COLUMBO
Created | Updated Dec 8, 2002
COLOMBO
My favourite detective has to be COLUMBO
The first one (Prescription Murder) being aired on February 20, 1968,and after thirty years in the making there are still new ones in the pipeline
Like most shows, Columbo had a set formula, a pattern each episode followed, that was at least partially responsible for the shows success. Unlike most detective shows, Columbo was never a whodunit. At the beginning of each film we saw the murderer carefully execute his plan. Already knowing who was responsible, we were left to derive our enjoyment from the battle of wits that would follow.
"Columbo"(created by William Link and Richard Levinson and portrayed by Peter Falk,) was a Los Angeles police lieutenant working in Homicide. He solved his by carefully analysing even the tiniest of clues, and gave his intended victim the impression that he was inept and clueless and not worthy of the case and that it was only a mater of time before the murderer was in the clear, but COLUMBO never minded what they thought and new that as long as they thought he was no threat that they would let there guard down sooner rather than later.
Colombo?s "just one more thing..." questions. These were always the ones that would eventually trip the killer up. Presented as almost an afterthought by Columbo, they almost always caught their victim off guard.
His shabby looks, old rain coat and battered old car added to the illusion that he was only there because he HAD to be, and that he was not interested in the case, but just interested in he pay cheque at the end of the month
Everybody loves "Columbo" (well I do) while it had its share of poor episodes; on balance it was one of the best-plotted crime series ever made for television. It was also almost unique in using the open book style of mystery, where the viewer actually sees the murder taking place at the very start of the episode. Columbo generally enters the story about fifteen minutes into the plot and it's then a hunt as with our privileged position we see him begin to suspect the right person and then to nail him or her down steadily and inexorably and often brilliantly.
The best-known episodes of "Columbo", and arguably simply the best episodes, were the ones produced for Universal City Studios between 1971 and 1978. These were produced in what broadcast network NBC called a wheel: "Columbo" rotated in its slot with, variously, episodes of "McCloud", McMillan and Wife and other shows. This meant that "Columbo" was actually only on once a month and appeared almost as a TV movie rather than an episodic television series
My favourite detective has to be COLUMBO
The first one (Prescription Murder) being aired on February 20, 1968,and after thirty years in the making there are still new ones in the pipeline
Like most shows, Columbo had a set formula, a pattern each episode followed, that was at least partially responsible for the shows success. Unlike most detective shows, Columbo was never a whodunit. At the beginning of each film we saw the murderer carefully execute his plan. Already knowing who was responsible, we were left to derive our enjoyment from the battle of wits that would follow.
"Columbo"(created by William Link and Richard Levinson and portrayed by Peter Falk,) was a Los Angeles police lieutenant working in Homicide. He solved his by carefully analysing even the tiniest of clues, and gave his intended victim the impression that he was inept and clueless and not worthy of the case and that it was only a mater of time before the murderer was in the clear, but COLUMBO never minded what they thought and new that as long as they thought he was no threat that they would let there guard down sooner rather than later.
Colombo?s "just one more thing..." questions. These were always the ones that would eventually trip the killer up. Presented as almost an afterthought by Columbo, they almost always caught their victim off guard.
His shabby looks, old rain coat and battered old car added to the illusion that he was only there because he HAD to be, and that he was not interested in the case, but just interested in he pay cheque at the end of the month
Everybody loves "Columbo" (well I do) while it had its share of poor episodes; on balance it was one of the best-plotted crime series ever made for television. It was also almost unique in using the open book style of mystery, where the viewer actually sees the murder taking place at the very start of the episode. Columbo generally enters the story about fifteen minutes into the plot and it's then a hunt as with our privileged position we see him begin to suspect the right person and then to nail him or her down steadily and inexorably and often brilliantly.
The best-known episodes of "Columbo", and arguably simply the best episodes, were the ones produced for Universal City Studios between 1971 and 1978. These were produced in what broadcast network NBC called a wheel: "Columbo" rotated in its slot with, variously, episodes of "McCloud", McMillan and Wife and other shows. This meant that "Columbo" was actually only on once a month and appeared almost as a TV movie rather than an episodic television series
