Review: Columbo, Seasons 1-3

Over the pandemic, stuck at home, I began watching the 1970s mystery series Columbo. It’s funny because I’m unsure if I ever watched it before. I know Peter Falk, of course, from a variety of roles ranging from The Princess Bride to Wings of Desire to The Great Race to his cameo in The Great Muppet Caper. I knew he was Columbo, but I didn’t know who that was or what that meant.

Admittedly I’ve found it hard to watch a lot of crime fiction and cop stories recently, but there was something relaxing about Falk’s performance, about the show’s rhythms, about watching a lot of smarmy rich people be taken down. Anyway, a few thoughts on the first few seasons, episode by episode.

"Prescription: Murder". It’s inventive, Gene Barry as the murderer is fabulous, Peter Falk has a killer entrance. I also have to say, I get why they made a second pilot because it’s good, but I’m not entirely buying this concept and Columbo as a series. It’s a good plot but the character and the setup doesn’t scream, I definitely want to see more.

"Ransom for a Dead Man". I’m in. Lee Grant as the murderer was brilliantly cold blooded. The way Columbo took her down. And that final scene in the airport as he arrests her is just perfect. Columbo tells her that she has no conscience and that’s her fatal flaw, because she cannot imagine anyone acting any differently. But most people wouldn’t walk away from a murder

"Murder by the Book". The story is excellent, with a script by Steven Bochco, and the direction by a young Steve Spielberg stands out. The acting is a bit hammy and you can tell the show is finding its legs. This is part of the problem of making a regular series. A good idea but nailing the exception, you get good actors but finding the right tone. Making the episodes on a breakneck schedule, sometimes the balance is a little off.

"Death Lends a Hand". Robert Culp and Ray Milland guest star and the result is solid story and a great ending, but overall just okay.

"Dead Weight". I liked how Columbo caught the murderer - that is honestly my favorite part in most episodes, and I would argue the best part of them - but overall it was meh. Characters behaving dumb always pulls me out of the story.

"Suitable for Framing". This is one of my favorites of the season. Fun, inventive, clever on all fronts. Also the first episode written by Jackson Gillis and directed by Hy Averback (I Love You, Alice B. Toklas).

"Lady in Waiting". It was a good episode, plus it featured Leslie Nielsen and Jessie Royce Landis, but overall, kinda forgettable. Not bad, just meh.

"Short Fuse". The episode has a fabulous cast (Roddy McDowell, Ida Lupino, Anne Francis) but it never quite comes together. And the ending on the cable car is well done, but by that point, I mostly shrugged.

"Blueprint for Murder". Good elements, and a very funny scene at Columbo is in city hall and stymied by bureaucracy, but overall it’s just off. Maybe because Falk directed it, his performance was off? Which is a shame because it takes place partially on a massive construction site and was the season finale. They went big but it never quite came together.

"Étude in Black". I loved this episode. In no small part because of John Cassavetes (a good friend and collaborator of Falk) who stars as the murderer and manages to be charming and smarmy, though even if you didn’t watch him do it, you know he’s the murderer. The show also features Blythe Danner, the great Myrna Loy, and in a laugh out loud cameo, Pat Morita as a butler. Also, Columbo gets a dog. Honestly, one of the best single episodes.

"The Greenhouse Jungle". Ray Milland makes this episode. The writing is fine, but Milland brings it all together and even though I could see a lot of the plot twists coming, the entire casts is great and sells it, but Milland is a standout.

"The Most Crucial Game". The episode guest stars Robert Culp and Dean Stockwell and the result is an episode that’s not great but enjoyable. No complaints but after two very good episodes, this one is just fine.

"Dagger of the Mind". Columbo goes to London! And it guest stars the late Honor Blackman. Not a great episode, but it’s a lot fun. Also, the first episode directed by Richard Quine, the director behind films like My Sister Eileen, Bell Book and Candle, and Sex and the Single Girl.

"Requiem for a Falling Star". Not a great episode, though it does feature a cameo by the legendary Edith Head. Honestly I was so amused that the episode stars Anne Baxter as an actor who kills her assistant that that simple fact made me like the episode more than I probably should. (Among Baxter’s many roles, she co-starred in All About Eve opposite Bette Davis). So not a great one, but very watchable.

"A Stitch in Crime". Leonard Nimoy as an obnoxious surgeon. Anne Francis plays a nurse who gets murdered. It’s a great chase, which is hard to do and manages to be thrilling. Great work all around.

"The Most Dangerous Match". Solid episode with Laurence Harvey as a chess grandmaster.

"Double Shock". Martin Landau plays identical twins, one a TV chef who drags Columbo on set during a live broadcast and gives Falk a chance to have some fun. It’s a brilliantly structured piece that’s both thrilling and funny. Also features Julie Newmar. The season ends with a great episode.

"Lovely But Lethal". On the one hand, it stars Vera Miles, Martin Sheen, Vincent Price. On the other hand, it’s just okay with Columbo catching Miles but in a way that felt like a reach.

"Any Old Port in a Storm". Donald Pleasance is great here as the winery owner who murders his brother and stages a scuba diving accident. It also features Julie Harris as his secretary. The character is one who Columbo seems to like, who under other circumstances would be happy to spend time with. How Columbo catches him at the end feels a bit off, though.

"Candidate for Crime". A politician killing his campaign manager made me laugh, but overall, the structure and the case was just fabulous.

"Double Exposure". Robert Culp guest stars yet again and it’s his best so far. Also, clever how Columbo manages to catch him, which definitely is a Hail Mary pass, but he manages to pull it off. Also the episode is written by Stephen J. Cannell!

"Publish or Perish". I really loved this one for a few reasons. One, the murderer is played by Jack Cassidy (who also played the murderer in the publishing themed first episode “Murder by the Book”). The murderer is played by real life mystery writer Mickey Spillane (yes, that Mickey Spillane) here playing a crime writer named Mallory (and I’m guessing that this is where Max Allan Collins got the name for his series about a writer named Mallory). It’s also the first Columbo episode written by Peter S. Fischer, who would go on to create Murder, She Wrote with Columbo creators Richard Levinson and William Link.

"Mind Over Mayhem". This is another episode where the cast wins me over even if the episode is overall pretty meh. In this case it features Lew Ayres, José Ferrer, Jessica Walter. It also features a boy genius and a robot (played by Robby the Robot from the classic Forbidden Planet). It has clever twists but overall, it’s just not that great.

"Swan Song". I love Johnny Cash so him playing a musician – and performing "Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” throughout - makes this a winner for me. That his wife is played by Ida Lupino, the murder being a plane crash, just make it irresistible. Also I think it definitely benefits from having a murderer who is struggling to live with what he did. Not having a breakdown or being angry he’s caught, but honestly bothered my murder in a wya that a lot of the killers on the show never do.

"A Friend in Deed". Well, the season ends with a bang as a man kills his wife and calls his neighbor for help – except the Deputy LAPD Commissioner helps him cover it up, and then demands the man helps murder his wife. And Richard Kiley is just one of those killers you love to hate.