Sex and the Married Detective Trivia Quiz

Answer: digitalis

The wife, Lydia, was a highly-strung woman with a history of mental instability; following the death of her first husband on their honeymoon she spent time in an institution, and then she married Wesley (James Read). He then set the scene to recreate the death of husband number one in order to implicate her in the murder, using her heart medication to kill her lover and a group of famous people acting as his alibi.

Answer: Columbo Cries Wolf

There is a lovely mistake in this episode. If you watch the opening scene (with the credits) carefully, you will see Columbo walking alongside the swimming pool. But, ladies, don't expect your fellas to spot him, because there are so many nubile bikinied beauties lounging around they might get a little distracted.

Answer: yes

Columbo was somewhat embarrassed when faced with the barely-covered Jessica (Gretchen Corbett) in 'An Exercise in Fatality', but recovered sufficiently to interview the murderer. His story of how his wife would lie on the floor kicking her legs in the air is rather amusing, made even more so when Jessica surmised that she was 'thin again' and he confessed that he preferred a rounder figure.

Answer: Lisa

Joan hid her disguise in the Ladies' Room and walked out of the charity event to meet her lover in a bar before taking him back to the office, where she killed him for cheating on her. The addition of a black wig made a huge difference to Lindsay Crouse's appearance; it was easy to see how even people she knew may not make the connection in the Columbo story which inspired the title of this quiz.

Answer: she was going to leave him and he was afraid she would tell of a previous murder

Called to investigate Mrs Barsini's murder, Columbo went to the house, to see the two post boxes marked Barsini. The second Mrs Barsini (played by Falk's wife, Shera Danese) explained that the ex-wife and victim had lived next door. This was unusual, but Columbo took it well. Then he came across Barsini kissing his model and he had to come to terms with the very strange lifestyle led by the artist and his three women. Comeuppance was to come, however, for both the model and the second wife left him before the end of the story!

Answer: Lauren

Lisa was Lauren's daughter, and was the character Columbo allowed to leave the country; Lauren (Dunaway) actually killed the man who was playing them both and she gave Columbo a complete confession in exchange for her daughter's freedom. Some parts of this story were embarrassing in that the very-married Columbo seemed to be slipping off the fidelity wagon, but the ending redressed the balance somewhat and we are reassured that he was very much in love with his wife - "It's Saturday night. I'm taking the wife bowling."

Answer: both bottles of champagne were opened in the kitchen

As Columbo said, the first bottle would have been opened in the kitchen, and taken into the bedroom, but the second would have been taken into the bedroom to be opened - so the lovers could share the moment of the popping bottletop. How much does this say of Columbo's love life?

Answer: Tyne

In the 1994 film 'Undercover' Daley played a drunken ex-prostitute whose brain had been pickled through years of alcohol abuse, but she was still able to assist Columbo in finding two parts of a photograph in a long-forgotten box. Harper's character, on the other hand, was on the ball, and was immediately on the defensive when she discovered that her visitor was a policeman, even though she had mistaken him for a client only a moment before. Our Lieutenant was not fazed by either, although he did wonder at one point whether Daley would produce the goods.

The bits of the photograph!

Answer: Caution: Murder Can be Hazardous to your Health

The episode was named this because Wade Anders, former porno star and current anchor of a television crime show, killed Bud Clarke by poisoning his cigarettes. When a tip pointed Columbo towards adult movies, he visited the sex shop and his clothing allowed him to fit in perfectly, even if he was embarrassed by the shop's contents.

Answer: in a belly-dancing class

The earlier scene was a child's dance class, but in the 1977 'Try and Catch Me' story Columbo found himself in a different situation; Veronica (Mariette Hartley) was in her exercise class where she and a dozen other women were in full costume gyrating and obviously enjoying the dancing instruction given by Marie Silvia-Alexander.

Answer: a Professional Sunbather

This was not the only time Columbo stumbled across a situation where one member of a marriage was having an open affair, but in this case it was the reasoning behind the crime. The husband wanted his wife to remain faithful, and she would not do so without money, so he schemed with his uncle to stage his own kidnapping. After his uncle shot him, Columbo started digging and unearthed this derogatory title from an ex-employee. Later he was to use it to destroy the relationship. Naughty!

Yes, you may have recognised 'Ferret Face' from 'M*A*S*H'!

Answer: erotic art through the ages

Columbo took a while to check this book out, turning it this way and that to examine a couple of the pictures, stopping only because he noticed he was being watched. The shop assistant (in complete librarian-costume!) also snuck a quick look before straightening the pile of books at the end of the scene.

Answer: Kittering

Kittering was played by Englishman Wildred Hyde-White who also played a part (as secondary victim) in 'Dagger of the Mind'. As Kittering, he told Columbo quite frankly of his whereabouts, and explained very calmly that he may be getting on in years, but he still enjoyed life, and female company.

Answer: he did not want to follow her to the nudist area

The Lieutenant was prepared to follow Viveca, but when he got to the gate he caught sight of what was there, and turned away hurriedly as Vera Miles described the scene for the audience, 'nude sunbathing'. Come to think on it, this might actually be the only time that Columbo was diverted from going in for the kill!

Answer: he avoided looking at her and spoke to the artist

Throughout Columbo's career he has come across sexy situations, and each time his love for Mrs Columbo has been evident. That and his old-fashioned embarrassment at the naked body, that is! My favourite of all these, when all is said and done, is the moment in 'Exercise in Fatality' when he admits that he likes a bit of flesh on a woman and that Mrs Columbo is no stick insect!