One of the few joys I have in life is watching another episode of COLUMBO when it comes in from Netflix. The third season of the series has been released on DVD and I'm getting them in one at a time. I always enjoyed the bumbling detective, so excellenty portrayed by actor Peter Falk, when he was part of the "Sunday Mystery Movie" in the early seventies. There was just something awesome about watching him pull the rug out from all the snobby rich people who thought their status protected them from the little man's deductions.
So why do I bring up Detective Columbo now that I'm back from vacation? Because the episode I watched last night, "Lovely But Lethal," had to do with chemists. That's right, Columbo gets called in to find out who offed a research assistant (played by Martin Sheen). It being an "open" mystery, we already know that the killer was Vera Miles, who heads a cosmetic company. Her rival is played by Vincent Price.
Things I learned about the state of cosmetic industry chemists, circa 1973:
1) It's okay to introduce a skin care product to the public if it hasn't undergone extensive validation and testing. The FDA wasn't even mentioned once. Wasn't it around then?
2) There was a definate chain of command back in those days in the lab. Columbo describes Martin Sheen as: "An assistant chemist, not really a scientist."
3) Cosmetic lab guys must have really been making big $$$ because Martin Sheen lives in a mansion. But then why was he trying to sell the secret anti-wrinkle formula to Vincent Price?
4) A bifocal microscope makes an excellent murder weapon.