I’m fine with ship-in-a-bottle episodes and quirky little side quests (and agree that they can be among the most memorable that a series has to offer)... as long as they’re well done and are compelling on their own terms.

Good points. Let’s remember, though, that shows like Frasier that ran for years with relatively few “we’ve got to meet our network commitment so let’s just throw this at the ceiling and see if it sticks” episodes are the exception, not the rule.  It’s really quite hard to pull off.  

For sure I’d never dissuade anyone from catching up with Columbo — well worth while as entertainment as well as the revelation of how influential it was.

Erm... if memory serves, Columbo only came on about once a month, for seven or eight episodes a season.

let’s consider this car for what it is.

Not much to say about the value proposition except that it isn’t my cuppa, but just thought I’d mention this series of articles about the wonderful madness that either comes with or inspires (I’ve never been sure) every purchase:

But... did he add light or allow the darkons to escape?

Good price as a project for those who really know and love these cars. Those with illusions that it has a cheap easy path to being what most people would consider an acceptable daily driver should run fast and run far. This is a tired looking example with a lot of substantial risk factors, depending on how long it has…

Well... a lot of the malaise came not from downsizing per se, but from trying to meet emissions requirements with analog gear. Computerized digital fuel injection systems and closed-loop controls opened the door to the present golden age.  So did Detroit’s fitful realization that the Japanese were onto something with…

The price isn’t much, but the Z34's engine had a reputation as a bit of a problem child, and as for the seller’s personal knowledge of this particular example, he seems to have an unusual number of cars for sale despite this being on the supposed by-owner side of Craigslist:

That, and landscaped apartment/condo communities that might not even provide suitable places and garden-hose hookups.

I want to like this car, but even with the sunroof to alleviate all that yellowness right in your face, it’s a size and shape that shouldn’t be yellow.

Fifteen-five to take over some stranger’s project (whose basis needed a now “NEW(ish)“ engine at five figure mileage)? I’m grinching pretty hard on this day-after-Christmas deal, despite the seller’s dreamweaving about the kind of power it could make, but presently doesn’t. The 26 days on the market (in a metro area…

What a thing to find with a big green bow on top if your goal is show’n’shines, maybe even a real concours, and the occasional Sunday morning outing or parade. For actually using in modern times, I’d have gone restomod power train and running gear and a plausible shade of incorrect Imron. But it would be completely…

Light-duty diesels (<14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating) of model year 1997 and older don’t have to undergo smog check in California, so there’s that. (https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/vehicle-registration/smog-inspections/)

Diesel is $5.50 in the LA area, which I think is about a buck and a half higher than diesel at your end of the 10, and a dollar more than gasoline locally. (https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/)

This. “Massive and passive” is a good team when it comes to Plan B undercar support.

This is perilously close to having me price out a ticket to LAX and one of the easiest NP votes of the year.

If you want a “ute,” you could get almost three of yesterday’s Baja for the asking price of this... and those have a rear seat.

As I parse the ad, the head gaskets were replaced at 150k (fairly typical for when the turkey timer pops out) and the timing belt and water pump would have been sensible to do at the same time. The car is now at 185k.