Columbo TV show - which DVD set is best?

The 'ME-TV' cable channel is discontinuing 'Columbo'. I see that at Amazon there are three different editions of the DVD sets featuring the complete series. Please recommend one with the best picture and sound. Thank you.

 

All DVD releases of Columbo have the same exact sound and picture quality. I would recommend purchasing the 2012 complete series DVD set since it comes with each season’s own separate case. The 2018 release comes in two of those ridiculous clamshell cases with the discs stacked on top of each other. It’s a real headache if you’re searching for a particular episode to watch since the discs aren’t labeled by episode, just by season. Avoid this release if you can.

You can go to YouTube and search “Columbo Complete Series DVD Unboxing” for a video comparison between the two sets. The 2012 set is now OOP, but you can find new copies and used ones in decent condition on eBay. Columbo is an outstanding series!

 

On the cover of the 2012 edition you recommend, does it display 'Columbo' with its letters turned 90° and six stills immediately to the right to it?

 

I think that the inside of each case (the reverse of the outer labeling) does have an episode listing; I may be incorrect about that.

 

Buy this one:

Avoid this one:

 

Thanks for y'all's input and advice. I watched a YouTube unboxing and decided to get this set from eBay seller 'cellusa' Columbo: The Complete Series DVD 34-Disc Box Set | eBay

This is the unboxing video I watched that sold me on the set. https://youtu.be/XRuTn55_Nmo

 

I always loved the gist of the series...

 

MeTV killed Columbo a long time before they "discontinued" it by showing only 80s and 90s episodes. What's going to replace it? More Matlock?

 

I hope you’re enjoying your new Columbo DVD set, Joy-of-radio!

 

I wish they included this on the DVD's

 

I'm up to the end of season 5 on the set. Are the later ones worth watching at all? I'm hearing that they're pretty weak.

 

I

We’ve had it for a week and still haven’t opened it, but now that Christmas shopping is out of the way, we’re gonna relax and begin watching tomorrow before we switch to MeTv for our Monk fix.

By the way, I was so pleased with the seller’s effort in making certain we got the set in great shape. The seller placed sturdy plastic reinforcements on the corners of the set before packing it securely in an outer carton.

 

That’s great! I bought the 2018 release with the two large plastic clamshell cases from Amazon and grew so frustrated with the poor packaging and lack of organization of that set that I ended up donating it to my local library. I then purchased the 2012 release in ‘very good’ used condition on eBay and couldn’t be happier with it.

 

They're worth watching. Possibly not worth watching as often as the original run - some clinkers, but some are very good.

A site that has been reviewing every episode, not in order, with some behind the scenes stories and explanations:
THE COLUMBOPHILE

He is not finished and is in a temporary (hopefully) hiatus.

COZI TV is still running two episodes every Saturday night. Possibly they outbid MeTV to shut them out.

 

That’s the set to own and I had that, but wish I had seen your post sooner. This is my favorite show so I splurged and got the blu-ray set in the “cigar box.” It’s a beautiful set! Some of the eps have a little more material and the upgrade to the video is significant, though the one you got is very decent for standard dvd. The blu-ray also cones with a very nice book discussing the eps, and another book that is the script for the very first episode, though that’s a tricky one since it’s all in Japanese!

I disagree with those that feel they got worse towards the end. There were always a few clunkers with great eps around them, and imo that was the same in the 80’s. I would say the last ywo were down right awful, however. ABC made him work with a director where they tried to bring in elements to get younger people to watch. Networks never seem to learn! Fooling with the tried and true formula was foolish and it obviously didn’t work.

By the way, there is a new book out where the author did amazing research on all the episodes, and lots of juicy gossip that seems to always be a factor on a long series. Peter was apparently very difficult for the networks to deal with, demanding many takes and causing major over runs in production costs. ABC kinda just let it die off at the end, though it really was never officially cancelled. By the time they got a decent script together after the terrible Murder With Too Many Notes, he was approaching 80 and between that and his demanding nature, they wouldn’t approve it.

Enjoy your box set! Lots of episodes in there that stand up to repeated viewings. When you realize you are watching mainly to be entertained by Falk, it almost doesn’t matter what ep you watch, it’s like inviting a good friend into your home!

 

MeTV ran the 70s episodes for years. Four or five years ago, they acquired the 90s episode and the 70s episodes went to COZI (Columbo and COZI are owned by Universal). After a year or two, they swapped, with MeTV getting the 70s episodes back and the revival going to COZI. MeTV last ran the 70s episodes a few weeks ago; COZI will have the entire series starting in the new year. MeTV wanted to keep it but they didn’t have the option to renew.

 

A friend of mine purchased the Japan Columbo Blu-ray set while it was marked down to $145.00 earlier this year during a Chinese New Year sale on Amazon Japan. It's usually priced around $375.00. I created an account on there and added it to my cart. Now all I have to do is wait for the next Chinese New Year on February 1st, 2022 to see if it's discounted again. Even though I'm a huge Columbo fan, I just can't justify pulling the trigger on this set for the standard price of close to four hundred dollars. Although, I often do try.

 

Yes, the Blue Ray set is very handsome. I wish, as I'm certain others here do, that an English edition were issued domestically. I don't understand why DVDs are still so heavily marketed when Blue Ray is so obviously superior. I especially like that format because vastly more material can fit on one disc. DVD sets greedily gobble up shelf space! And it's not as if Blue Ray players are expensive or difficult to get; I bought mine from Walmart for under $100.

 

Yup, that’s the Holy Grail. A wonderful set! I got lucky and a forum member sold one here a few years ago which is how I got mine, and I think I still paid around $300 but it was worth every penny. I was curious and checked eBay last night; I think there was one for $289 or less…I think it was used but that really doesn’t matter imo. Highly recommended to any fans.

 

I film children’s theater shows and do photography for them as well, and we offer both. Believe it or not, a lot of people still don’t have bluray players. Though it’s jumped up the last two years, we are still selling more standard discs than bluray. And some people no longer have any dvd player so we’re getting pressure to offer streaming. Yuck! They did issue, in another region, season one on bluray but I think that’s as far as it got. Which to me says it just didn’t sell. Like the I Love Lucy bluray sets…CBS stopped after season 2…just not enough sales. I bet Columbo is a pretty niche show now, but it’s my favorite! There is another thread on here where some of us discussed episodes.

 

Opinion of course, but if the DVD format if still more popular and profitable, it can only mean that most people have skipped Blue Ray in lieu of streaming, which I find alarming! As an aside, and again my opinion, observations that phonograph records are supposedly outselling compact discs simply means that the vast majority of people purchase neither. They stream. I predicted this would happen years ago! This is why I buy physical media and downloads. One more aside; Those who repeatedly say digital downloads have no intrinsic value are silly!

 

Wow that's WAY too expensive for me, the Blu-ray set. Never even knew of it, I have the complete series DVD set pictured above.
I'd buy season 1 if they released that in the U.S. on Blu-ray cheap enough. Best season, esp. love the first two pilots with it in the DVD set, my favorite episodes.

 

Sundance is also showing Columbo early Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

 

Is the picture quality that much better on blu ray and why do the Japanese get this on blu ray but we in the U.S. don't?

 

It's on the Canadian editions.