Dabney over Dern

There's an episode of Columbo that came out around the same time as The Laughing Policeman where Dabney Coleman plays a Detective and although he's known now for his comedic roles, he had the same look as Dern (sideburns, 70's 'stache) but had a harder "Cop edge" and as much as I liked Dern in this, I think he might've been a better cast than Dern.