Columbo

C

combatentropy

Veteran
Any fans of Columbo? Yesterday the BBC posted an article, Why the world still loves 1970s detective show Columbo: "there is a statue of Columbo in Budapest; in Romania, Columbo was so popular that when the show ended, the government asked Falk to video an address to the nation . . . "

Unlike most mysteries, you know who the murderer is. It shows the act plainly at the beginning. "It left the rest of the show not as a 'whodunnit' in the vein of Agatha Christie, but a 'howcatchem'" --- which is a little more difficult to write interestingly.

I've only seen the third episode, because it was directed by Steven Spielberg (and he overdid the camerawork, this being early in his career). But maybe I will check out a few more. It's free with ads on Amazon Prime.
 
I started watching a bunch of old shows randomly in the background last year on MeTV.

Columbo was one of them on Sundays at 8pm and I've actually been watching it on Sundays regularly for the last 6 months or so (although they recently bumped it down to 6pm and added Monk at 8pm).

"Murder by the Book" was directed by SS and it's listed as the very first episode of the series but I believe there were 2 pilots before that which would technically make it the third total.

After you'll get in a few more episodes with Peter Falk, you won't appreciate anyone more for these kind of shows.

Funny. Thoughtful. Extremely annoying. Very charming. He's really the best.
 
I'm a huge fan of Columbo and have the whole series on DVD. We carry the boxed set (along with the Blu-ray boxed set of Rockford Files) in our motorhome and when we can't get TV or streaming wherever we are for the night -- out come the discs. If you like Columbo, then you also need to check out the movies "Murder by Death" and "The Cheap Detective". Peter Falk does a great impression of Bogart in his most memorable detective roles, plus Casablanca. If you don't really know the old movies then you won't get the jokes and references, but if you do, I think they are pretty funny.
"
 
NorBro said:
"Murder by the Book" was directed by SS and it's listed as the very first episode of the series but I believe there were 2 pilots before that which would technically make it the third total.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I was going by Amazon's list, which has it as 3. "Murder by the Book" is Season 1, Episode 1. It's just that there was a 1968 TV movie, "Prescription: Murder", and then a 1971 pilot, "Ransom for a Dead Man". Thank you also for reminding me to check over-the-air TV. Cozi also has two episodes tonight.

Doug Jensen said:
you also need to check out the movies "Murder by Death" and "The Cheap Detective"
Click to expand...

I've seen one or both of those and enjoy the humor, which reminds me of Airplane. Well, they're both written by Neil Simon, who always made me laugh.

You are also the second person to mention The Rockford Files in connection with Columbo. I guess I should check that out too. I've enjoyed watching James Garner in the few things I've seen him in.
 
The production of this show was fascinating because it started in the early 70s (or late 60s if you view it like that) and ended in 2003.

There was an 11 year hiatus from '78 to '89 and then it wrapped in 2003.

I don't know of any other shows who have had the same character for 30+ years like that (maybe SOAPs?), but it's interesting to see the person/human, the acting, the writing - basically the world - change.

Picture late 1960s/early 1970s Peter Falk in modern culture 2003. [Maybe the last one wasn't filmed in that year and only broadcasted - I don't know for sure - but clearly it was a different world already even if it was 2002 or the late 90s.]

___

Fun fact: The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) in WWF/E played/wrestled as the same character for 30+ years. Longevity like no other.
 
Watched Colombo on a local over-the-air nostalgia channel during the pandemic lock down. Didn’t miss an episode. Read that Columbo’s raincoat is in the Smithsonian.
 
Last edited:
I love Columbo. There's something very relaxing about it.

But I also love the class element. He has a distinctly underclass vibe. small, crappy car. Rumpled suits. And people underestimate him because of it. The villains are often high class sociopaths. He triumphs with his intellect and determination. Evil is punished. Order is restored and virtue is rewarded. If only the real world were more like that. And, of course, he's a very unique and entertaining performer
 
DLD said:
What about the villains??? The murderers???
Click to expand...

There's no question -- Jack Cassidy was the best. He was the epitome of the rich, arrogant, villain and he co-starred in more than one episode. He was perfect. (BTW, father of David Cassidy and husband of Shirley Jones -- both of Partridge Family fame)
 
Doug Jensen said:
There's no question -- Jack Cassidy was the best. He was the epitome of the rich, arrogant, villain and he co-starred in more than one episode. He was perfect. (BTW, father of David Cassidy and husband of Shirley Jones -- both of Partridge Family fame)
Click to expand...

I was once in Shirley Jones's former home in Bel Air. It was then owned by a retired real estate developer. Not a huge pad but a great neighborhood.

And I still say Patrick McGoohan. He did it four times (or so I read). The second fave was Bill Shatner and his VCR.
 
