seen from Malaysia
seen from China
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seen from China
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seen from Russia
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seen from China
Columbo S2E1: “Étude in Black” (1972)
Boston fern spotted at 1:10:53, sharing the frame with Lt. Columbo! They made us wait, but it was worth it for the ultimate combo.
Bonus plant: at 15:37, this long, slightly leggy heartleaf philodendron. She should have moved that somewhere brighter, but it's too late now.
Columbo S7E5 “The Conspirators” (1978)
After a wait of 40:42, we've spotted the ultimate combo: Columbo and a Boston fern!
Bonus plant: this lush and tall dieffenbachia.
Bonus bonus: Columbo contemplating erotic art.
Columbo S4E3 “By Dawn's Early Light” (1974)
No ferns spotted! However, this episode is remarkable in many other ways. For one, it stars Patrick McGoohan, well-known for his role as Number Six in The Prisoner, as a no-nonsense commandant of a military academy. He won an Emmy for his performance in this episode and went on to act in and direct several episodes of Columbo.
Secondly, it was shot on location at Citadel Military College of South Carolina ("The Citadel"), well-known for being sued by Shannon Faulkner, a high school student who applied to the at-the-time all-male college by hiding her gender on her application. She sued for the right to be admitted, and won, but wound up quickly leaving because of the abuse she faced on and off campus.
Lastly, this episode features a vanishingly rare sight of Lt. Columbo sans raincoat and, indeed, sans shirt. You're welcome.
Columbo S2E3: “The Most Crucial Game” (1972)
No ferns spotted! However, I have spotted a Speedo.
Columbo S10E13 “Murder with Too Many Notes” (2001)
Maidenhair fern spotted at 1:04:22! With, I think, some kind of rex begonia in the foreground? (Also, yes, this episode is another Patrick McGoohan joint, though he does not star in it.)
Bonus plant #1: this snake plant.
Bonus plant #2: these fake weeping figs. Not sure why these trees had such a grip on interior designers from the late 80s to the early aughts, but they sure did!
This is the penultimate Columbo episode I have to review. Start getting ready to say goodbye.
Columbo S10E4 “Death Hits the Jackpot” (1991)
Fern...spotted at 3:25? Do we think a print of a drawing counts?
Not happy with that? Well, how's a painting of a fern?
Finally, at a funeral, we get a real, albeit cut, fern.
Finally, because I'm stubborn, here's a real, live, uncut Boston fern in the ultimate combo, at 1:22:46.
Columbo S1E1: "Murder by the Book" (1971)
Fern spotted at 49:05! I think. It looks like a tree fern, but might be a small sago palm.
Columbo S3E7 “Swan Song” (1974)
Fern spotted at 52:47! A Boston fern for this episode featuring Johnny Cash as Tommy Brown, a gospel singer who fakes a plane crash to kill his wife.
Bonus plant: English ivy again, this time in an absolute unit of pseudo-topiary. What do you think is under there?
