Just One More Thing: The Greenhouse Jungle

Notes and screenshots for The Greenhouse Jungle: Originally broadcast on October 15, 1972, starring Ray Milland as the world's worst spokesman for wealthy uncles, Bradford Dillman as the unlucky Tony Goodman, Sandra Smith as his put-upon wife Cathy, Bob Dishy just because we like 'im, and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"Columbo is assigned to a kidnapping case that turns into a murder investigation. Everything seems to be related to a trust fund managed by the horticulturist uncle of the victim."

-IMDB Summary

"n Season Two’s “The Greenhouse Jungle,” Ray Milland and his nephew cook up a fake kidnapping scheme to get at the nephew’s $300,000 trust fund. The scam goes off without a hitch- well, except for the nephew, who ends up getting murdered by his uncle. It’s a broad, odd anomaly of an episode, but Milland plays things to such a ridiculous hilt that it retains the fun, despite a few bumps here and there. Kevin Mellon (Archer) is here to talk about the whole thing, along with the Kubert School, deadly clowns on Matlock, the Goo Goo Dolls, and the Human Hickory Farms Log."

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:

Episode 56: Torpedoes Running Straight, Hot, and Normal with our guest Kevin Mellon. 

The Greenhouse Jungle

Season 2, Episode 2

Director: Boris Sagal

Writer: Jonathan Latimer

I have to put The Greenhouse Jungle in the same camp as Bye Bye Sky High IQ Club … and I do mean “camp.” The broad, arch, and practically comic mystery pits a predatory intellectual and aesthete upon a lesser mind, introduces ‘ditzy’ side characters and generally makes absurdity part of its DNA.

It’s a good, goofy Columbo which sticks with the formula, for the most part (the pacing is pretty unique), and would be a nice palate cleanser after something more dire, like Forgotten Lady or Catch Me If You Can. 

Bob Dishy got the role on this episode largely because of a friendship with Falk, but he doesn’t coast on that relationship at all. He makes a perfect companion to Columbo – part sounding board, part gladhanding manipulator, part student and part factotum. I think what appeals to me most about the relationship between the two characters is that, from each other’s perspective, I think they think of the other one as the flighty one. 

Each man thinks of himself as a man on the beach, walking towards a destination, and thinks of the other man as a dog, running around the man and dashing back and forth to and from the sea. The end result is they have the same destination, but the man’s footprints are a straight line and the dog’s are utter chaos. Columbo might think of the dog as Sgt.Wilson running through all the hoops of procedure, and Wilson might think of Columbo as the one bouncing from inspiration to inspiration. Just a guess, something I dragged out of the performances.

Next episode: The Most Crucial Game