Any love for Columbo?

Peter Falk did an amazing job with this character. Keeping in mind that the school of thought used was reversed when compared to the traditional whodunnit, I do think that they did an excellent job working around that component.

 

Spielberg has said in interviews he's very embarrassed by his early TV shows, particularly the Columbo and the Night Gallery, because he was showing off too many cool camera angles and not just telling the story. I don't mind it, and to me, it livened up the usual kind of early-1970s television. Spielberg's Name of the Game episode ("LA 2017") was also really, really interesting.

The great thing about Columbo to me was just the genius of the format, particularly (as I said before) the smug, arrogant, usually-wealthy villain who always underestimated the rumpled detective. I can remember a few later episodes where the handcuffed villain would taunt Columbo as he was being carted away, saying, "no jury will ever convict me! There's no proof!" And Columbo would shrug and basically say, "we'll see if justice is blind this time or not." In some cases, they kinda left you hanging, because you'd realize that although the cop got the guy, it really might not hold up in court. But eh, it's a 1-hour TV show, so great depth is kind of beyond what they can do. Still, I was impressed that not all the shows are wrapped up nice and neat.

 

Thanks! Just wanted to share this.

Columbo fans, this is a very good read: Bat, Bean, Beam: 21 theses about Columbo

Don't miss the photo gallery (at the end) of villains at the very moment when they realize they've been punked by Columbo. The very last photo of Cassavettes is pure gold.

 

Excellent...thanks for sharing. I don't know why, but as an owner of the box set DVD I average an episode a week, even though I know almost every line. It's the only show I have out of a ton of box sets that I can watch repeatedly. And luckily I enjoy the newer shows as much as the older. As the article states, they weren't all perfect. There are at least 20 eps I don't ever watch; they are just too slow or uninteresting. But the one's that are good are quite so. Glad to see the thread reopened. Now, where is the blu-ray set for the US?

 

My wife and I love Columbo. It is fun to watch the first season. The personality of Columbo's character is just starting to be developed. All the nuances of his hand gestures and facial expressions are still a little stiff. Season two is when he really took off.

 

I consider Columbo one of the best television series ever made. Great writing, a formula that worked, good acting (some top level guest stars over the years), beautiful set pieces, and perhaps the greatest lead character in the history of television. Peter Falk perfected the Columbo character early in the series, which makes for some entertaining detective work. I love the fact that he is always the smartest guy in the room, and brilliantly disguises his discernment with his forgetful and bumbling schtick. I own all of the seasons on dvd, and visit them frequently.

 

Always loved Columbo... still do. If I come across it on TV, I'm generally glued until the end of the show. Especially if John Cassavetes is the killer

When I was a kid, the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie was regular family viewing at our house. But 'McMillan & Wife' and 'McCloud' have not aged as well for some reason.

I once worked with a former TV writer who had been trying to make a career of it in L.A. around the time that Columbo was in its early years. I've always remembered how he described Columbo as a top-tier gig for television writers.

Awhile ago, I noticed in Wikipedia that there is actually a name for the Columbo story format: an Inverted Detective Story — AKA a "howcatchem" (vs whodunnit). "Dial M For Murder" is an earlier well-known example of the format.

Inverted detective story - Wikipedia

 

I like the show and Falk,and regularly catch it on Sunday afternoons on 5USA channel.
But what sometimes irks me is that 5 minutes after the murder, [before any real evidence is put together] he knows/suspects who the killer is.
You'd think sometimes he'd be wrong!

 

Just as Jim Rockford is TV's gretest private eye, Columbo is TV's greatest detective, the one with a legit claim to sit in the shade with Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Nero Wolfe.

William Link has cited the detective in Crime And Punishment as a key influence on Columbo. As far as I know he's never cited Charlie Chan, but I see a definite resemblance, especially in the politeness. I'd also mention two James M. Cain novels, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, which are inverted mysteries with respectively a District Attorney and an insurance investigator pursuing the killers. Tha latter as played by Edwatd G. Robinson in the 1944 film version is especially Columbo-like: he makes brilliant deductions but can never remember to carry matches for his cigars.

