| Columbo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Crime drama Detective fiction Neo-noir |
| Created by | Richard Levinson William Link |
| Starring | Peter Falk |
| Theme music composer | Henry Mancini (NBC Mystery Movie theme, Seasons 1–7) Mike Post (ABC Mystery Movie theme, Seasons 8–9) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 69(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Dean Hargrove (1973–1975) Roland Kibbee (1973–1975) Richard Levinson (1971) William Link (1971) Philip Saltzman (1989)[1] |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 73–98 minutes |
| Production companies | Universal Television (1968–1978, 1989–1997) Studios USA (1998–2001) Universal Network Television (2003) |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20) – May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13) |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06) – January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30) |
| Related | |
| Mrs. Columbo (1979–1980) The NBC Mystery Movie | |
Columbo is an Americancrime drama television series starringPeter Falk asLieutenant Columbo, a homicidedetective with theLos Angeles Police Department.[2][3] After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired onNBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs ofThe NBC Mystery Movie.Columbo then aired onABC as a rotating program onThe ABC Mystery Movie from 1989 to 1990, and on a less frequent basis from 1990 to 2003.
Columbo is a shrewd and exceptionally observant homicide detective whose trademarks include his rumpled beige raincoat, unassuming demeanor, cigar, batteredPeugeot 403 car,[4][5][6] love ofchili, andunseen wife (whom he mentions frequently). He often leaves a room only to return with thecatchphrase "Just one more thing" to ask a critical question.
The character and show, created byRichard Levinson andWilliam Link, popularized theinverted detective story format (sometimes referred to as a "howcatchem"). This genre begins by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator; the plot therefore usually has no "whodunit" element of determining which of several suspects committed the crime. It instead revolves around how a perpetrator known to the audience will finally be caught and exposed. The clues Columbo finds to help him solve the case are sometimes revealed to the audience beforehand, but often not until the episode's end.
The series'homicide suspects are often affluent members of high society; it has led some critics to seeclass conflict as an element of each story.[7] Suspects carefully cover their tracks and are initially dismissive of Columbo'scircumstantial speech and apparent ineptitude. They become increasingly unsettled as his superficially pestering behavior teases out incriminating evidence.[7] His relentless approach often leads toself-incrimination or outright confession.
Episodes ofColumbo are between 70 and 98 minutes long, and they have been broadcast in 44 countries. The show has been described by theBBC as "timeless" and remains popular today.[8]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | Network | |||
| Pilots | 2 | February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20) | March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01) | NBC | |
| 1 | 7 | September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15) | February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09) | ||
| 2 | 8 | September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17) | March 25, 1973 (1973-03-25) | ||
| 3 | 8 | September 23, 1973 (1973-09-23) | May 5, 1974 (1974-05-05) | ||
| 4 | 6 | September 15, 1974 (1974-09-15) | April 27, 1975 (1975-04-27) | ||
| 5 | 6 | September 14, 1975 (1975-09-14) | May 2, 1976 (1976-05-02) | ||
| 6 | 3 | October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10) | May 22, 1977 (1977-05-22) | ||
| 7 | 5 | November 21, 1977 (1977-11-21) | May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13) | ||
| 8 | 4 | February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06) | May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01) | ABC | |
| 9 | 6 | November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25) | May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14) | ||
| 10 + Specials | 14 | December 9, 1990 (1990-12-09) | January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30) | ||
After two pilot episodes, the show originally aired onNBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs ofThe NBC Mystery Movie.Columbo then aired onABC under the umbrella ofThe ABC Mystery Movie from 1989 to 1990.[9] AfterThe ABC Mystery Movie was canceled,Columbo episodes continued to premiere on ABC on a less frequent basis; the last episode was broadcast in 2003 as part ofABC Thursday Night at the Movies.[10]
In almost every episode, the audience sees the crime unfold at the beginning and knows the identity of the culprit, typically an affluent member of society. Once Columbo enters the story (he rarely appears in the first act), viewers watch him solve the case by sifting through the contradictions between the truth and the version presented to him by the killer(s). This style of mystery is sometimes referred to as a "howcatchem", in contrast to the traditionalwhodunit. In structural analysis terms, the majority of the narrative is thereforedénouement, a feature normally reserved for the very end of a story. Episodes tend to be driven by their characters, the audience observing the criminal's reactions to Columbo's increasingly intrusive presence.
