Regular visitor who can’t locate an article you know you’ve read here before? Or a site newcomer looking to see what you might have missed? Then you’ve come to the right place. This handy page categorises all the main articles on the blog and will point you straight to ’em without having to scroll endlessly or fruitlessly use the search tool. There’s sure to be something to tickle your fancy here – or I’ll report myself to my own superiors…
Editor’s choice
A handful of hidden gems that you might be unaware existed!
- Brian De Palma’s lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant’s unfilmed final case
- Six life lessons to learn from Lieutenant Columbo
- What happens when Columbo’s cases go to court?
- Columbo’s highest profile cases
- Why Columbo matters as much as ever
Top 10 / listicle articles
Generally light-hearted looks at the best and worst of Columbo – not to be taken too seriously (though some readers inevitably will).
- My top 10 favourite Columbo episodes
- My top 10 favourite Columbo killers
- My top 10 best Columbo ‘gotcha’ scenes
- Columbo Awards – the best aspects of the 70s’ seasons
- Columbo Razzies – the worst aspects of the 70s’ seasons
- 10 least satisfying Columbo gotchas of the 70s
- Columbo’s highest profile cases
- Top 10 most sympathetic killers
- Top 10 most loathsome killers
- 10 actors who should have played a killer on Columbo
- Top 10 best supporting characters
- Top 10 most deserving victims
- Top 10 most sympathetic victims
- Worst dressed Columbo characters
- Best-dressed Columbo villains
- The cleverest Columbo killings
- The most chilling Columbo murders
- The most beautiful women of Columbo
- Columbo’s most handsome men
- 10 great booze-fuelled moments
- 13 amazing Columbo roles for women aged 45+
- 10 Columbo killers who’ll never do jail time
- 12 toe-curlingly dreadful Columbo moments
- 10 of Peter Falk’s sexiest Columbo moments
- 10 times Columbo should have been reported to his superiors
- 10 coolest Columbo cars of the 70s
- The best Columbo lookalikes
- 7 spin-off ideas better than Mrs Columbo
- 13 times we see Columbo out of ‘uniform’
- The ultimate Columbo dinner party guest list
Fan poll results
Fans’ opinions on Columbo topics. The favourite episode poll ran for several years before being retired in 2020 due to very little movement in a solidly established top 10.
- Columbo top 10 episodes as voted by the fans – 2020 edition
- Columbo top 10 episodes as voted by the fans – 2019 edition
- Columbo top 10 episodes as voted by the fans – 2018 edition
- Fans’ top 10 ‘new’ Columbo episodes
- Fans’ top 10 Columbo killers
- Who’s the best: Culp, Cassidy or McGoohan?
About Columbo (the character)
Articles about the real Columbo behind the veneer portrayed to his suspects.
- Was Columbo’s first name really Frank?
- Does Columbo have only one eye?
- Does Mrs Columbo really exist?
- Six times Columbo loses his cool – and what it tells us
- Seven times Columbo refers to his previous cases
- Six times Columbo’s life was under threat
- Six life lessons to learn from Lieutenant Columbo
Behind the scenes on the show
Articles about real-life aspects of the show.
- The ultimate Columbo locations map
- Columbo: an origin story
- How a Columbo reboot could work
- Suitable for Framing’s nude model identified at last!
- Brian De Palma’s lost Columbo, and the Lieutenant’s unfilmed final case
- All about Columbo and Dog
- Six of the best: chronicling Columbo’s unsung heroes
- Preparing for Columbo’s comeback in 1989
- ‘New Columbo‘ – was it any good?
- Why is there a Columbo statue in Budapest?
- The Columbo kill count: who died, how?
- The 5 key steps in crafting a Columbo mystery
- What happens when Columbo’s cases go to court?
- Columbo’s Alpine adventure: the episode that never was
- Examining the use of phone records on Columbo
- Why Columbo matters as much as ever
- