![]() ![]() In a throwback to golden age of television anthologies like Playhouse 90, NBC created a revolving Mystery Movie of the week in 1971. And there was so much in these plots to unravel: The immediate draw for the viewer involved wondering about the significance of Roddy McDowall’s uncle’s cigar box, or why Theodore Bikel had to set up a magic marker so precisely next to a phonograph. Although many of these solutions involved Columbo baiting traps that would have a hard time standing as actual evidence in any court of law, that didn’t make them any less enjoyable to witness. The show’s shift of the mystery question from “who” to “how” was brilliant, as audiences reveled in Columbo’s every unraveling of the villains’ artificial innocence. Much more fun could be had if he were confronted by someone like Noël Coward.” Who isn’t envious of maestros and TV producers and famous food critics and their palatial estates? Who wouldn’t want to see insufferably self-important people taken down by a polite, self-deprecating detective with a Sherlock Holmes-like attention to detail? Levinson and Link point out: “Given the persona of Falk as an actor, it would have been foolish to play him against a similar type, a Jack Klugman, for example, or a Martin Balsam. Which made the show’s tendency to pitch Columbo against titans of industry and the arts so satisfying to witness. All of these elements fleshed out this original character in a wholly three-dimensional way, creating an irrepressible, relatable everyman. Falk described the character in his 2007 autobiography ( Just One More Thing, the title adapted from Columbo’s personal catchphrase) as “a guy with a mind like Einstein who sounded like the box boy at Food Giant.” Falk hand-selected Columbo’s permanent wardrobe-including the legendary raincoat as well a tie and shoes from his own closet-and picked out the beat-up 1959 Peugeot 403 convertible right out of the lot. ![]() Unlike gritty cops of the era, he didn’t even carry a gun. Not just his trenchcoat, his cigar, and his car, but his stooped posture, his gestures, his tendency to pull random objects out of his pockets, and his unfailing politeness, even when speaking to a party he knows is guilty. ![]() So much credit must be given to the way he completely inhabited the character within an episode or two, viewers learned Columbo’s every idiosyncrasy. The trick was in watching how the detective would outsmart these murderers, who were usually brilliant (and conceited) artists, creators, or moguls at the top of their respective fields.įalk made the detective’s underdog appeal unforgettable. Austin Freeman, who asked, “Would it be possible to write a detective story in which the reader was made an actual witness of the crime and furnished with every fact that could possibly be used in its detection?” Apparently it was, leading to 68 episodes and four Emmys for Falk. In their book Stay Tuned: An Inside Look At The Making Of Prime-Time Television, Levinson and Link credit the Columbo method to the “inverted mystery form” of R. The show offered a genius twist on the tired “whodunit” schemes so common in Agatha Christie mysteries, as the viewer began every Columbo episode already knowing the identity of the culprit. Prescription: Murder set up the Columbo template: After a drawn-out, elaborate murder scheme-carried out by one of the biggest stars of the day-Columbo stumbles in 20 minutes later to solve the case. A filmed version of Prescription: Murder in 1968 became the first Columbo pilot, with New York actor Peter Falk taking on (and owning) the sleuth’s role. ![]() With that marquee talent in the lead roles, the playwrights were astounded to discover that the character who riveted the audience most of all was the disheveled, disarming detective who cracks the case almost apologetically. Columbo began as a secondary character in Levinson and Link’s play, Prescription: Murder the Broadway run starred Joseph Cotten as a murderous husband and Agnes Moorehead as his wife and victim. ![]()
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