When Columbo first appears in an episode, his genius is hidden from the viewer by his frumpy, friendly, and disarming demeanor. While the details, and eventually the motivations, of the murderers' actions are always shown to the viewer, Columbo's true thoughts and intentions are sometimes concealed until the end of the episode. He occasionally begins to whistle the tune "This Old Man" as the pieces begin to fall into place.
Columbo generally maintains a friendly relationship with the murderer until the end, and sometimes even after their confession or incrimination, despite both characters being aware of their adversarial positions. The detective usually suspects the murderer within moments of their meeting, or even earlier, often based on their reaction to the news of the victim's death. The murderer in turn almost always immediately sees through Columbo's scruffy and absent-minded manner to his underlying investigative intellect, and accordingly takes steps to divert his efforts by disguising evidence, manipulating witnesses, manufacturing evidence to lead Columbo towards a different suspect, and/or feigning irritation as an excuse for declining requests for searches and interrogations. In some cases the murderer will even taunt Columbo over his inability to prove their guilt. There are two sides to Columbo's character: the disarming and unkempt detective and the hidden genius sleuth. The genius sometimes starkly manifests itself through his eyes, as when the magician The Great Santini escapes from police handcuffs that Columbo coyly presents him during Santini's show ("Now You See Him..."). In some instances, such as the avenging elderly mystery writer in "Try and Catch Me" and the terminally ill and deluded actress in "Forgotten Lady", many viewers find the killer more sympathetic than the victim.[11]
Each episode is generally concluded with Columbo proving the killer's guilt, though some episodes, such as "Swan Song", go on to show the killer confessing or quietly submitting to arrest. There are few attempts to deceive the viewer or provide a twist in the tale. One exception is "Last Salute to the Commodore", whereRobert Vaughn is seen elaborately disposing of a body, but is proved later to have been covering for his alcoholic wife, whom he mistakenly thought to be the murderer. Sometimes, Columbo sets up the murderer with a trick designed to elicit a confession. An example occurs in "Dagger of the Mind", in which Columbo flips an evidentiary pearl into the victim's umbrella, bringing about incriminating activity from Nicholas Frame and Lillian Stanhope.
The character of Columbo was created by the writing team ofRichard Levinson andWilliam Link, who said that Columbo was partially inspired byFyodor Dostoevsky'sCrime and Punishment character Porfiry Petrovich,[12][13][14] as well asG. K. Chesterton's humble cleric-detectiveFather Brown. Other sources claim Columbo's character is also influenced by Inspector Fichet from the French suspense-thriller filmLes Diaboliques (1955).[15]
The character first appeared in a 1960 episode of the television-anthology seriesThe Chevy Mystery Show, titled "Enough Rope". This was adapted by Levinson and Link from their short story "May I Come In", which had been published as "Dear Corpus Delicti" in the March 1960 issue ofAlfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. The short story featured a police lieutenant then named Fisher.[16] The first actor to portray Columbo, character actorBert Freed, was a stocky character actor with a thatch of gray hair.[17]
Freed's Columbo wore a rumpled suit and smoked a cigar; he otherwise had few of the other now-familiar Columbo mannerisms. The character is still recognizably Columbo and uses some of the same methods of misdirecting and distracting his suspects. During the course of the show, the increasingly frightened murderer brings pressure from the district attorney's office to have Columbo taken off the case, but the detective fights back with his own contacts.
Although Freed received third billing, he wound up with almost as much screen time as the killer and appeared immediately after the first commercial. This delayed entry of the character into the narrative of the screenplay became a defining characteristic of the structure of the Columbo series. This teleplay is available for viewing in the archives of thePaley Center for Media in New York City and the Beverly Hills Public Library in Los Angeles.
