---

TV Series

Series Name:    Columbo (NBC Mystery Movie: Columbo) Format: TV Series IMDB: IMDB Page Years: 1968 - 2003 Country:   USA Language: English Genre: Crime Rating: 8.5  Rate Collection:   Seen It     Wishlist  Community:  28 Have Seen » Search eBay #AD  » Search Amazon #AD This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated.

Selected Cast	Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo

Notes

Created by Richard Levinson and William Link, Peter Falk's portrayal of Lt. Columbo was first seen in the 1968 TV movie Prescription: Murder. NBC then commissioned a pilot in 1971 which subsequently led to Columbo becoming a regular feature of the NBC Mystery Movie rotation series which also included shows such as McCloud and McMillan & Wife.

Although cancelled by NBC in 1978, the show was picked up again in 1989 by ABC and continued to produce episodes up until 2003.

On DVD & Blu-ray World

DVD Box Set

Columbo : The Complete First Season - Universal - UK (2004)

DVD Box Set

Columbo : The Complete Third Season - Universal Playback - UK (2005)

DVD Box Set

Columbo : The Complete Second Season - Universal Playback - UK (2005)

DVD Box Set

Columbo : The Complete Fifth Season - Universal - UK (2007)

DVD

Columbo: L'intégrale De La Série Saisons 1 À 12 - Universal - France (2007)

DVD Box Set

Columbo: Season 2 - Universal - Spain (2005)

Comments and Reviews

GimmeVinyl 24th Dec 2019		My two cents.. Peter Falk personally picked out the 1959 Peugeot 403 cabriolet from the Universal vehicle pool. At the time, the car didn't even have a drivetrain! Peugeot actually ended up donating a running 403 cabriolet for Universal to use. As for the clothes that Lt. Columbo wore.. Peter Falk wore his own clothes, to what he felt the Lt. would wear.
zabadak 24th Aug 2015		I recall the end credits mention the (Mancini?) "Mystery Movie" theme... :erk:
23skidoo 24th Aug 2015		@Trainman. They wouldn't be advertising a competing network as I believe the network reference in the titles is removed.
Trainman 24th Aug 2015		I can only comment on the ones I actually have or have seen recently. The DVD set of McMillan we have doesn't have it and the episode currently being run by our one local channel doesn't, that's not to say others did. At this late date I'd say it's probably up to local channel whether they use it or not. I'd say programs in syndication probably would drop it, do you really want to advertise a competing network?
23skidoo 23rd Aug 2015		@Trainman When A&E aired Columbo reruns they used the Mystery Movie intro, though I've also seen them run with no credit sequence either. Same with McMillan and McCloud but I've also seen the Mystery Movie sequence used. It gets a bit confusing with these wheel shows.
Trainman 23rd Aug 2015		@23skidoo; As far the DVD's, this version of McMillan & Wife does NOT have the NBC Mystery movie opening. It starts with an intro to the episode to "set the stage" then runs a set of normal credits just for that show, https://www.45worlds.com/dvd/disc/025192828225 Columbo is currently running in syndication on "MeTV" (a local over the air channel) and I don't recall seeing it there either (it's on Sunday nights, The SWMBO usually watches it, I'll try to be in when it starts, but I don't recall seeing it there either.)
23skidoo 23rd Aug 2015		I'm not 100% certain on this - perhaps someone who is more versed on the other shows in the cycle can confirm - but I do believe Columbo is the only one of the NBC Mystery Movie series to retain the wheel's "flashlight man" opening credits in syndication. I think McMillan, etc. used something else. I can't recall. Anyone have McMillan or McCloud on DVD? What do they use?
BigBadBluesMan 1st Jul 2015
BigBadBluesMan 1st Jul 2015
23skidoo 14th Jun 2015		Falk was not the first actor to play Columbo. The character first appeared an a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show played by Bert Freed. Then Thomas Mitchell and Joseph Cotton played the character on stage in the original play of Prescription Murder. Falk finally debuted as Colombo (after both Bing Crosby and Lee J Cobb turned it down) for the TV movie version of Prescription Murder. Apparently Falk was planning to make one final appearance as Columbo before his Alzheimer's made it impossible.
Monolith 13th Jun 2015		The original man they had in mind for playing Columbo was Bing Crosby! Well kudos to whomever decided not to go in that direction.
zabadak 13th Jun 2015		The original man they had in mind for playing Columbo was Bing Crosby! :shocked:

Add a Comment or Review about this TV show

---

Tags:  Columbo

---

This TV Series:  Add Image  :  Add Video  :  Add Missing Info  :  Make Correction  :  Add to List  :  Add See Also  :  Add Tag  :  Edit Images  :  Show Image Data  :  Credits  :  BBCode