Columbo

I am a huge fan of detective series- Inspector Morse(my favourite), Agatha Christie:Poirot, Murder She Wrote, New Tricks, Monk, Ellery Queen, A Touch of Frost and Taggart are all wonderful, but I can't not mention Columbo.

Columbo is sophisticated, funny and clever, and is quite simply one of the best detective series ever. It does show who does it a vast majority of the time, so the viewer knows who's the murderer before Columbo does, like on Monk and sometimes on Diagnosis Murder as well. But the real fun is Columbo investigating why the crime was committed, how it was committed and of course the exchanges between him and the suspects.

Columbo is well filmed, with nice photography and interesting locations. The stories are involving and well paced, the murders and motives are calculating, the scripts are intelligent with some humour in them(the quintessential "just one more thing" and anything to do with Mrs. Columbo), the music is cleverly composed and the direction is strong. I can't fault the acting either- Peter Falk is simply brilliant as the dishevelled, cigar-smoking, dog-eared Columbo, a detective who has a brilliant mind and is endearing in his own way. Morse, Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher and Poirot are very like that as well. And there have been many memorable guest stars, Dick Van Dyke, Nicol Williamson, Gene Barry, Jack Cassidy, Robert Culp, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick McGoohan, Ray Milland, Rip Torn and George Hamilton are just a few of these memorable guests.

Overall, one brilliant detective series, clever with a great central performance. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Columbo is definitely the greatest and most legendary TV detective of all time. My Mum passed on her love of this series to me when I was a child and we have been watching it together ever since. As well as the brilliant stories written for this show, I have to say that it's Peter Falk who makes this series so phenomenal. With his dashing good looks and kind, gentle manly voice, he just gets you transfixed as soon as he appears on the screen. I think he was a very underrated actor indeed. It was so sad to hear of Peter's tragic death but he'll live on in my heart forever as he was a wonderful part of my childhood. Anyone who loves a good crime solving series, you can't beat Columbo.

I just purchased the complete series DVDs and have begun watching. I had forgotten what a great show this is. It's quite interesting to watch as Falk develops the character over time into the iconic Columbo we all remember. In the earliest shows he not as much the sly and subtle adversary lulling the suspect into feeling he can evade justice by outsmarting him.

The "how's he going to nail him" rather whodunit approach also makes the show more watchable multiple times than many mysteries where if you remember the culprit it spoils things. It's a lot more difficult to remember how he figure it out and confronted the killer than it is with other shows to remember who did it.

For most of the 1970s I was married, living in the New Orleans area, and raising five young children. "Columbo" is one of the TV shows that we enjoyed. Now I am able to re-watch the series in 2024, streaming on Peacock, starting with Season 1, Episode 1, running 1 hour 15 minutes. I don't recall the schedule clearly but that must have taken up a 90-minute time slot with only about 15 minutes of commercials.

Peter Falk makes the show, with his low-keyed quirkiness. He is Los Angeles police department Detective Columbo. His signature looks are an old, beat-up car and a wrinkled tan all-weather coat, the kinds most of us professionals wore back then, with a zip-out lining. I wore one to work for years and it looked about as beat-up as his. In fact, I still have one hanging in my coat closet!

His signature characteristic is to complete a discussion with a suspect, then start to walk away, only to stop and ask, "One more thing...".

The shows were done in the style where we, the viewers, witnessed the murder within the first few minutes, then Columbo would show up and the rest of the show was to see how he would gather clues and solve the crime.

Interestingly the very first episode was directed by a 24-yr-old Steven Spielberg.

The late Peter Falk helped create one of the greatest ever TV characters in Columbo. However, credit too must go to the scriptwriters & all concerned in the production. Falk's seemingly dithering, fumbling & slightly absent-minded detective masking a razor-sharp brain was the real charm of the character. Add to this the humour that was introduced into some of the very well-written stories, all made for a great show. My favourite humorous moment of all was when he entered a mission for down-and-outs in Los Angeles to interview a witness. In the mission run by nuns he was attended by actress Joyce Van Patten. Seeing his shabby raincoat she naturally wanted to find him a new one, thinking he was down on his luck. After a small protest the sister dismissed it & said, "All are welcome here!.". Endearingly embarrassed as only Columbo as acted by Falk could be, he informed her he was in fact a police detective. The sister then thought, naturally, that he had gone undercover, dressed accordingly & praised his scruffy appearance. "How clever of you!" she concluded. Absolutely priceless scriptwriting!!!. There were many other great comedy asides, usually involving his poorly paid job, but this one I mention was really brilliant. Thank god, despite Peter Falk's death we still have so many great Columbo's to enjoy.