Levinson and Link then adapted the TV drama into the stage playPrescription: Murder. This was first performed at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on January 2, 1962, withOscar-winning character actorThomas Mitchell in the role of Columbo. Mitchell was 70 years old at the time. The stage production starredJoseph Cotten as the murderer andAgnes Moorehead as the victim. Mitchell died of cancer while the play was touring in out-of-town tryouts; Columbo was his last role.
In 1968, the same play was made into a two-hour television movie that aired on NBC. The writers suggestedLee J. Cobb andBing Crosby for the role of Columbo, but Cobb was unavailable and Crosby turned it down because he felt it would take too much time away from golf. DirectorRichard Irving convinced Levinson and Link that Falk, who excitedly said he "would kill to play that cop", could pull it off even though he was much younger than the writers had in mind.[18]
Originally a one-offmovie of the week,Prescription: Murder has Falk's Columbo pitted against a psychiatrist (Gene Barry). In this movie, the psychiatrist gives the new audience a perfect description of Columbo's character. Due to the success of this film, NBC requested that a pilot for a potential series be made to see if the character could be sustained on a regular basis, leading to the 1971 ninety-minute television production,Ransom for a Dead Man, withLee Grant playing the killer. The popularity of the second film prompted the creation of a regular series on NBC, that premiered in September 1971 as part ofThe NBC Mystery Moviewheel series rotation:McCloud,McMillan & Wife, and otherwhodunits.
According toTV Guide, the original plan was that a newColumbo episode would air every week. However, Falk refused to commit to such a busy schedule given his steady work in motion pictures. As a result, the network decided to airColumbo segments once a month on Wednesday nights. The high quality ofColumbo,McMillan & Wife, andMcCloud was due in large part to the extra time spent on each episode. The termwheel show had been previously coined to describe this format, but no previous or subsequent wheel show achieved the longevity or success ofThe NBC Mystery Movie.
Columbo was an immediate hit in theNielsen ratings and Falk won anEmmy Award for his role in the show's first season. In its second year theMystery Movie series was moved to Sunday nights, where it then remained during its seven-season run. The show became the anchor of NBC's Sunday night lineup.Columbo aired regularly from 1971 to 1978. After NBC canceled it in 1978,Columbo was revived onABC between 1989 and 2003 for two seasons as part ofThe ABC Mystery Movie followed by 14 made-for-TV movie "specials".
Columbo's wardrobe was provided by Falk; they were his clothes, including the high-topped shoes and the shabby raincoat, which made its first appearance inPrescription: Murder.[19] Falk said of the raincoat, "I just felt comfortable in it."[20] Falk oftenad libbed his character's quirky behaviors—fumbling through his pockets and finding a grocery list, asking to borrow a pencil, or getting distracted by something irrelevant in the room during a tense moment with a suspect. He inserted these idiosyncrasies into his performance to keep his fellow actors off-balance. He felt it helped to make their confused and impatient reactions to Columbo's antics more genuine.[19] According to Levinson, the catchphrase "one more thing" was conceived when he and Link were writing the play: "we had a scene that was too short, and we had already had Columbo make his exit. We were too lazy to retype the scene, so we had him come back and say, 'Oh, just one more thing.' It was never planned."[18]
A few years before his death, Falk expressed interest in returning to the role. In 2007, he claimed he had chosen a script for one last Columbo episode, "Columbo: Hear No Evil". The script was renamed "Columbo's Last Case". ABC declined the project. In response, producers for the series announced that they were attempting to shop the project to foreign production companies.[21][22] Falk was diagnosed withdementia in late 2007. During a 2009 trial over his care, physician Stephen Read stated that Falk's condition had deteriorated so badly that he could no longer remember playing a character named Columbo, nor could he identify Columbo. Falk died on June 23, 2011, aged 83.[23][24][25]
The series featured many guest stars as murderers and in other roles.
