Columbo

Everything about the show is dated (set in the 70's). Very few details would survive strict legal analysis. Even the suspects behavior/participation in the investigation would be highly doubtful, but then there's the charm of Peter Falk's character and the Agatha Christie type crime involved.

The "perfect" crime is committed at the very beginning for the audience to see. Then the bumbling detective arrives on the scene to be under-estimated by the brilliant/sophisticated murderer. The murderer, anxious to help Columbo follow the false clues that have been created, slowly work themselves into a corner as the detective pokes holes in the perfect crime, and that's when Columbo lowers the boom.

Some cases are a bit more logical than others, some solutions are more viable, but the real point is if you enjoy the charms of Lt. Columbo and the process he uses to solve the case, then you'll enjoy watching these shows. I rec 1971 to 1978 episodes.

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.

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

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.

... in that it commands your attention from beginning to end or else you will be missing some vital clue. In the first 15-20 minutes the crime as far as method and motivation is set up. The perp is almost always a well-off person who doesn't want to be less well off because of the threats or actions of the victim. Sometimes it's a husband who just wants rid of his wife without losing any money in the settlement, and other times it's a person with which you can truly sympathize. In each case, the perp knows that they'll at least be one of the suspects, so they come up with a very clever often elaborate plan. The crime is never just a run of the mill street crime/murder.

If it was the result of a street crime, there wouldn't be any need for Lt. Columbo, the most poorly groomed, most annoying, and most clever homicide detective in the history of the world. He's not annoying to anyone but the perp because he's always coming back to ask "just one more thing" pertaining to some detail he's picked up on. Besides gradually driving the murderer crazy with his tangents and questions to the point where they are counting Columbo's in their sleep rather than sheep, he goes off on lengthy amusing tangents (amusing if you are not the suspect) about his home life and his wife, who never actually pops up on the show.

Columbo ran in two parts - In the 1970s as part of the Sunday Night Mystery Movie that rotated with several other crime solving franchises, and in the 1990s. I never cared for the 1990s episodes. They were too Hollywoodized and too glamorized with often some sensational or licentious aspect. Columbo is very much a creature of the 1970s.

If you can dedicate 90 minutes to watching an episode I highly recommend it. But if you are so addicted to your phone that you can't put it down that long, go find some Netflix movie to watch that was made with people of short attention spans in mind.