Book Reviews and More: Columbo TV and Movie Review

Columbo Review

Years 1968, 1971, 1971-2003

Director: Richard Irving

Writers: Richard Levinson, William Link

Production Universal Television

1968-1978, 1989-1997

Studio USA

1998-2001

Universal Television Network

2003

I recently watched the entire run of Columbo from the two pilots or made for TV movies, through the first run, and then the reprisal of the role. The series originally ran from 1968-1978 on NBC, then on ABC from 1989-2003. There are few who would not recognize the title character in this trench coat and with his cigar. The show has been rebroadcast in 44 countries.

I started watching the series in order in the fall of 2023 and finished in Spring of 2024. At first I was alternating 2 seasons of M*A*S*H with a season of Columbo, but by season 5 of Columbo became addicted especially to it and watched it through to the end. I must admit I do not watch a lot of TV, or even Movies any more. Most of what I watch I watch with my kids or family. But I started the two series named above, and often watched while I prepped lunch and ate while working from home, and often an episode could spend 2 or 3 lunch breaks. Which reminded me a lot of watching it on A&E; 30ish years ago, where an episode was spit across 2 days.

I became fascinated with the show and the man. I have since read a biography of Peter Falk, have his autobiography and have picked up the first novel by William Harrington, and even the volume Cooking With Columbo Suppers With The Shambling Sleuth by Jenny Hammerton.

Both IMDB and Wikipedia List the show as running 10 seasons plus a series of special TV Movies that are listed as an extension of season 10.

The episodes are:

Pilots

Prescription Murder

Ransom for a Dead Man

Season 1

Murder by the Book

Death Lends a Hand

Dead Weight

Suitable for Framing

Lady in Waiting

Short Fuse

Blueprint for Murder

Season 2

Étude in Black

The Greenhouse Jungle

The Most Crucial Game

Dagger of the Mind

Requiem for a Falling Star

A Stitch in Crime

The Most Dangerous Match

Double Shock

Murder Times Two

Season 3

Lovely but Lethal

Any Old Port in a Storm

Candidate for Crime

Double Exposure

Publish or Perish

Mind Over Mayhem

Swan Song

A Friend in Deed

Season 4

An Exercise in Fatality

Negative Reaction

By Dawn's Early Light

Troubled Waters

Playback

A Deadly State of Mind

Season 5

Forgotten Lady

A Case of Immunity

Identity Crisis

A Matter of Honor

Now You See Him...

Last Salute to the Commodore

Season 6

Fade in to Murder

Old Fashioned Murder

The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case

Season 7

Try and Catch Me

Murder Under Glass

Make Me a Perfect Murder

How to Dial a Murder

The Conspirators

Season 8

Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

Murder, Smoke and Shadows

Sex and the Married Detective

Grand Deceptions

Season 9

Murder: A Self Portrait

Columbo Cries Wolf

Agenda for Murder

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo

Uneasy Lies the Crown

Murder in Malibu

Season 10

Columbo Goes to College

Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health

Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star

Death Hits the Jackpot

No Time to Die

Movies

A Bird in the Hand...

It's All in the Game

Butterfly in Shades of Grey

Undercover

Strange Bedfellows

A Trace of Murder

Ashes to Ashes

Murder with Too Many Notes

Columbo Likes the Nightlife

I recalled many of the episodes and only a few had I never see before, one that really caught my attention was It’s All in the Game from 1993 featuring Faye Dunaway and Claudia Christian. I have been a huge fan of Claudia’s work since Babylon 5. And I know this was an episode I had not previous seen. It is also one of only 2 episodes where he lets the murder or an accessory get away with it.

There was a sense of melancholy as I watched the final season and the movies that came after it. After having read Beyond Columbo: The Life and Times of Peter Falk by Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Birnes and being aware of his alzheimer's. It was a very different feel to watching those stories. As well as knowing that he had planned a 70th episode that would could not be completed on because of the illness.

At the end of the episode Last Salute to the Commodore, 1976, Columbo starts whistling This Old Man, it plays a role in most episodes from that point on. Including Columbo asking a musician to teach him it so he can play it for his wife in the penultimate episode Murder with Too Many Notes, 2001, because she hums it constantly while cleaning and cooking.

There are many quirky things about the show. First Columbo wears the same suit in every episode. And his recognizable jacket is now in the Smithsonian, in the Americana display. His comments a few times about quitting cigars and the bad habit they are but persisting in smoking them, much as Falk himself did. Also in most instance we know who the killer is and how they did it, often seeing the murder in the first few minutes. But the show is intriguing as we watch Columbo put the pieces together and seeing what stand out or if off. For example a supposed suicide who had just used mouth wash and trimmed his toenails. Also the many co-stars or special guests who graced an episode or more than one. William Shatner playing the villain in episodes many years apart spanning 18 years. Leonard Nimoy, Johnny Cash and the list goes on. In fact these actors all played the bad guy more than once: Patrick McGoohan, Robert Culp, Jack Cassidy, George Hamilton and William Shatner. To taking a while to figure out where I knew Greg Evigan from.

The show had 49 award nominations and 23 wins. And Falk played the character for 35 years. For a non-soap opera it is astounding. Watching this series from beginning to end was a great experience, it it got me thinking about other shows from my youth, for a few years I have been trying to track down a way to watch Qunicy ME, T.J. Hooker, Rockford Files and other shows from my youth. Watching this was like a throwback to watching it with my father. I love the show and have a greater appreciate for Falk.