowski for the first time this weekend, and I was really impressed. It's definitely the best Coen brothers film I've seen. (Tiggy slept through most of it.)

Jimmy pointed out that the film is a retelling of The Big Sleep, which is both a favorite detective novel and noir film. It's a brilliant observation and a really imaginative retelling. With bowling.