Columbo

COLUMBO WHAT IS IT ABOUT: This American detective show from the 1970s stars Peter Falk as the unique Lieutenant Columbo, an LAPD homicide cop. Despite being a scruffy looking, forgetful guy, Columbo always manages to track down his killer. The show was always more than an hour long, and half were 90 minutes, giving an almost movie depth to each episode. IS IT ANY GOOD: I love this show, and would watch it regularly if it wasn't for my 'anti Columbo' wife. The show works because of a couple of elements that set it apart from other detective TV: 1) The inverted detective plot - Columbo episodes start with the audience seeing the crime ...  Read the complete review

Columbo is an American detective drama series starring Peter Falk as Lt Columbo, homicide detective with the LAPD. The character first appeared on The Chevy Mystery Show in one episide in 1960, and then on stage as a play in the early 1960s before Falk starred as Columbo in the TV series of the same name, which ended up being aired from the TV movie in 1968, until the last episode in 2003. There was no continuous filming from 1978 through to 2003, it became sporadic and the episodes less frequent. Columbo is perhaps better known as a TV series taking a different stance on the crime. Each episode would reveal the crime and the killer, as well as how it was ...  Read the complete review

The TV show "Columbo", was the creation of William Link and Richard Levinson. Peter Falk became a legend playing the leading role as a Los Angeles police lieutenant, cigar in hand, dressed in his scruffy raincoat, driving his clapped out Peugeot and sometimes accompanied by his dopey dog. Working in the homicide department he always knew who the killer was right from the beginning and the viewer was always let in on his secret. This was revolutionary in detective series at the time. The shambling sleuth would persevere till the end, pestering the suspect until the vital missing clue would turn up or the suspect would trip up as s/he was led into a ...  Read the complete review

Columbo broke the mould of TV cop shows in that it wasn't a whodunnit - you knew whodunnit, and how, right from the start. This was refreshingly honest - other shows tried to keep you guessing, even though you always knew that the murderer was going to turn out to be the big guest star. After all, you don't hire Leonard Nimoy or Patrick McGoohan for a bit part! Columbo was more of a provewhodunnit, as Columbo latched onto the killer immediately (sometimes for no apparent reason - possibly one weak spot in the show) and then pursued him or her like a cat playing with a mouse, trying to break their alibi or trip them up. It's said there's no ...  Read the complete review

What I liked about Columbo was it wasn't the traditional 'whodunnit' you always knew 'whodunnit' at the beginning of the programme. Instead it focused on the more psycological aspects of crime. Columbo put across this persona of a shabbily dressed, disorganised and forgetful person. The murderer thinks with this 'idiot' on the case I've got away with it and so they are lulled into a false sense of security. They invariably slip up. Often they got over confident and tried to lead Columbo to a false conclusion. Columbo was however in reality a clever, sharp and insightful man. He carefully noted the smallest detail and skillfully played ...  Read the complete review