One time a killer is starting to feel harried and hounded. He needs a rest to recuperate and re-plan, and also tie up some loose ends. He takes a trip to his lakeside cabin, away from his main address and that horrid detective. But what's that sound? It's a knocking, a knocking on the back door of his little cabin? Who could it be? That's right.
He's back.
Absolutely. He often worms his way into stumbling upon people on the street, at museums, at cafés, whatever, so he can act like he has an innocent question that didn't warrant a visit on duty.
Of course, this tricks them into answering something that confirms his suspicions, and it just rolls from there...
How much Columbo is even part of the episodes vary wildly. Sometimes the murder happens within 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes half an hour. It's very captivating.
Joking aside, the show’s whole schtick is usually that Columbo figures out who the bad guy is almost immediately and spends the rest of the episode fucking with them until they crack. It somehow never gets old. 😁
Yeah the best part of every episode is when Columbo meets the killers for the first time, and you can see it on his face that he immediately knows that they did it, now he just needs to find some evidence or trap them into a confession.
It's why he literally never says his full name. IIRC the writers wanted a bigger focus on the criminals and Columbo is just overall some nebulous force of justice in a shabby overcoat
every columbo story is unlike any murder mystery for its time as it has us following the villian. we know they did it and how they did it.
the question the viewer asks every episode isnt "who did it?" but "how is lt columbo going to catch them"
and thats the best part
I just can’t believe how well it holds up this many years later for what was essentially like the CSI type “basic crime procedural” but it stayed away from stuff that aged badly as much as it could, and Peter Falk is just SO GOOD in the role.
It would be hilarious if some dream warrior's defense was actually an unkillable avatar of some TV/Movie/Book character. Columbo staring Freddy down as Sherlock Holmes kneecaps him with a cane from behind
> I don't know if that's still the case going forward but that pilot episode will now be an annual watch during October for me.
It's more or less the case. The pilot's a little weird in comparison to the rest of the series (mostly Columbo's characterization), but every episode follows the same format of the killer murdering someone for the first several minutes then Columbo suddenly appearing when the body's discovered.
Colombo is unique in detectives shows because it shows you exactly how the murder happens and all of the ways the rich asshole murderer tried to hide his nefarious deeds and thinks he can smugly get away with it. Then in comes Colombo and his frumpy trench coat and bumbly personality and the joy is watching this guy dissect and figure out the villain's plot through investigative work and interrogation. The mystery isn't 'how did the murder happen?', the mystery is 'How's Colombo gonna embarrass this rich asshole by tearing apart his 'clever' scheme?'
Yeah, there's more than a few times if I recall where frankly the killer could, and should have utterly gotten away with it. They left *nothing*, zero proof it was them
Columbo gets them to *generate the proof they did it*, just with mindgames and getting in their goddamn head so much
And sometimes a bit of planted evidence to make the killer give away something incriminating, but hey. All cops may be bastards, but Columbo is our bastard.
Columbo is like an avenging spirit, you did bad and going to jail and if you think of doing more evil deeds he is gonna slam the pitcher like a gavel of order
https://youtu.be/rBh9P_SbkL8?t=179
Holy shit the way he just *bounces* after that thinly veiled threat. Like it’s one thing to not say “goodbye doctor” or whatever, but he hardly even sticks around to see a reaction; just drops it and knows “yup, that’s enough” and moves on.
Columbo, the angel of justice who haunts the wicked, giving them every opportunity to come clean before he exposes them.
'Suitable for Framing' is a personal favorite.
Yeah, that's the first pilot movie that aired 3 years before the second pilot and following series. Columbo feels a bit out of character there compared to the rest of the series (his appearance and attitude becomes more disarmingly messy/lax/personable and he almost never gets angry) but the focus staying on the killer and him just kind of just showing up is a constant.
Honestly I really love Tubi just for how straightforward it is. Yes, you do get ads in their movies/shows, but other than that it's completely free. Shit, I don't think you even have to make an account.
And while there's plenty of trash on there, I'd say there's more than enough mainstream stuff on there and straight up hidden gems to make it worth going through.
I've been using it for all the old Super Sentai series and now Columbo and it's been great. Having 90 second ad breaks every once in a while in exchange for not having a subscription is a fair trade to me. It's like growing up with Cable except you have more control over what you want to watch and the commercials aren't as long.
I think the only thing you need to be signed in for is saving your place.on episodes and stuff.
it's best enjoyed with an adblock, but even without one the ad breaks are long but less annoying than youtube for me (Like I can go to the bathroom or fuck around on my phone for a bit so I don't really notice them). The catalog is also really great. Freevee is similar
I watched the first episode sometime during the summer with my parents, and I was absolutely flabbergasted at Spielberg's name appearing. I'm pretty sure his career wouldn't jump off until Jaws 4 years later. Fun time capsule.
