The murderer is revealed before the detective even walks into the room.
That clever idea has kept Columbo entertaining since Peter Falk first put on the raincoat for NBC’s 1968 television movie Prescription: Murder. The question is never who committed the crime. It is how Lieutenant Columbo will catch someone who appears to have planned it perfectly.
The character existed before Falk took the role. Writers Richard Levinson and William Link introduced Columbo in a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show, with Bert Freed playing the detective. They later turned the story into a stage play before Universal adapted it into Prescription: Murder.
NBC initially hoped to cast Bing Crosby, but he preferred retirement and golf. Falk proved to be the right choice. His Columbo appears distracted as he fusses with his cigar, talks about his unseen wife and wanders toward the door. Then he turns around with another question, usually after the suspect has decided there is nothing to fear.
Link said the raincoat, cigar and hidden intelligence were already part of the character.
“Peter brought the humanity to it and a lot of the humor,” the writer told Fresh Air.
A second TV movie followed in 1971, then Columbo joined The NBC Mystery Movie that September. Its rotating 90-minute slot gave each case time to establish the killer before exploring the slow contest between detective and suspect. A young Steven Spielberg directed the first episode of the regular series, “Murder by the Book.”
The villains were often wealthy, polished and certain that the rumpled lieutenant could not match them. Watching that confidence disappear became the real payoff. Falk won three Emmys during the original NBC run, while the show earned another for Outstanding Limited Series.
TV Guide placed Columbo among its 60 best series of all time in 2013. By then, it had already returned on ABC, where Falk continued solving new cases years after the NBC run ended.
Its measured pace now feels refreshing, and knowing the killer never weakens the suspense. After 58 years, the fun is still in waiting for Columbo to notice the one detail everyone else missed.
Related: 1968 Charles Bronson Movie, Originally a Box Office Flop, Is Now a Major Hit 58 Years Later
