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R.I.P. Peter Falk and Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 06:57:13 PM EST
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Peter Falk has died at 83. His Columbo character was truly one of the best of that era.

I've been in court and jails all day and am now headed up to Boulder for a Lady Defender sleepover party. Enjoy the evening, and I'll be back sometime tomorrow.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    R.I.P. Peter Falk and Open Thread | 53 comments (53 topical)

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    Jeff Baker or Casey McGhee (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 07:01:17 PM EST
    Don't know who to play tonight on my fantasy baseball team, a squad named WOODERSON.  I have praise and a gift certificate good for more for the first person to tell me the cinematic significance of that team name.

    Buenos noches, mi amigos.

    Too easy... (none / 0) (#37)
    by kdog on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 07:02:09 AM EST
    "Thats what I love about freshmen. I keep getting older, they stay the same age."

    I didn't cheat so the quote might be a little off. Wooderson sure did like him some jail-bait:)

    Parent

    figures it'd you you, dog (none / 0) (#42)
    by Dadler on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 09:28:56 AM EST
    congrats. free yoke of oxen headed your way.

    Parent
    And a Peter Falk clip (none / 0) (#2)
    by Dadler on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 07:04:53 PM EST
    From one of my favorite films, Wim Wenders 80's masterpiece, WINGS OF DESIRE. (LINK)

    forgive the two brief glitches early on (none / 0) (#4)
    by Dadler on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 07:13:42 PM EST
    didn't notice them until after I'd posted it, but this is really a great little bit from WINGS.

    Parent
    one of my favorite films too (none / 0) (#5)
    by ruffian on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 07:36:46 PM EST
    He was charming in it.

    I read Falk's memoir he wrote just before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Really seemed like a sweet soul. I was a big Columbo fan in the day and he seems to have had as much affection for the character as his fans did. I'm sorry his last years were probably very hard for him and his family and wish them all peace.

    Parent

    This weekend, we plan to (none / 0) (#14)
    by christinep on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:45:27 PM EST
    look at a few of the Columbo tapes ('hope the old tapes still play) in tribute. In truth, I always looked for an opportunity to watch him. Way back, my sister & her good friend & I would occasionally make a big thing out of watching a new Columbo episode...with food, blankets, comfy clothes,laughter, waiting for the first "oh, and one more thing."

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    Yeah, I really miss those days (5.00 / 2) (#23)
    by NYShooter on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 12:27:14 AM EST
       

    I feel a little pity for ABG for "not getting it," although I can understand that. Before watching "Colombo" you had to turn that analytical portion of your brain to "pause" to "get it," and to enjoy it. I mean, who could believe that a big city Lieutenant would drive a car that backfired, smoked, and whose hood practically fell off when it finally came to a stop? lol.no, not lol....LOL!
    But, I think that was part of the producer's genius. It kind of put us viewers into the mood they wanted us to be in: Here's a stumbling, fumbling, disheveled, seemingly dimwitted cop, probably only got to be an officer due to longevity and union protection.

    But that was just the "set-up," the real fun was about to unfold. How could you not feel, like poison ivy spreading on your body, the sense of irritation the guest star antagonist felt in his ever more complicated duel with our protagonist, Lieutenant Colombo? "Thank you, thank you, thank you, sir. I'll just show myself out here." ........"oh, just one more thing, its probably nothing. But, you know how they are downtown, paperwork, paperwork. Dot the I's, cross the t's. You know my wife always says........YES, LIEUTENANT????"  

    Lol, yup good stuff, great memories


    Parent

    And there was the Johnny Cash one, and the (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by christinep on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 01:01:29 PM EST
    Leonard Nimoy and the one with the Mensa Society member...And, and, and.

    Parent
    I got the Season 1 dvds a few years ago and (none / 0) (#33)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:27:25 AM EST
    had a marathon viewing while painting the bedroom. I thought they still held up and it was great fun seeing the guest stars. I'll have to pop one in if I still have them....but i might have given them away.

    Parent
    My memory seems to retain an image of (none / 0) (#48)
    by christinep on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 01:06:33 PM EST
    the first episode: Didn't it open with someone in the pool lying face-down at an upscale apartment complex??? What I definitely remember from those earliest episodes is being so drawn in to the whole world of Columbo...and, later, wondering whether we would ever see his wife and then waiting to see the bassett "Dog." Such a compatible twosome...Columbo & Dog. (Aside: Dogs will do that for me. The first episode of Frasier with his dog Eddie lured me for years.)

    Parent
    Yes, I seem to remember a pool involved (none / 0) (#50)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 02:34:37 PM EST
    I don't have the dvd anymore as it turns out or i would check.

    I remember being so fascinated trying to figure out what the murderer messed up, and how Columbo would figure it out. It was such a different way to tell the story.

    I've been tuning in various Frasier marathons lately. That Eddie really gets me now that I have dogs. I was not that into him when the show was on originally.

    Parent

    I used to watch Columbo with my (none / 0) (#17)
    by Militarytracy on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:51:13 PM EST
    Grandpa, we used to watch that and McMillan and Wife together.