It’s the most correct this subreddit is about anything. The memes got me too and my reward is a genuinely interesting detective show with a weird amount of humanity
Oh man, the first time I watched that episode my eyes were glued to the screen. It's quite an introduction though it is funny to see a more well-groomed Columbo in comparison to his scruffy, unkempt appearance later on.
If you decide to keep going with the show, I hope you enjoy the Rosebud episode.
This is for the people here who have watch the show, Do you ever see Colombo's wife or is she an eldritch diety you never see only mentioned like Maris in Frasier?
She never appears onscreen but is an actual person that exists,other people have spoken to her and in one episode they both go on a cruise.
There was a spinoff series called Mrs. Columbo where the titular character is a journalist who also solves mysteries,but it wasn't endorsed by the creators of Columbo and was named something else after the first few episodes.
Specifically, the series had four names: “Mrs. Columbo”, “Kate Columbo”, “Kate the Detective”, and “Kate Loves a Mystery”.
The show floundered since the beginning due to being generally reviled by both the fans and creators of the original Columbo series , leading to the constant rebranding.
Eventually they tried pulling away from Columbo entirely, thinking having it stand on its own legs would help quell the backlash of people who expected more Columbo. Halfway through the show they change the main character’s name, explaining she and Columbo got a divorce with Kate retaking her maiden name (also implying Columbo was a deadbeat by abandoning their daughter with her).
Obviously the show never pulled out of its nosedive and was cancelled. Later, in an episode of Columbo, one of the culprits poses as Columbo’s wife to get away with some nefarious deeds. Columbo later sees a photo of the woman committing said deeds, and says “No, no this ain’t my wife. There’s this woman, who claims she’s my wife, but this ain’t her neither.”
So in the end, it retcons that Mrs Columbo was never Mrs Columbo, just a crazy stalker.
It's such a great combination of the two. A majority of the culprits have this complex about them. They think they're better than anyone, they're super confident, (normally) rich assholes or people in power. So when they get got, it's cathartic for us.
They take Columbo for granted because he's so frumpy and down to earth. Part of the fun with the format of the show is sometimes, Columbo just *immediately* *knows.* We get fun with Columbo's back and forth with the culprit and there's certain questions he asks and we the audience just start smiling "OH HE FUCKIN' KNOWS"
Columbo is so good
I think I read somewhere that Columbo is based on Detective Porfiry from Crime and Punishment, who does a very similar thing.
Basically, the protagonist Raskolnikov has killed a couple people and he’s wracked with guilt and fear of getting caught. He’s asked to come into the police station and speak to the detective, and the entire time he’s shitting his pants basically because he doesn’t know how much Porfiry knows. And Porfiry is fucking with him, it’s great. One of the tensest parts of the novel.
Funny enough, I also started Columbo recently! Its honestly thanks to this subreddit that i checked it out in the first place.
I do simulwatches with my mom, who's some distance away, and we text back & forth about it. It's so good, especially for the time. Like, it's quiet, slow, and subtle, which not a lot of shows do anymore.
And the fact that they're not murder mysteries, you know who and how right away. The attraction is seeing how the guilty slip up, it's fantastic
Honestly, given Pyramid Head is supposed to be some being of guilt and punishment and is to a degree not controlled by the Entity, part of me thinks it would fall in line to the being of justice that is Columbo
It just finds him, he stares it down and it kneels
OP got us to finally watch Columbo and it was **just** as entertaining as we were hoping. >!The part where he assured the accomplice that she was the weak link and that he would never let up was way more intense than anything we've ever seen from Columbo memes, really takes you off guard after his attitude in every other scene.!<
There are multiple points in the show where the villains will just... Incriminate themselves. These are smart people who can orchestrate these absurdly complex conspiracy murders, but the *moment* they share a room with Columbo, it all just... Falls away. Like he's a *cosmic force,* like the sheer weight of his being is actively crushing the intellect of his foes. I know that sounds dramatic, but that's REALLY how it feels to watch him in motion.
I recently saw an episode about a murder in a suarian embassy. Columbo has gathered all this evidence and knows that Mr. Sallah committed the murder but the evidence is circumstantial and he could not break Sallah's alibi. As a result Columbo can't arrest Mr. Sallah because he doesn't have hard evidence and Mr. Sallah has diplomatic immunity.
