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Columbo is the most iconic TV detective of all time. Club. With so many new series popping up on streaming services and DVD, it gets harder and harder to keep up with new shows, much less the all- time classics. With TV Club 1. 0, we point you toward the 1. TV series, classic or modern. If you watch these 1. These are not meant to be the 1. Richard Levinson and William Link met in junior high, kicking off a writing partnership that lasted until Levinson’s death in 1.

The two put their stamp on a variety of ’7. Mannix, Ellery Queen), continuing on into the ’8. Murder, She Wrote). But one of their creations stands out above all: Lieutenant Columbo, as played by Peter Falk.

Columbo began as a secondary character in Levinson and Link’s play, Prescription: Murder; the Broadway run starred Joseph Cotten as a murderous husband and Agnes Moorehead as his wife and victim. With that marquee talent in the lead roles, the playwrights were astounded to discover that the character who riveted the audience most of all was the disheveled, disarming detective who cracks the case almost apologetically.

A filmed version of Prescription: Murder in 1. Columbo pilot, with New York actor Peter Falk taking on (and owning) the sleuth’s role. Prescription: Murder set up the Columbo template: After a drawn- out, elaborate murder scheme—carried out by one of the biggest stars of the day—Columbo stumbles in 2. Watch Are You Scared? Megavideo.

The show offered a genius twist on the tired “whodunit” schemes so common in Agatha Christie mysteries, as the viewer began every Columbo episode already knowing the identity of the culprit. In their book Stay Tuned: An Inside Look At The Making Of Prime- Time Television, Levinson and Link credit the Columbo method to the “inverted mystery form” of R.

Austin Freeman, who asked, “Would it be possible to write a detective story in which the reader was made an actual witness of the crime and furnished with every fact that could possibly be used in its detection?” Apparently it was, leading to 6. Emmys for Falk. The trick was in watching how the detective would outsmart these murderers, who were usually brilliant (and conceited) artists, creators, or moguls at the top of their respective fields. As Columbo explains it to the murderous psychiatrist in Prescription: Murder as they discuss the case “hypothetically”: “Cops, we’re not the brightest guys in the world. I mean, you take our friend here, the murderer. He’s very smart, but he’s an amateur. I mean he’s got just one time to learn, just one.

With us, well, with us it’s a business. You see, we do this 1. I tell you, Doc: That’s a lot of practice.”Falk made the detective’s underdog appeal unforgettable.

So much credit must be given to the way he completely inhabited the character; within an episode or two, viewers learned Columbo’s every idiosyncrasy. Not just his trenchcoat, his cigar, and his car, but his stooped posture, his gestures, his tendency to pull random objects out of his pockets, and his unfailing politeness, even when speaking to a party he knows is guilty. Unlike gritty cops of the era, he didn’t even carry a gun.

Falk described the character in his 2. Just One More Thing, the title adapted from Columbo’s personal catchphrase) as “a guy with a mind like Einstein who sounded like the box boy at Food Giant.” Falk hand- selected Columbo’s permanent wardrobe—including the legendary raincoat as well a tie and shoes from his own closet—and picked out the beat- up 1. Peugeot 4. 03 convertible right out of the lot.

All of these elements fleshed out this original character in a wholly three- dimensional way, creating an irrepressible, relatable everyman. Which made the show’s tendency to pitch Columbo against titans of industry and the arts so satisfying to witness. Who isn’t envious of maestros and TV producers and famous food critics and their palatial estates? Who wouldn’t want to see insufferably self- important people taken down by a polite, self- deprecating detective with a Sherlock Holmes- like attention to detail? Levinson and Link point out: “Given the persona of Falk as an actor, it would have been foolish to play him against a similar type, a Jack Klugman, for example, or a Martin Balsam.

Much more fun could be had if he were confronted by someone like No. Although many of these solutions involved Columbo baiting traps that would have a hard time standing as actual evidence in any court of law, that didn’t make them any less enjoyable to witness. And there was so much in these plots to unravel: The immediate draw for the viewer involved wondering about the significance of Roddy Mc. Dowall’s uncle’s cigar box, or why Theodore Bikel had to set up a magic marker so precisely next to a phonograph.

In a throwback to golden age of television anthologies like Playhouse 9. NBC created a revolving Mystery Movie of the week in 1. After the success of Prescription: Murder, Columbo joined the Mystery Movie lineup on Sunday nights (featuring a suspenseful theme song by Henry Mancini), alongside shows like Mc.

Cloud and Mc. Millan & Wife, which paled by comparison. Due to Falk’s winning portrayal and the celebrity power of his various guest stars—most of whom jumped at the chance to play against Falk as killers—the show had no other regular cast members. Although a familiar LAPD detective (like the one played by Bruce Kirby) might pop up occasionally, Falk’s ability to spark and have chemistry with nearly all of his guest murderers eliminated the need for any further cast. The rotating schedule of the NBC Mystery Movie meant that Columbo episodes were a bit longer than average—more like a TV movie, and less frequent—with fewer than 1. This meant that Levinson and Link had time to focus on the show’s high quality while attracting the best creators in the business, many of whom were in the early stages of their careers: The show’s first regular episode was directed by a twentysomething Steven Spielberg. Jonathan Demme took a hand at season seven’s “Murder Under Glass.” Actors like The Prisoner’s Patrick Mc.

Goohan, Nicholas Colasanto (Coach from Cheers), Ben Gazzara, and Falk himself took turns behind the camera. Writers included future Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue creator Steven Bochco (who also served as a story editor), and the prolific Stephen J.

Cannell (2. 1 Jump Street, The A- Team, Wiseguy). When the NBC Mystery Movie ended after seven seasons, Columbo lay stagnant for over a decade. Then the character improbably jumped networks when ABC started its own weekly Mystery Movie, with Columbo appearing alongside such favorites as Kojak.

Columbo appeared on the network in a series of ABC TV movies from 1. These newer episodes lacked the perfect, unvarnished chemistry of the ’7. William Shatner) along with some embarrassing ones (Fisher Stevens).

And Falk’s portrayal of Columbo never faltered as the detective grew older. Where Can I Watch The Wire Online Free Season 1. These 1. 0 episodes exemplify why Columbo is the first character that comes to mind upon hearing the words “TV detective”: Prescription: Murder (pilot): The initial Columbo pilot features the basic “inverted mystery” premise that made the show so riveting, but is also interesting for its slightly different, early version of the titular character: Peter Falk here is decidedly less mussed, and a bit more stern with suspects and reluctant witnesses. He inaugurates his method of politely pestering the suspect with seemingly meaningless questions, and his signature inability to leave a room without turning around and asking about “one more thing.” Columbo also had a sly way of tipping off the audience that he knows what’s up. In this instance, the villainous doctor silently returns to his apartment (where he previously left his murdered wife), only to find Columbo instead. The detective comments, “You know, it’s funny.

When I get home from a trip, the first thing I do is say, . The plot features the dissolution of a mystery- writing team not unlike Levinson and Link themselves (one of the writing duo’s books is called Prescription Murder).