Columbo

[Levin]

I've been watching Columbo from the beginning. I couldn't stand it when I was a child and my mum liked watching it. But I get it now.

I've just got to season 8, the one after the 11 year gap. There is a bit of a change in tone.

[MsD]

I have the boxset, which I recommend, but the earlier series are far superior.

[Cal Alamein]

Geez, had no idea there was a season 8 - figured it lasted 4-5 seasons.

[MsD]

Goes up to 10, baby. I think the last one is Columbo Likes the Nightlife, where he investigates a nightclub murder.

[RobM]

Loved Peter Falk's autobiography, really just a series of anecdotes and tallish tales with no chronological order or anything tedious like that.

On going for his military draft eye test -


'Right cover your right eye and read from the chart' -

'D,F,Q,S,U'.

'Very good, cover the left eye and read the next line'.

'That one doesn't work'.

'Just do your best'.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I think the best ones are the ones where Patrick McGoohan is the baddie. He did four of them I think.

[Sporting]

This is quite a nifty website:

https://columbophile.com/

[Levin]

McGoohan also directed and wrote some episodes. I like that there was a core of people they obviously enjoyed working with.

[johnr]

Two weeks ago I watched the one where two identical twins - played by Martin Landau - were both in the frame for the murder. It's the only episode I can think of where the actual murderer isn't identified in the opening scenes. Made for a different experience, and kept me guessing - wrongly, as it turned out - right to the very end.

[Snake Plissken]

I spotted in a listing for one that had Billy Connolly in it. I thought it was a bit incongruous, but then I thought "it's Billy Connolly. If he's asked to be in a Columbo episode, of course he's going to say yes!"

[Sporting]

I spotted in a listing for one that had Billy Connolly in it. I thought it was a bit incongruous, but then I thought "it's Billy Connolly. If he's asked to be in a Columbo episode, of course he's going to say yes!"

[Benjm]

I'm another later life convert to Columbo, having found it boring as a child/teen.

The revival episodes from 1989 onwards aren't as good as the original run but that is a high bar. Falk's performances slightly edge into being his own tribute act later on. There were only 69 episodes altogether, which is a modest total given the character's enduring fame. By comparison, the original and rebooted Hawaii Five-Os racked up 279 and 240 respectively. The scarcity value and running time give each Columbo the feeling of an event.

Columbo Likes The Nightlife is more watchable than the acid house episode of Inspector Morse.

[MsD]

"DRUGS, Lewis."

[Benjm]

"Nish, clish, bangin', Chief Inspector."

[Sits]

If/when this thread goes quiet, what’s the minimum dormancy period permitted before someone makes a post beginning “Just one more thing”?

[Gangster Octopus]

If you want to get sick of Columbo, then just leave Freeview 21 on every Sunday...

[Paul S]

I've always liked Columbo and what I found really good was that they showed you the murder at the beginning and then you watched Columbo work it out. All so very different from normal detective shows where they like to keep it a secret until the end.

[Mockswing]

Anyone find it annoying though when the show doesn’t tell you how he worked out who the murderer was? Some episodes did but some didn’t.

For instance, the episode where the Magician committed the murder, Columbia basically walks into the crime scene & says right away that it was the Magician, but then we’re never told how he deduced that.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I've always liked Columbo and what I found really good was that they showed you the murder at the beginning and then you watched Columbo work it out. All so very different from normal detective shows where they like to keep it a secret until the end.

It was even more subtle than that though, you could tell Columbo knew who was a wrong 'un right from the off, the rest was just him finding the one piece of evidence that would trip them up. More often than not with their unknowing assistance.

[Benjm]

Warning: Columbo has special powers. Viewers in front line policing roles are not recommended to decide guilt based upon a gut feeling then cast around for whatever evidence they can find to back that up.

[MsD]

We talked about Colombo on here before, and we generally agreed that the Mrs Columbo spin-off was shite, and I posted a link to an artist friend's page where he recreated scenes from the show.

[Stumpy Pepys]

You can usually find it somewhere on German TV. The (dubbed) dialogue's so fast though, I can't relax and enjoy it.

[MsD]

Get the boxset! You’ll always have something to watch.

[Levin]

I'm really struggling with the newer episodes.

There is a lack of tension. It's much cosier, more Murder She Wrote.

And there are too many callbacks, Easter eggs and repetitions. Things would repeat but in different ways in the past. Now it's word for word.

I think the main problem is that it knows it's an episode of Columbo, and it tells you it knows it's an episode of Columbo.

[Satchmo Distel]

Warning: Columbo has special powers. Viewers in front line policing roles are not recommended to decide guilt based upon a gut feeling then cast around for whatever evidence they can find to back that up.

I always assumed that he was questioning other suspects the same way in the background before narrowing it down, but I could have been wrong about that.