Mrs. Columbo

What idiot came up with this spin off? Hats off to Peter Falk for denouncing this mess.

With Falks blessings, this may have worked if Cloris Leachman had been available for the part and get rid of the plucky little daughter. I believe Cloris and the Dog would have worked well together.

Hi, I absolutely love watching Columbo it's been a family favourite for years. I love the character and the epsiodes are watchable again and again.

Now like everyone I always hoped to see Mrs Columbo, mainly out of curosity.

I have bought the Fith Season on DVD today and in that is a Mrs Columbo episode. I had no idea a series - spin-off from Columbo was ever made. I was at first glance a bit shocked as she is nothing like the Mrs Columbo I imagined. I didn't really think she would be old but older and more homely looking. The Mrs Columbo I have watched was average to below average. It is not on the same level as Columbo series. I actually found it really odd the way they make her come across like a female columbo as it doesn't really work. I know people pick-up each others characteristics of their husband/wife but this was just really odd.

She also gave no clue in that she was onto the person. It was really odd. At least you could see things ticking over in Columbo's face and going along with things. With this episode of Mrs Columbo it seemed really far-fetched.

It just didn't gel to me or come across as being realistic.

I actually think although people were curious, after so many episodes of Columbo it should have remained that Mrs C never appeared and everyone then kept their view of Mrs C or at least what feels like it's realistic enough to be.

Overall, I won't be going in search of the Mrs C series but as far as the Columbo series - they still rock!

Although I am not going to spend the whole review comparing, I have to say Mrs Columbo is a real disappointment of a spin-off series. And this is coming from a big fan of the classic Columbo series with Peter Falk. As much as I did like the idea, it was one that didn't work out. I liked how the episodes looked, they are well shot and the production values are lovely, the music is often delightful and I like the quickly edited opening sequences. Against all this, I find Mrs Columbo herself annoying and not very easy to relate to. Also Kate Mulgrew does have a charming appearance, perhaps too charming, but she does overdo it a lot. It doesn't help that the writing is so forced, the pace often dull and the stories in general thin and formulaic. And while there are some great actors and decent guest stars, the stories, with a lack of realism in abundance one too many times, and writing let them down. All in all, a series I wanted to like but it doesn't work. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Sorry, but this show didn't work at all, and a '2' is a generous vote. If you watch enough "Columbo", any time he is on the phone with her, she is given as a homemaker, not a reporter, and on top of that, she's not very bright. On "An Exercise in Fatality", she calls him at the office of the killer, and they discuss what to cook for the family guests for dinner. He then tells her what to do, i.e. call the Chinese restaurant, make the order and he would get it after work on the way home. Does that honestly sound like she has the wherewithal to find the answer to some caper? Not in my opinion, and I'm sure a majority of the readers of this would have to agree. She's just not that intelligent!

"Mrs. Columbo" tries to make connections with the famous Peter Falk series in its opening titles, but it's unlikely the star if this series is the unseen wife Lt. Columbo always talks about (though the Lieutenant's chatter may be mere persiflage).

While sharing the "Columbo" backward way of telling the story by showing the murder first, it lacks the original series' splendid writing and sense of irony.

Furthermore, it lacks that endearing annoyance in Columbo that makes the viewer want to see the culprit punch him out. In a nice way.

I like to see detective stories where there is some reason for the detective to be there (as in Columbo being a policeman). Or in a sister show, "Ellery Queen," where Queen's father is a police inspector. The "Murder She Wrote" sort of show where amateur sleuths run into murders wherever they go interest me less.

"Mrs. Columbo" being a newspaper reporter (remember newspapers?) running into crime is a good idea for a series but not this one. I wonder how it would play with an internet troll in this day when newspapers and TV news both are so unreliable? It might be an international show.

In real life, a Lt. Columbo would have to be married to a shrewd woman, able to solve mysteries on her own, if lacking the gumption to join the cops herself. But Kate Mulgrew is an annoying actress, not a likeable Peter Falk type who plays a character with annoying qualities. As with Angela Lansbury, her very voice sets my teeth on edge. Like chalk on a blackboard. But that's a personal observation.

BTW, the cast list includes Henry Jones. He was a great supporting actor, if a little long in the tooth by the time this series came along.