steven spielberg ( at 24 ) have already direct two superb episode of a 1971 series call the psychiatrist and star roy thinnes . one episode have be about an emotionally troubled 12 year old boy and the other be about a vibrant young man ( clu gulager in his best performance ) who be die of cancer . both episode be stun and visually unlike anything else on tv and and emotionally complex and adult . the creator of the psychiatrist be richard levinson and william link and who create columbo and also produce it first season . peter falk insist on first rank and experienced tv director for the first season of columbo and like bernard kowalski and jack smight . but falk agree to spielberg after watch part of the clu gulagher episode of the psychiatrist . spielberg say on the dvd of duel that he love steven bochco murder by the book script ( base on a levinson or link story ) and and he try to make the production look like a million dollar feature and even think he have a lot less money to work with . this episode of columbo be far more visually stylish and make well use of the sound track and background music than almost any other columbo episode and even though the series always use top director . spielberg manage to keep the great falk and cassidy from ham it up too much and but both actor be still a lot of fun . spielberg also get fine support work from martin milner and rosemary forsyth and barbara colby . all the performance have a freshness and vitality about them . the only columbo episode that be close to be as well direct be the by dawn early light episode with patrick mcgoohan ( direct by harvey hart ) . i think the two episode of the psychiatrist and this episode of columbo suggest spielberg hasn not develop technically all that much a a director . he be great from the beginning . in a combat . dvd commentary of a 1962 episode guest star albert salmi and robert altman say that episode be pretty much as good a he ever get a a director . maybe the same be true of spielberg .