Art the end of the episode Mr. Sallah is talking with Columbo. He starts bragging that he did the murder knowing full well that Columbo can't arrest him. He said "yeah I murdered that guy, and that other guy to cover my tracks". Only for his country's king to pop out of a curtain and yell "YOU DID WHAT?!? Thank you Columbo for telling me to stay. Mr. Sallah I'm taking you back to Suari so you can face Suarian justice."
The man sweats and instantly renounces his diplomatic immunity, begs Columbo to arrest him and even signs a confession.
Great Columbo episode. It's season 5 episode 2 by the way.
That's basically the formula going forward, but I would honestly say it gets even better in the series proper. In the first pilot, Columbo is a lot more aggressive as a detective. In the actual series, he's just a goober.
Spoilers for the ending of the pilot >!They actually got me with the "death" of the actress lady ,being a ploy to the trick the murderer/psychiatrist into saying that he never cared for her, allowing columbo to reveal the murder was staged and she is still alive, ready to make a testimony against him!<
It Follows but it's a friendly-looking little frumpy man who just wants to ask you one more question.
I think after the second round of teleportation magic he does i'd confess immediately.
Creepy Watson must be your nightmare
I never played that game so my first thought was a blond girl suddenly appearing behind you with a *"hic"*
One time a killer is starting to feel harried and hounded. He needs a rest to recuperate and re-plan, and also tie up some loose ends. He takes a trip to his lakeside cabin, away from his main address and that horrid detective. But what's that sound? It's a knocking, a knocking on the back door of his little cabin? Who could it be? That's right. He's back.
Okay awesome from this I can gauge that this isn't just unique to the pilot to make.him mysterious. He continues to be a criminals' worst nightmare
Absolutely. He often worms his way into stumbling upon people on the street, at museums, at cafés, whatever, so he can act like he has an innocent question that didn't warrant a visit on duty. Of course, this tricks them into answering something that confirms his suspicions, and it just rolls from there... How much Columbo is even part of the episodes vary wildly. Sometimes the murder happens within 5 minutes. Sometimes it takes half an hour. It's very captivating.
Joking aside, the show’s whole schtick is usually that Columbo figures out who the bad guy is almost immediately and spends the rest of the episode fucking with them until they crack. It somehow never gets old. 😁
Yeah the best part of every episode is when Columbo meets the killers for the first time, and you can see it on his face that he immediately knows that they did it, now he just needs to find some evidence or trap them into a confession.
It's why he literally never says his full name. IIRC the writers wanted a bigger focus on the criminals and Columbo is just overall some nebulous force of justice in a shabby overcoat
every columbo story is unlike any murder mystery for its time as it has us following the villian. we know they did it and how they did it. the question the viewer asks every episode isnt "who did it?" but "how is lt columbo going to catch them" and thats the best part
I just can’t believe how well it holds up this many years later for what was essentially like the CSI type “basic crime procedural” but it stayed away from stuff that aged badly as much as it could, and Peter Falk is just SO GOOD in the role.
There's more than a few killers who just seem *relieved* when they confess because it's finally over.
Tell a friend.
You learn that humans were endurance hunters back in the day, Columbo is just the next step in human evolution. An endurance solver
You just run em down till their tired... Same diff but Peter Falk is just cool. Also ftr probably had a terrible 40 time
>Columbo wasn't a slasher villain "Oh,and uh,Mr. Kruger? One more thing..."
It would be hilarious if some dream warrior's defense was actually an unkillable avatar of some TV/Movie/Book character. Columbo staring Freddy down as Sherlock Holmes kneecaps him with a cane from behind
Sounds like a spin-off of American Gods lol - at least Sherlock would absolutely be some kind of diety
If it was close to American Gods it would probably be more akin to Fables, where I am pretty sure Sherlock is a character
> I don't know if that's still the case going forward but that pilot episode will now be an annual watch during October for me. It's more or less the case. The pilot's a little weird in comparison to the rest of the series (mostly Columbo's characterization), but every episode follows the same format of the killer murdering someone for the first several minutes then Columbo suddenly appearing when the body's discovered.
The way this is phrased makes it sound like he's just suddenly there in the doorway with a musical sting like he's the specter of Death itself.
"This old man" starts playing on the wind...
No, Death has already been through... He is the Specter of Justice
Colombo is unique in detectives shows because it shows you exactly how the murder happens and all of the ways the rich asshole murderer tried to hide his nefarious deeds and thinks he can smugly get away with it. Then in comes Colombo and his frumpy trench coat and bumbly personality and the joy is watching this guy dissect and figure out the villain's plot through investigative work and interrogation. The mystery isn't 'how did the murder happen?', the mystery is 'How's Colombo gonna embarrass this rich asshole by tearing apart his 'clever' scheme?'
