Richard Levinson and William Link were American television writers and producers who collaborated for 43 years, until Levinson's death. They wrote for the CBS anthology drama The DuPont Show with June Allyson , [1] and they created classic television detective series such as Columbo ; Mannix ; Ellery Queen ; and Murder, She Wrote ; and made-for-TV movies including The Gun , My Sweet Charlie , That Certain Summer , The Judge and Jake Wyler , The Execution of Private Slovik , Charlie Cobb: A Nice Night for a Hanging, Murder by Natural Causes , Rehearsal for Murder , and Guilty Conscience . They also collaborated on two feature films: The Hindenburg (1975) and Rollercoaster (1977).
Levinson and Link occasionally used the pseudonym "Ted Leighton", most notably on the telefilm Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You , where their work was substantially re-written by other hands, [2] and Columbo when they came up with stories to be scripted by their collaborators.
In 1979, Levinson and Link received a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for their work on Ellery Queen and Columbo. During the 1980s, they were three-time winners of the Edgar for Best TV Feature or MiniSeries Teleplay, and in 1989 they were given the Mystery Writers of America's Ellery Queen Award, which honors outstanding mystery writing teams. In November 1995, they were jointly elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
| Year | Title | Creator | Producer/Executive Producer | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Chain of Command" |
| 1959 | General Motors Presents | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1959-1960 | Johnny Ringo | No | No | Yes | 3 episodes |
| 1959 | Black Saddle | No | No | Yes | Episode: "The Deal" |
| 1959 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | No | No | Yes | Episode: "The Crossing" |
| 1959 | The Rebel | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Gun City" |
| 1960 | Richard Diamond, Private Detective | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Seven Swords" |
| 1960 | The Chevy Mystery Show | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Enough Rope" |
| 1960-1961 | Michael Shayne | No | No | Yes | 6 episodes |
| 1961 | The Brothers Brannagan | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Mistaken Identity" |
| 1961-1962 | Adventures in Paradise | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1961-1962 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1962-1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | No | No | Yes | 5 episodes |
| 1963 | Stoney Burke | No | No | Yes | Episode: "A Matter of Percentage" |
| 1963 | The Third Man | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1963 | Dr. Kildare | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1964 | Arrest and Trial | No | No | Yes | Episode: "The Best There Is" |
| 1964 | The Rogues | No | No | Yes | Episode: "The Boston Money Party" |
| 1964-1965 | Burke's Law | No | No | Yes | 3 episodes |
| 1964-1965 | The Fugitive | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1965-1966 | Honey West | No | No | Yes | 4 episodes |
| 1966-1967 | Jericho | Yes | No | No | Created with Merwin A. Bloch |
| 1967-1975 | Mannix | Yes | No | No | |
| 1968 | Prescription: Murder | No | No | Yes | Television film; backdoor pilot for Columbo |
| 1968 | Istanbul Express | No | No | Yes | Television film |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game | No | No | Yes | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | Trial Run | No | No | Yes | Television film |
| 1969 | The Whole World Is Watching | No | No | Yes | Television film |
| 1970 | My Sweet Charlie | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1970 | McCloud | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Portrait of a Dead Girl" |
| 1970 | San Francisco International Airport | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Crisis" |
| 1970 | The Psychiatrist | No | No | Yes | Episode: "God Bless the Children" |
| 1971 | Who Killed the Mysterious Mr. Foster? | No | No | Yes | Television film |
| 1971 | Ransom for a Dead Man | No | No | Yes | Television film; second Columbo pilot |
| 1971-2003 | Columbo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Series continued after Levinson's death |
| 1971 | Two on a Bench | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1971 | Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You | No | No | Yes | Television film; credited as "Ted Leighton" |
| 1972 | That Certain Summer | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1972 | The Judge and Jake Wyler | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1973 | Tenafly | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1973 | Savage | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1974 | The Execution of Private Slovik | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1974 | The Gun | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1975 | The Hindenburg | No | No | Yes | Theatrical film |
| 1975-1976 | Ellery Queen | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 1977 | Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1971 | Rollercoaster | No | No | Yes | Theatrical film |
| 1977 | The Storyteller | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1979 | Murder by Natural Causes | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1979-1980 | Stone | Yes | No | Yes | Created with Stephen J. Cannell |
| 1981 | Crisis at Central High | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1982 | Darkroom | No | No | Yes | Episode: "Exit Line" |
| 1982 | Rehearsal for Murder | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1982 | Take Your Best Shot | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1983 | Prototype | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1984-1996 | Murder, She Wrote | No | Yes | Yes | Created with Peter S. Fischer, series continued after Levinson's death |
| 1984 | The Guardian | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1985 | Guilty Conscience | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1986 | Vanishing Act | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1986 | Blacke's Magic | Yes | No | Yes | Created with Peter S. Fischer |
| 1987 | Hard Copy | Yes | No | Yes | Created with Daniel Pyne, only Link produced |
| 1988 | Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami | No | Yes | Yes | Television film |