Some actors appeared more than once, playing a different character each time. Among those actors areJack Cassidy,Robert Culp,Tyne Daly,Shera Danese,George Hamilton,Patrick McGoohan,Ray Milland,Leslie Nielsen,Tim O'Connor,Dean Stockwell,Leonard Nimoy andWilliam Shatner.
The first season première "Murder by the Book" was written bySteven Bochco and directed bySteven Spielberg.Jonathan Demme directed the seventh-season episode "Murder Under Glass".Jonathan Latimer was also a writer. ActorBen Gazzara, a friend of Falk's, directed the episodes "A Friend in Deed" (1974) and "Troubled Waters" (1975).
Falk himself directed the last episode of the first season, "Blueprint for Murder," and wrote the episode entitled "It's All in the Game" in Season 10. ActorNicholas Colasanto, best known for playing Coach onCheers, directed two episodes, "Swan Song" withJohnny Cash, and "Étude in Black".
Patrick McGoohan directed five episodes (including three of the four in which he played the murderer) and wrote and produced two.Vincent McEveety was a frequent director, and homage was paid to him by a humorous mention of a character with his surname in the episode "Undercover" (which he directed).
Two episodes, "No Time to Die" and "Undercover", were based on the87th Precinct novels byEd McBain,[26] and thus do not strictly follow the standard Columbo/inverted detective story format.
Columbo episodes contain a variety of music that contributes to the uniqueness of each. The score becomes of particular importance during turning points of the plots. "The Mystery Movie Theme" byHenry Mancini, written forThe NBC Mystery Movie series, was used extensively in the whole of 38 episodes, from 1971 to 1977. Unlike the other elements of theMystery Movie wheel,Columbo never had an official theme as such, although some composers, such asDick DeBenedictis andGil Mellé, did write their own signature pieces. Several composers created original music for the series, which was often used along with "The Mystery Movie Theme":
Series Music department included:
Patrick Williams received twoEmmys nominations for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series in 1978 (for "Try and Catch Me") and 1989 (for "Murder, Smoke and Shadows").Billy Goldenberg was nominated in the same category in 1972 for "Lady in Waiting".
Columbo also featured an unofficial signature tune, the British children's song "This Old Man". It was introduced in the episode "Any Old Port in a Storm" in 1973 and the detective can be heard humming or whistling it often in subsequent films. Falk said it was a melody he personally enjoyed and one day it became a part of his character.[27] The tune was also used in various score arrangements throughout the three decades of the series, including opening and closing credits. A version of it, titled "Columbo", was created by Patrick Williams.[28]
Columbo received numerous awards and nominations from 1971 to 2005, including 13Emmys, twoGolden Globe Awards, twoEdgar Awards and aTV Land Award nomination in 2005 forPeter Falk.
