Rip Torn on 'Columbo'

Just watched a 1991 episode of 'Columbo' titled 'Death Hits the Jackpot' with Rip Torn.

This is one of the post-'NBC Mystery Movie' shows (ABC was doing them by then) where the novelty of Columbo had become old-hat and the franchise was losing steam.

The story, a guy wins the lottery and his uncle (Torn) kills him for the loot is not that interesting. In fact, the opening bit where the victim watches the lottery results on TV is just plain dumb, and I felt I was in for a bad ride.

But Rip Torn is so charming and interesting that I just loved it. So much so, I'm looking forward to watching it again. Torn is a super actor and I think we forget just how good he is. And he makes the other actors around him seem better as well.

Check this one out. It's a winner.