As for specific episodes, I'm not a big fan of the Johnny Cash. He's not arrogant or condescending, and he comes from a working class background so there's no class conflict of Columbo being underestimated by the snobs -- an integral part of the show.

"Murder By The Book", the Spielberg, is an excellent episode but IMHO Jack Cassidy is kind of wasted in a part pretty much any leading man could have played. I think he is used to much better advantage in "Publish or Perish", where he murders Mickey Spillane.

My favorite episode is probably "A Friend In Need", where Coulmbo takes on the Police Commissioner (okay, technically he's the deputy PC -- but I'm sure that was just for legal reasons; to me he will always be the PC).

 

My dad likes the show a lot.

 

Columbo, and Peter Falk, a perfect match. One of my all time favorite shows ever!

 

Rod Stewart named a album title after the tv show.
A old raincoat will never let you Down".

 

The John Cassavetes episode is a real favorite. The arrogance is there for sure, but he played this villain's subtlety and passion that is still amazing to watch today -great acting. This episode was also one of the few where the murderer expressed admiration for Columbo (another is the great "Any Old Port in the Storm").

I wonder why Falk's friend, Ben Gazzara, never played a villain on Columbo? That could have been great.

 

Some of the actors playing the murderers really bring their A game to the episode they're in, and she's one of them. Oskar Werner is another... and McGoohan of course... William Shatner, if he has such a thing as an A game... and Roddy McDowall, although he could be accused of being borderline hammy.

Others (I'm looking at you, Dick Van Dyke) seem to just turn up and act like a lump of wood.

 

Dick's acting was not revelatory, but that episode is still a favorite of mine. I liked how he admitted to his wife that he may not get away with the murder, but it was worth it just to be rid of her (his wife's shrew-ness was well written).

 

They just don't show all the cases he gets wrong

Seriously though, often the murderers put their foot right in it from the start.

 

Anyone noticed how so good and fine is the scene in Swan Song - the entry with Johnny Cash as the murderer - where elegant and clean Inspector Pangborn, from the Civil Aviation department (or something), does his suave expertise to the TV camera crew while Columbo is in the back among the crashed plane rubble doing the real work? It works on a few different levels simultaneously and is pricelessly funny! The interplay between the two is well written and intelligently "non-polarized"...

Columbo is not doing any noise to screw everything up while he's in the back.... It's just his silent and inquisitory presence which drives Pangborn crazy with curiosity while he tries to give his interview!

 

phenomenal tv.
no question.

 

"Columbo Cries Wolf".

 

My favorites are in no particular order:

"Columbo Cries Wolf" where the formula is broken.

Donald Pleasance in the winery.

Leonard Nimoy with the stitches.

Robert Culp and the subliminal tape.

"Columbo Likes The Nightlife" the very last one with the fish in the tanks in the nightclub.

 

This one is a textbook example of how good it is for the dynamic of the show when the murderer and Columbo are (sincerely) sympathetic to one another.

The final scene, once Carsini is arrested and driven off by Columbo, who then proceeds to present him, as a farewell gift, with a fine bottle of dessert wine... How Carsini receives and tastes the gift with that solemnity and aristocratic appreciation, before going to jail for an eternity, always sends shivers down my spine!

Something about those very old episodes (early 70s) that is not just classy but "classical" in a way. I can't explain it... Like Greek tragedy perhaps...

 

Another great scene in that episode is when Carsini berates the matre de for sitting Columbo at the crappy table. He really likes Columbo and doesn't want him treated with disrespect.

 

Yeah! The maître d' is an Italian guy who did two or three other fantastically creative roles in the series. Now I didn't research who is the actor playing the wine waiter, but let me tell you that they both are terrific at improvising this pseudo-French gibberish at the end of this scene, after the scandal over the oxidized wine! I suppose the wine waiter looking like Serge Gainsbourg must have been a plus for the role!