List of Columbo episodes

The following is an episode list for the crime fiction television series Columbo . After two pilot episodes, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie . Columbo then aired on ABC as part of The ABC Mystery Movie from 1989 to 1990 and less frequently starting in late 1990. The last installment was broadcast in 2003.

Because the Columbo episodes from late 1990 to 2003 aired infrequently, different DVD sets have been released around the world. In Region 2 and 4, all episodes have now been released as 10 seasons. Seasons 8–9 reflect the two seasons aired as part of The ABC Mystery Movie, and the 10th season covers the last 14 episodes from "Columbo Goes to College" (1990) to the series finale, "Columbo Likes the Nightlife" (2003). ^[1] In France and the Netherlands (also Region 2), however, the DVDs were released as 12 seasons. ^[2] In Region 1, all episodes from season 8 are grouped differently: Those that were originally aired on ABC were released in four volumes under the banner COLUMBO: The Mystery Movie Collection. ^[3] For the sake of clarity, all episodes in this article are arranged as they appear in the UK release.

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally released
			First released	Last released	Network
Pilots	2		February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20)	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01)	NBC
1	7		September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15)	February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09)
2	8		September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17)	March 25, 1973 (1973-03-25)
3	8		September 23, 1973 (1973-09-23)	May 5, 1974 (1974-05-05)
4	6		September 15, 1974 (1974-09-15)	April 27, 1975 (1975-04-27)
5	6		September 14, 1975 (1975-09-14)	May 2, 1976 (1976-05-02)
6	3		October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10)	May 22, 1977 (1977-05-22)
7	5		November 21, 1977 (1977-11-21)	May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13)
8	4		February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06)	May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01)	ABC
9	6		November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)	May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14)
10 + Specials	14		December 9, 1990 (1990-12-09)	January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30)

Episodes

Pilot episodes

Before Peter Falk was cast in the role of Columbo, Bert Freed played the character in "Enough Rope", a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show , a TV anthology series. In 1962, that episode became a stage play titled Prescription: Murder, which starred Thomas Mitchell as Columbo, Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead as Roy and Claire Flemming, and Patricia Medina as Flemming's mistress. ^[4]

The play was adapted to a made-for-TV movie in 1968, with Falk debuting in the role. In this made-for-TV movie, Columbo—rather than making the rumpled presentation that later became the character's trademark—is less shabbily dressed, wearing suits, shorter hair, and heavier stage makeup. He carries a raincoat, which would become a staple. He wears the raincoat in most of the scenes. He also appears somewhat more aggressive when confronting suspects.

Columbo pilot episodes

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim played by	Original air date	Runtime
1	"Prescription: Murder"	Richard Irving	Richard Levinson & William Link based on their play	Gene Barry as Ray Flemming	Nina Foch as Carol Flemming	February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20)	94 min
Dr. Ray Flemming (Gene Barry), a psychiatrist, murders his wife (Nina Foch) and persuades his mistress Joan Hudson (Katherine Justice), who is an actress and one of his patients, to support his alibi by impersonating her aboard his plane flight. Columbo notices that Flemming does not call out to his wife when he gets back. Final clue and twist: Columbo stages the suicide of Flemming's mistress, then urges him to confess now that the love of his life has killed herself for him. Flemming mocks Columbo's words, saying he never cared deeply for Joan and would have gotten rid of her eventually, anyway. Joan, listening in, agrees to testify against Flemming.
2	"Ransom for a Dead Man"	Richard Irving	Story by : Richard Levinson & William Link Teleplay by : Dean Hargrove	Lee Grant as Leslie Williams	Harlan Warde as Paul Williams	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01)	92 min
Leslie Williams (Lee Grant), a brilliant and ruthless lawyer, murders her husband Paul (Harlan Warde) to get his money, arranging the act to look as if he had been kidnapped and killed by his captors. Final clue and twist: Margaret (Patricia Mattick), who hates her stepmother Leslie, tells Leslie she will go away if Leslie gives her a lot of money. When Leslie pays Margaret off with some of the ransom cash, Columbo, who had persuaded Margaret to demand money from Leslie, has the final proof he needs.

Season 1 (1971–72)

Main article: Columbo season 1

1. "Columbo – Complete Series DVD UK". Amazon UK. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
2. "Columbo, saison 12 Fr" . Retrieved April 2, 2012.
3. "COLUMBO US DVD release at Universal Studio" . Retrieved April 2, 2012.
4. Lachman, Marvin (2014). The villainous stage : crime plays on Broadway and in the West End. McFarland. ISBN   978-0-7864-9534-4. OCLC   903807427.
5. Ironically, Colby was a murder victim in 1975.
6. "Columbo - 8:30 PM Premiere". Los Angeles Times . September 23, 1973. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
7. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Any Old Port in a Storm'". Los Angeles Times . October 7, 1973. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
8. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Candidate for Crime'". Los Angeles Times . November 4, 1973. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
9. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Double Exposure'". Los Angeles Times . December 16, 1973. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
10. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Publish or Perish'". Los Angeles Times . January 13, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
11. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Mind Over Mayhem'". Los Angeles Times . February 10, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
12. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'Swan Song'". Los Angeles Times . March 3, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
13. "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie: Columbo - 'A Friend in Deed'". Los Angeles Times . May 5, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Columbo Peter "By the way Falk returns". Los Angeles Times . September 15, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
15. "TV Listings for Sunday Evening - Columbo - "Negative Reaction"". October 6, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
16. "Peter Falk is Columbo - 'By Dawn's Early Light'". October 27, 1974. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
17. "Peter Falk is Columbo - 'Troubled Waters'". February 9, 1975. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
18. "Peter Falk is Columbo - 'Playback'". March 2, 1975. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
19. "Peter Falk is Columbo - 'A Deadly State of Mind'". April 27, 1975. Retrieved November 7, 2024– via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

• Dawidziak, Mark (1989). The Columbo Phile : A Casebook. New York: Mysterious Press. ISBN   978-0-89296-984-5.

External links

• Columbo at IMDb

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original release date	Runtime

v t e Columbo
Episodes	Season 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Related	Columbo (character) Mrs. Columbo Columbo statue
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