    Parent
    Oh man (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by sj on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 09:35:27 AM EST
    McMillan and Wife.  I remember that, but do you know why?  In one season Susan St James is obviously pregnant (they didn't obscure that like they do now).  They never talk about it and the McMillans never become parents.  The next season just went on.  No baby and Mrs. McMillan is no longer pregnant.

    Even as a kid I thought that was weird.

    Parent

    Loved (none / 0) (#28)
    by lentinel on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:02:10 AM EST
    the "In-Laws".

    Glad you mentioned it.

    Do you know, "Cookie"?
    Another unique film - touching and hilarious as well.

    Also "Happy New Year" - a gem - with Charles Durning.
    Peter dresses up to become a character that he once described as being his mother. Amazing, funny and touching.

    Parent

    Wow, I forgot about that one (none / 0) (#31)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:24:22 AM EST
    I remember going to see it with my sister and both of us laughing so hard. "Serpentine!!!"

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    Faulk (none / 0) (#3)
    by AngryBlackGuy on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 07:12:56 PM EST
    Was a few years before my time.  Ive watched Columbo but never really got it. Stinks that he's gone though. He had a lot of fans.

    Not "Faulk"... (none / 0) (#29)
    by lentinel on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:02:47 AM EST
    Falk.

    Parent
    No it hasn't (none / 0) (#9)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 09:21:45 PM EST
    Close, though.

    Now it's done: 33 Y 29 N (5.00 / 2) (#10)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 09:30:26 PM EST


    Parent
    Hallelujah! (5.00 / 1) (#15)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:46:10 PM EST
    I live in Western VT, right near the border, and have married friends with kids who have literally become completely unwilling to go over to NY state for any reason for fear of having some accident there and find themselves without full spousal and/or parental rights.

    It's been a really tough slog, but states are going to start falling faster now one by one.

    Welcome to the club, NY!

    Parent

    NY already recognizes (5.00 / 1) (#16)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:48:57 PM EST
    marriages from everywhere else. But can't guarantee how well that would be followed by everyone. It's just official policy.

    Anyway, We should have our first weddings here before August.

    Parent

    Congrats!!!! (5.00 / 2) (#19)
    by nycstray on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 11:20:33 PM EST
    Fantastic news!  :)

    Parent
    Exactly (5.00 / 1) (#20)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 11:39:55 PM EST
    Once you have a legal marriage and a family, you're not going to risk it unless and until any such protections have been tested and proven to be very strong.

    My friends are a little paranoid about it, but you can't blame them for that.  THey don't/didn't want to be the first people to test NY's recognition of same-sex VT marriages.


    Parent

    Go to as many as you can! (5.00 / 3) (#21)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 11:41:39 PM EST
    When my friends got married here days after the VT law became effective, pretty much this whole small farming town turned out, including the postal delivery guys.  You never heard so much cheering at a wedding!  It was just a fabulous occasion.

    Parent
    Probable closet case on the local news from the (none / 0) (#13)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:04:29 PM EST
    Catholic League just used that phrase.

    Parent
    The latter (none / 0) (#25)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 12:58:57 AM EST


    Parent
    Some (none / 0) (#18)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 10:52:02 PM EST
    good advice to Obama from James Carville
    link
    Thanks for the link (none / 0) (#22)
    by gyrfalcon on Fri Jun 24, 2011 at 11:46:40 PM EST
    I would have missed it.

    How Carville can still think so clearly with that insufferable harridan he married shrieking in his ear all these years is beyond me.  But he can.  Too bad Obama et al have their fingers in their ears.


    Parent

    It (none / 0) (#27)
    by lentinel on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 05:45:32 AM EST
    is amazing to me:- that marriage.

    And it has lasted.

    Go figure.

    Parent

    You (none / 0) (#34)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:28:04 AM EST
    know the old saying: opposites attract. I've had friends over the years marry people and I just didn't think they would last either but they did. And others that I thought would be married for a long time and ended up in divorce court. You just never know.

    Parent
    I (none / 0) (#30)
    by lentinel on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:08:35 AM EST
    read the piece to which you linked...

    But I consider the problem to be that people keep hoping that Obama will act as a democratic liberal while in fact he is a republican conservative.

    Parent

    Oh, I know (none / 0) (#32)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:25:42 AM EST
    I don't think that Obama will listen but the thing I found interesting is that Carville "gets" what the problem is. Obama seems to think that this all started in 2008. It didn't.

    Parent
    That was good, and a fresh approach (none / 0) (#35)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:36:18 AM EST
    i like the suggestion to travel and highlight the many still hurting instead of the success stories. It is counterintuitive but is exactly right. I'd respect realism a lot more than the happy talk, and Congress would feel more pressure to focus on jobs.

    Parent
    The happy (none / 0) (#40)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 07:54:42 AM EST
    talk thing is beyond irritating to me. It's like W. and the Iraq War. Just keep talking like things are peachy keen even though they aren't.