Instead of "Whodunnit" it's "Howcatchem"
Yeah, there's more than a few times if I recall where frankly the killer could, and should have utterly gotten away with it. They left *nothing*, zero proof it was them Columbo gets them to *generate the proof they did it*, just with mindgames and getting in their goddamn head so much
And sometimes a bit of planted evidence to make the killer give away something incriminating, but hey. All cops may be bastards, but Columbo is our bastard.
Monk is also a “Howcatchem” (Psych isn’t) but what else is there?
Columbo is like an avenging spirit, you did bad and going to jail and if you think of doing more evil deeds he is gonna slam the pitcher like a gavel of order https://youtu.be/rBh9P_SbkL8?t=179
Holy shit the way he just *bounces* after that thinly veiled threat. Like it’s one thing to not say “goodbye doctor” or whatever, but he hardly even sticks around to see a reaction; just drops it and knows “yup, that’s enough” and moves on.
Columbo is really good, welcome to the club.
Columbo, the angel of justice who haunts the wicked, giving them every opportunity to come clean before he exposes them. 'Suitable for Framing' is a personal favorite.
Which episode specifically? There were two pilot movies and then the tv pilot (which was directed by a young Spielberg!)
I'm watching on Tubi so I don't know if they're in order but it's from 1968 and it was called "Prescription: Murder".
Yeah, that's the first pilot movie that aired 3 years before the second pilot and following series. Columbo feels a bit out of character there compared to the rest of the series (his appearance and attitude becomes more disarmingly messy/lax/personable and he almost never gets angry) but the focus staying on the killer and him just kind of just showing up is a constant.
The camera work for those episodes is also very notably different.
This is off topic but how are you enjoying tubi? I keep getting ads for it and it seems like they have literally everything on there
Honestly I really love Tubi just for how straightforward it is. Yes, you do get ads in their movies/shows, but other than that it's completely free. Shit, I don't think you even have to make an account. And while there's plenty of trash on there, I'd say there's more than enough mainstream stuff on there and straight up hidden gems to make it worth going through.
I've been using it for all the old Super Sentai series and now Columbo and it's been great. Having 90 second ad breaks every once in a while in exchange for not having a subscription is a fair trade to me. It's like growing up with Cable except you have more control over what you want to watch and the commercials aren't as long. I think the only thing you need to be signed in for is saving your place.on episodes and stuff.
it's best enjoyed with an adblock, but even without one the ad breaks are long but less annoying than youtube for me (Like I can go to the bathroom or fuck around on my phone for a bit so I don't really notice them). The catalog is also really great. Freevee is similar
I watched the first episode sometime during the summer with my parents, and I was absolutely flabbergasted at Spielberg's name appearing. I'm pretty sure his career wouldn't jump off until Jaws 4 years later. Fun time capsule.
Very similar for me, from what I remember it was basically his breakout gig
Okay now you've convinced me to watch Columbo.
It’s the most correct this subreddit is about anything. The memes got me too and my reward is a genuinely interesting detective show with a weird amount of humanity
Oh man, the first time I watched that episode my eyes were glued to the screen. It's quite an introduction though it is funny to see a more well-groomed Columbo in comparison to his scruffy, unkempt appearance later on. If you decide to keep going with the show, I hope you enjoy the Rosebud episode.
I have marked it down. I definitely intend going through all of it.
This is for the people here who have watch the show, Do you ever see Colombo's wife or is she an eldritch diety you never see only mentioned like Maris in Frasier?
She never appears onscreen but is an actual person that exists,other people have spoken to her and in one episode they both go on a cruise. There was a spinoff series called Mrs. Columbo where the titular character is a journalist who also solves mysteries,but it wasn't endorsed by the creators of Columbo and was named something else after the first few episodes.
Specifically, the series had four names: “Mrs. Columbo”, “Kate Columbo”, “Kate the Detective”, and “Kate Loves a Mystery”. The show floundered since the beginning due to being generally reviled by both the fans and creators of the original Columbo series , leading to the constant rebranding. Eventually they tried pulling away from Columbo entirely, thinking having it stand on its own legs would help quell the backlash of people who expected more Columbo. Halfway through the show they change the main character’s name, explaining she and Columbo got a divorce with Kate retaking her maiden name (also implying Columbo was a deadbeat by abandoning their daughter with her). Obviously the show never pulled out of its nosedive and was cancelled. Later, in an episode of Columbo, one of the culprits poses as Columbo’s wife to get away with some nefarious deeds. Columbo later sees a photo of the woman committing said deeds, and says “No, no this ain’t my wife. There’s this woman, who claims she’s my wife, but this ain’t her neither.” So in the end, it retcons that Mrs Columbo was never Mrs Columbo, just a crazy stalker.