The 1971 episode "Murder by the Book", directed bySteven Spielberg, was ranked No. 16 onTV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time[29] and in 1999, the magazine ranked Lt. Columbo No. 7 on its 50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time list.[30][31] In 2012, the program was ranked the third-best cop or legal show onBest in TV: The Greatest TV Shows of Our Time.[32] In 2013,TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time[33] and ranked it 33rd on its list of the 60 Best Series.[34] Also in 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked it 57th on its list of 101 Best Written TV Series.[35] In December 2023,Variety rankedColumbo #85 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.[36]
Columbo was an international success during its initial run and was syndicated in 44 countries.[37]
According to a 1989 article in theChicago Tribune, when production ofColumbo stopped and no new episodes could be broadcast inRomania, the government feared that riots could break out, and Falk was asked by theU.S. State Department to record a special announcement to be broadcast on Romanian television.[38] The story was repeated by Falk in an appearance onLate Show with David Letterman in 1995[39], and in Falk's memoirJust One More Thing. While the cable containing Falk's speech was released as part of theUnited States diplomatic cables leak, it is disputed whether riots or any kind of mass protest were imminent due to the cancellation ofColumbo.[40][41]
A statue of Lieutenant Columbo and his dog was unveiled in 2014 on Miksa Falk Street inBudapest,Hungary.[42] According to Antal Rogán, then-district mayor of the city, Peter Falk may have been related to Hungarian writer and politicianMiksa Falk, although there is no evidence yet to prove it.[43]
In the 2020s, the renewed popularity ofColumbo with much younger audiences has been noted by several media publications.[44]Collider and theBBC emphasized the timeless nature of Peter Falk's performance.[45][46]GameRant suggested that the show is "comfort viewing" and that its repetitive nature easily engendersInternet memes.[47]
On August 3, 1994,MCA/Universal Home Video released the episode "Murder by the Book" on VHS.[48]
As of January 10, 2012,Universal Studios had released all 69 episodes ofColumbo on DVD.[49] The episodes are released in the same chronological order as they were originally broadcast. On October 16, 2012, Universal releasedColumbo—The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[50]
Because theColumbo episodes from 1989 to 2003 were aired very infrequently, different DVD sets have been released around the world. In manyRegion 2 and Region 4 countries, all episodes have now been released as 10 seasons, with the 10th comprising the last 14 episodes, from "Columbo Goes to College" (1990) to "Columbo Likes the Nightlife" (2003). In France and The Netherlands (also Region 2), the DVDs were grouped differently and released as 12 seasons.
InRegion 1, all episodes from Seasons 8 on are grouped differently; the episodes that originally aired on ABC were released under the titleCOLUMBO: The Mystery Movie Collection.
| Season | Eps. | Year | DVD release | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DVD name | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||||
| Pilots | 2 | 1968–71 | The Complete First Season | September 7, 2004 | September 13, 2004 | December 3, 2004 | ||
| 1 | 7 | 1971–72 | ||||||
| 2 | 8 | 1972–73 | The Complete Second Season | March 8, 2005 | July 18, 2005 | July 13, 2005 | ||
| 3 | 8 | 1973–74 | The Complete Third Season | August 9, 2005 | November 14, 2005 | July 20, 2006 | ||
| 4 | 6 | 1974–75 | The Complete Fourth Season | March 14, 2006 | September 18, 2006 | September 19, 2006 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 1975–76 | The Complete Fifth Season | June 27, 2006 | February 12, 2007 | March 21, 2007 | ||
| 6 | 3 | 1976–77 | The Complete Sixth & Seventh Seasons | November 21, 2006 | April 30, 2007 | May 2, 2007 | ||
| 7 | 5 | 1977–78 | ||||||
| 8 | 4 | 1989 | The Mystery Movie Collection 1989(R1/R4) The Complete Eighth Season(R2) | April 24, 2007 | March 31, 2008 | July 4, 2008 | ||
| 9 | 6 | 1989–90 | The Mystery Movie Collection 1990(R1) The Complete Ninth Season(R2/R4) | February 3, 2009 | March 30, 2009 | May 6, 2009 | ||
| 10 + specials | 14 | 1990–93 | The Mystery Movie Collection 1991–93(R1) The Complete Tenth Season – Volume 1(R2/R4) | February 8, 2011[51] | June 15, 2009 | July 28, 2009 | ||
| 1994–2003 | The Mystery Movie Collection 1994–2003(R1) The Complete Tenth Season – Volume 2(R2/R4) | January 10, 2012[52] | July 27, 2009 | November 28, 2009 | ||||
| Complete series | 69 | 1968–2003 | Columbo: The Complete Series | October 16, 2012 | October 19, 2009 | December 7, 2016 | ||
The complete series was released on Blu-ray in Japan in 2011 as a ten-season set, taken from new HD masters and original 1.33:1 (4:3) aspect ratio, apart from the 1989–2003 episodes presented in 1.78:1 (16:9)[citation needed]).[53] The set contains 35 discs and is presented in a faux-wooden cigar box. It features a brochure with episode details, and a script for the Japanese version ofPrescription: Murder. Special features include the original 96-minute version ofÉtude In Black and the originalNBC Mystery Movie title sequence. In addition, many episodes include isolated music and sound-effects tracks.[54] Before this set's release, only the episodes up toMurder, a Self-Portrait were released on DVD in Japan.
