Just One More Thing: Mind Over Mayhem

Notes and screenshots for Mind Over Mayhem: Originally broadcast on Feb 10, 1974, starring José Ferrer as a ruthless Think Tank administrator, Lee Montgomery as child genius "Steve Spelberg," Jessica Walter, Robby the fuckin' Robot unbelievably and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"The director of a government institute that employs various scientific geniuses commits a clever murder to cover up his researcher son's plagiarism. But another kind of genius is on the case: Lt. Columbo."

-IMDB Summary

"Think tank head Jose Ferrer applies his brainpower to the equation of murder in “Mind Over Mayhem,” which also sees Columbo assisted by Robby the Robot. No, wait- come back here, it works, it really does. Appropriately, Alex Knapp (who writes the “Robot Overlords” weblog for Forbes) joins Jon and RJ to dissect this tale of deceit, war games, natural gas-powered cars and misunderstood boy geniuses. Also discussed- Warriors gangs. Sure, why not?"

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:

Episode 11: Steven Spelberg with our guest Alex Knapp. 

Mind Over Mayhem

Season 3, Episode #6

Director: Alf Kjellin

Writers: Steven Bochco, Dean Hargrove, Roland Kibbee

I encountered a robot-shaped stumbling block in this episode which my colleagues on the podcast didn’t seem to much mind, and that was the presence of Robby the Robot as a part of a Rube Goldbergian alibi device. Maybe it’s my own fault, but I draw a pretty distinct line between where and when robots can show up in a story without completely usurping the premise. Columbo is apparently one of them, but for the record I also don’t think robots should show up in Happy Days, I Married Joan of the Dukes of Hazzard.

Still, outside of the robot it’s a pretty good ep (inside of the robot, it’s too dark to read), with Jose Ferrer playing a nice range from self-important ego to paternal pride to shame. Saddened that Miguel Ferrer wasn’t cast as the son – seems natural enough, and he was about the right age for it – but I guess he was neither handsome nor histrionic enough. The two emotional settings of Charlie X – whimpering or SHOUTING.

As murder plots go, it’s among the weakest – even the episode goes on at length to point out how little being hit by a car resembles getting murdered by a junkie with a baseball bat – but the strength of this one is in its performances. In particular, Falk manages to get a couple of great scenes not only with Ferrer but with the kid playing young genius “Stephen Spelberg,” around whom Columbo’s guard comes down more completely than in any half dozen other episodes. Worth watching this episode just to see Columbo unleash his process.

Next episode: Swan Song