    Parent
    Peter Falk (none / 0) (#26)
    by lentinel on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 05:44:44 AM EST
    I would also like to mention Peter Falk's gift for comedy:

    1. "The In Laws".
    2. "Cookie".
    3. "Big Trouble" (a spoof of "Double Indemnity".)
    4. "Happy New Year".

    There are others as well that displayed his unique sense of humor.

    R.I.P. Peter Falk (none / 0) (#36)
    by Nemi on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 06:47:05 AM EST
    And let's not forget the roles he played in the John Cassavetes movies 'Husbands', and 'A Woman Under the Influence'. This interview (from 1995) starts with him talking about Cassavetes whose manner of directing was more 'show it' rather than 'tell it'. As Peter Falk says:
    He was afraid of words. He was afraid that those words would then be translated into some cliché.

    Funny thing - as in 'remarkable' - the top three directors when it comes to portraying women in films, in my mind are John Cassavetes, Pedro Almodóvar and Rodrigo García, all male. Don't really know what to make of that. Maybe just that there aren't that many female directors who get a chance to direct? Can't say.

    I did not need that photo... (none / 0) (#38)
    by kdog on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 07:11:25 AM EST
    in the cross-dresser link.  Thats one way to dodge a TSA groping!

    Ya can't tell the black guy to pull up his pants and let the old white guy on in panties...the different rules different fools file just got thicker and weirder.  Cut the check US Airways, ya done f*cked up!

    Serchez la femme (none / 0) (#39)
    by Nemi on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 07:40:25 AM EST
    ... once again in vain. Nothing new. Still annoying.

    Never the less ... congratulations to N.Y.

    It may be a taboo subject to discuss here (none / 0) (#41)
    by Politalkix on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 09:21:53 AM EST
    but I would like to point out that legalization of gay marriages in New York was achieved through bipartisanship and not application of the madman theory of bargaining.

    "Taboo"? (none / 0) (#45)
    by Yman on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 09:58:00 AM EST
    Not sure that four Republican crossover votes makes it a lesson in bipartisanship, particularly in a state like NY with socially moderate Republicans.

    Parent
    Superficial analysis (none / 0) (#49)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 01:12:10 PM EST
    The Republicans have no hand in New York (their Senate majority is very fragile) and Cuomo made it clear for all of the world to see that they were the only ones standing in the way of equality.

    Parent
    Have to agree (none / 0) (#54)
    by nycstray on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 02:40:48 AM EST
    Cuomo made it clear for all of the world to see that they were the only ones standing in the way of equality.

    I'm not in NY anymore, so my view isn't clouded by local news/politics (NOT saying yours is!!) and that is def the message I got here on the other coast. He def wasn't playing the role of "Obama" on this issue.

    Again CONGRATS! I was really missing NYC last night :)

    Parent

    And ultra rich Republican donors (none / 0) (#57)
    by Politalkix on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 09:57:45 AM EST
    had nothing to do with it?

    link

    link

    Parent

    So your point is... (5.00 / 1) (#59)
    by sj on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 03:46:20 PM EST
    ... if Republican donors support it, that makes bipartisan?  Really?

    Parent
    Boehner draws a line ... (none / 0) (#44)
    by Yman on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 09:44:02 AM EST
    ... in the sand on the debt ceiling.

    Guess who's gonna back down ...

    He was one of the best (none / 0) (#46)
    by Edger on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 11:46:08 AM EST
    It's different planet, without him...

    This one for jeffinalabama and kdog (none / 0) (#51)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 03:36:16 PM EST
    The the planets are in alignment and Jupiter checked raised Mars...

    Rep Rep Barton of Tx has introduced a bill to make poker on line legal.. of course it allows the states to deny it... but it's a start.

    That's terrific (5.00 / 0) (#56)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 08:31:17 AM EST
    Republican will now consider allowing people to gamble without throwing them in jail, but now they throw women in jail for having a miscarriage or stillbirth.  Count me not impressed at all.

    Parent
    I don't they will care (none / 0) (#58)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 12:24:46 PM EST
    if you are, or are not, impressed.

    But us poker players, like the MJ smokers, are happy with all the help we can get.

    As the young doctor said, "All fevers appreciated."

    Parent

    Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling (none / 0) (#52)
    by Yman on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 03:42:38 PM EST
    No one's confirming anything or providing details, but there's a story going around that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser allegedly grabbed fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley around the neck in an argument before the big ruling last week.

    Amazing stuff, if true.

    Like all abusers (5.00 / 2) (#55)
    by sj on Sun Jun 26, 2011 at 02:51:02 AM EST
    Prosser, the paper reported, confirmed making the remarks, saying he "probably overreacted" while accusing Abrahamson and Bradley of being "masters at deliberately goading people into perhaps incautious statements.

    His excuse is apparently that they made him act abusively.

    Holey moley.

    Parent

    Wow. (none / 0) (#53)
    by shoephone on Sat Jun 25, 2011 at 04:11:55 PM EST


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    R.I.P. Peter Falk and Open Thread | 53 comments (53 topical)

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