Summary: After a strong opening episode Columbo returned with a new case in Death Lends a Hand. This was the second of Season 1’s seven episodes and pitted Columbo against a private detective in a twist on the traditional relationship between killer and investigator. In this show Gerry and Iain look at the key components and moments of Death Lends a Hand.<br> <br> <br> <br> Columbo shared centre stage in this episode with <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewmcfbrown/100031411/robert-culp-a-great-tv-actor-and-the-finest-columbo-villain-of-all-time/">Robert Culp</a>‘s Investigator Brimmer (first name unknown!). There was a similarly tight group of critical participants this time as there had been in Murder by the Book: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Crowley">Pat Crowley</a> as the unfortunate Lenore Kennicut; <a href="http://www.tribute.ca/people/ray-milland/10211/">Ray Milland</a> as her widower, Arthur Kennicut and <a href="http://bretthalsey.net/">Brett Halsey</a> as golf pro Ken Archer.<br> <br> Though he doesn’t have the silver screen resumé of episode 1’s director, Steven Spielberg, <a href="https://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/in-memoriam-bernard-l-kowalski-1929-2007/">Bernard Kowalski</a> was nonetheless a prolific contributor to both Columbo and to television of the era more generally. Creators <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levinson_%26_Link">Richard Levinson and William Link</a> were the writers of this episode – the only time in the show’s run that they are credited in this way.<br> <br> During the podcast Iain promised a little more information on The Ray Milland Show. This was a sitcom which originally went by the title <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_Mr._McNutley">Meet Mr. McNutley</a> and ran for two years on CBS. The <a href="https://archive.org/details/MeetMrMcnutley">Internet Archive</a> has some footage from the original radio simulcast of the show’s first season, which is worth a look if you have an interest in Milland and his work.<br> <br> In this episode Gerry and Iain posed a new challenge to listeners – does anybody know how many times Robert Culp made a Columbo appearance? If you think you do then please, as ever, use the comments below, or contact us on Twitter where we’re still <a href="https://www.twitter.com/columbopodcast">@columbopodcast</a>.<br> <br> Death Lends a Hand was released in 1971. It is 76 minutes long and originally aired on the NBC network. It can be viewed on <a href="http://www.netflix.com">Netflix</a> in the United States and is available on DVD in other countries, including a comprehensive box set of all eleven seasons released by Universal.<br> <br> <br> <a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcolumbopodcast.com%2Fcolumbo-season-1%2Fepisode-2-death-lends-hand%2F&via=columbopodcast&related=columbopodcast%3AThe%20Columbo%20Podcast%20Team" class="twitter-share-button" data-size="large">Tweet</a><br>