DLD said:
Patrick McGoohan
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, he was King Edward the Longshanks in Braveheart. Also a bit of trivia via Wikipedia: he directed 5 episodes (including 3 of the 4 he was in). He also wrote and produced 2. I guess he liked Columbo too.

The second fave was Bill Shatner and his VCR.
Click to expand...

I watched the two episodes on TV tonight, thereby tripling the number I've seen in my life. The first starred Shatner but nothing about a VCR. Was that his first one, "Fade in to Murder" (season 6, episode 1)? The episode tonight was his other one, 18 years later, "Butterfly in Shades of Grey" (season 12, episode 2). He played a radio talk show host, so had many chances to do his signature vocal delivery.

I was thinking that one advantage of the inverted detective story (where you already know who the killer is) is how well it works with guest stars. If it were a regular whodunnit, then the audience naturally would suspect the famous guest. You would have to hire a bunch of them per episode, which might get too expensive.

And just to prove me wrong, the second episode was "Undercover" (season 12, episode 3), which was a whodunnit and had several guest stars:
  • Ed Begley Jr. I feel like I should know him for something better than St. Elsewhere, but that's where I saw him first.
  • Burt Young. At one point, another character said that he looked like that guy from Rocky. This was almost as cheesy as the scene between Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis in Ocean's 12.
  • Tyne Daly. I couldn't place her, but I could tell she was good. IMDB reminded me that she was Lacey in Cagney & Lacey.
  • Robert Donner. I didn't recognize him either but could tell he was experienced. IMDB lists him as a character actor in dozens of shows since the 60s, often westerns.
  • Shera Danese. This actress had a super-confident attitude, but I couldn't remember her either. IMDB revealed that she was married to Peter Falk from 1977 until his death. So we never meet the often-mentioned Mrs. Columbo, but in this episode we do meet Mrs. Falk (in fact she was in 6 episodes).
Coincidentally, before I saw this episode, I read the Wikipedia article on Columbo, which says that in one episode a frequent director, Vincent McEveety, gets somewhat of an homage because a character has his last name. This turned out to be that episode. Apparently he was an accomplished TV director, winning some awards. He also directed some of the Disney movies of the 1970s, like Million Dollar Duck and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, which I fondly remember watching as a kid.

A nice thing about these guest stars is, even though they're not as acclaimed as Sir Laurence Olivier or Meryl Streep, these are people who had been acting for decades. I'm a big believer in Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule, which says that success is more about getting tons and tons of experience than sheer talent. And so Columbo, especially an episode like "Undercover", just seem on a higher level, with so many high-quality actors.

Peter Falk himself was highly praised by Stephen Fry in the article: "One ought to take one's hat off to the extraordinary acting skills of Peter Falk. . . . It's a beautiful, brilliant performance. He becomes the character, but he never loses the kind of technique that he learned with his fellow young actors with John Cassavetes. And I think anyone who's ever tried film or television acting will just bow their head at the sheer skill, the concealed artistry. He’s so natural. There's such a warmth to it."
 
Last edited:
There was a fun quote by Peter Falk I just remembered: "Being chased by Columbo is like being nibbled to death by a duck."

Columbo and his "just one more thing" routine, where he actually gets to the important question:

https://youtu.be/T_d6_CdNEVA
 
combatentropy said:
... I watched the two episodes on TV tonight, thereby tripling the number I've seen in my life. The first starred Shatner but nothing about a VCR. Was that his first one, "Fade in to Murder" (season 6, episode 1)? The episode tonight was his other one, 18 years later, "Butterfly in Shades of Grey" (season 12, episode 2). He played a radio talk show host, so had many chances to do his signature vocal delivery.
Click to expand...

"Fade in to murder"

Highly-paid TV actor Ward Fowler, star of hit crime drama Detective Lucerne, is being blackmailed by studio exec Claire Daley, who knows his shady past as a Korean War deserter – a fact certain to ruin his career if it ever got out.

Fed up of paying Claire a large share of his super-salary, Fowler strikes back. He drugs his faithful assistant Mark (a recovering alcoholic), who has come round to watch the ball game. When Mark is out for the count, Fowler hits record on his state-of-the-art VCR (Google it, millennials) and busts a groove: destination MURDERVILLE.
Click to expand...

https://columbophile.com/2019/08/18/...-in-to-murder/

The original air date was October, 10th, 1976. VCR's were new then. And quite expensive too.

PS. And Falk was incredible. It was beyond mere acting.
 
The forumla is a clever one - the notion that you know who did it, before Columbo and then you watch him chip away at it really works and maybe is why it dates so well. A scruffy police officer who is always so polite - but shows up the rich and powerful by parking his wreck of a car next to the Farris and Rolls Royces. Great viewing.
 
I have gradually over the past few years grown to love Columbo. He is the antithesis of today's fast past CSI detective shows. It's very calming watching Columbo slowly plot along wearing down the murderer. The only episodes I would avoid watching are the later seasons when they tried to revive it in the 80's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top