In late 2023, specialist film distributorKino Lorber released the first seven seasons ofColumbo on Blu-ray in North America, using an NBCUniversal remaster.[55] Although it was planned that the Blu-ray would have a commentary track for each episode, it was later cancelled for unexplained reasons.[56] In mid-2024, Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray set of the remaining seasons in North America.[57]
The Columbo character first appeared on stage in 1962 inPrescription: Murder withThomas Mitchell in the role of Columbo.
In 2010,Prescription: Murder was revived for a tour of the United Kingdom withDirk Benedict and laterJohn Guerrasio as Columbo.[58]
Falk appeared as Columbo in anAlias sketch produced for a 2003 TV special celebrating the 50th anniversary of ABC.
Falk appeared in character as Columbo in 1977 atThe Dean Martin Celebrity Roast ofFrank Sinatra.
While Falk generally appeared as himself inWim Wenders's 1987 movieDer Himmel über Berlin ("Wings of Desire"), there is also a shortcameo appearance in the film where Falk is specifically recognized and greeted as "Columbo" by a couple of bywalkers.
AColumbo series of books was published by MCA Publishing, written by authors Alfred Lawrence, Henry Clements and Lee Hays. This series of books, with the first title published in 1972, was mostly adapted from the TV series.[59]
Columbo was also used as the protagonist for a series of novels published between 1994 and 1999 by Forge Books, an imprint ofTor Books. All of these books were written by William Harrington.
William Link, the co-creator of the series, wrote a collection of Columbo short stories, titledThe Columbo Collection, which was published in May 2010 byCrippen & Landru, a specialty mystery publisher.[60]
Mrs. Columbo, a spin-off TV series starringKate Mulgrew, aired in 1979 and was canceled after only thirteen episodes. Lt. Columbo was never seen onMrs. Columbo; each episode featured the resourceful Mrs. Columbo, here given the first name Kate, solving a murder mystery she encountered in her work as a newspaper reporter. Connections with the originalColumbo series were made obvious: the glaring presence of Columbo's car in the driveway, the dog, and Mrs. Columbo emptying ashtrays containing the famous green cigar butts—all featured in the show's opening sequence. References were also made to Kate's husband being a police lieutenant. The public didn't warm to this interpretation of the character, and in the second season allColumbo references were abruptly dropped. The show's title becameKate Loves A Mystery, Kate's last name became Callahan, and she was no longer married to a police lieutenant.
Columbo'sfirst name is notably never mentioned verbally in the series, but "Frank Columbo" or "Lt. Frank Columbo" can occasionally be seen in print on his police ID (though this was not generally evident to viewers until the advent of DVDs, which could be freeze-framed to present a sharp image of the ID badge). This ambiguity surrounding Columbo's first name led the creator ofThe Trivia Encyclopedia, Fred L. Worth, to include a false entry that listed "Philip Columbo" as Columbo's full name as acopyright trap. When the board gameTrivial Pursuit included "Philip" as the answer to the question, "What was Columbo's first name?", Worth launched a $300 million lawsuit against the creators of the game.[61][62] The creators of the game argued that while they did useThe Trivia Encyclopedia as one of their sources, facts are not copyrightable and there was nothing improper about using an encyclopedia in the production of a fact-based game. The district court judge agreed and the decision was upheld by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in September 1987. Worth petitioned theSupreme Court of the United States to review the case, but the Court declined, denyingcertiorari in March 1988.[63]
Ironically, Season 2 ofMrs. Columbo, which was renamed asKate the Detective andKate Loves a Mystery that season after it had ended all links toColumbo, had Kate Callahan (played byKate Mulgrew) mention her ex-husband's first name as "Philip".[64]
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