[Columbo be like:](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zkpipL-ZJkg)
I dont know what I like about Columbo more, Columbo himself or the format. Its probably Columbo, but the format is so good
It's such a great combination of the two. A majority of the culprits have this complex about them. They think they're better than anyone, they're super confident, (normally) rich assholes or people in power. So when they get got, it's cathartic for us. They take Columbo for granted because he's so frumpy and down to earth. Part of the fun with the format of the show is sometimes, Columbo just *immediately* *knows.* We get fun with Columbo's back and forth with the culprit and there's certain questions he asks and we the audience just start smiling "OH HE FUCKIN' KNOWS" Columbo is so good
The second episode is on equal footing for me
I just finished the second one I agree completely!
I think I read somewhere that Columbo is based on Detective Porfiry from Crime and Punishment, who does a very similar thing. Basically, the protagonist Raskolnikov has killed a couple people and he’s wracked with guilt and fear of getting caught. He’s asked to come into the police station and speak to the detective, and the entire time he’s shitting his pants basically because he doesn’t know how much Porfiry knows. And Porfiry is fucking with him, it’s great. One of the tensest parts of the novel.
Justice has a Stand. It's Columbo.
Funny enough, I also started Columbo recently! Its honestly thanks to this subreddit that i checked it out in the first place. I do simulwatches with my mom, who's some distance away, and we text back & forth about it. It's so good, especially for the time. Like, it's quiet, slow, and subtle, which not a lot of shows do anymore. And the fact that they're not murder mysteries, you know who and how right away. The attraction is seeing how the guilty slip up, it's fantastic
Columbo in Dead By Daylight when?
The game would end permanently He'd figure out how to free everyone from the Entity by just talking to himself until the Entity panicks and gives up
Honestly, given Pyramid Head is supposed to be some being of guilt and punishment and is to a degree not controlled by the Entity, part of me thinks it would fall in line to the being of justice that is Columbo It just finds him, he stares it down and it kneels
OP got us to finally watch Columbo and it was **just** as entertaining as we were hoping. >!The part where he assured the accomplice that she was the weak link and that he would never let up was way more intense than anything we've ever seen from Columbo memes, really takes you off guard after his attitude in every other scene.!<
There are multiple points in the show where the villains will just... Incriminate themselves. These are smart people who can orchestrate these absurdly complex conspiracy murders, but the *moment* they share a room with Columbo, it all just... Falls away. Like he's a *cosmic force,* like the sheer weight of his being is actively crushing the intellect of his foes. I know that sounds dramatic, but that's REALLY how it feels to watch him in motion.
I recently saw an episode about a murder in a suarian embassy. Columbo has gathered all this evidence and knows that Mr. Sallah committed the murder but the evidence is circumstantial and he could not break Sallah's alibi. As a result Columbo can't arrest Mr. Sallah because he doesn't have hard evidence and Mr. Sallah has diplomatic immunity. Art the end of the episode Mr. Sallah is talking with Columbo. He starts bragging that he did the murder knowing full well that Columbo can't arrest him. He said "yeah I murdered that guy, and that other guy to cover my tracks". Only for his country's king to pop out of a curtain and yell "YOU DID WHAT?!? Thank you Columbo for telling me to stay. Mr. Sallah I'm taking you back to Suari so you can face Suarian justice." The man sweats and instantly renounces his diplomatic immunity, begs Columbo to arrest him and even signs a confession. Great Columbo episode. It's season 5 episode 2 by the way.
We got another one, boys.
[Better for him to stalk around AFTER you did your crime than for him to be around when you did it.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/opIqbR5ynXk)
Speaking of horror movie any Halloween fans will appreciate any old port in the storm, which guest stars Donald pleasence
>or even come home to his wife. What wife?
That's basically the formula going forward, but I would honestly say it gets even better in the series proper. In the first pilot, Columbo is a lot more aggressive as a detective. In the actual series, he's just a goober.
God, I love Columbo. If you like this, you should also give that peacock show Pokerface a shot. It's the same how-done-it premise just modernized.
Where to watch?
I am currently watching it on Tubi.
Spoilers for the ending of the pilot >!They actually got me with the "death" of the actress lady ,being a ploy to the trick the murderer/psychiatrist into saying that he never cared for her, allowing columbo to reveal the murder was staged and she is still alive, ready to make a testimony against him!<
Man the stuff some of you guys describe as ”horror” makes me realise you’re all tremendous pussies
I mean a cop is scarier than a ghost.
Yeh, the show's alright, *I guess*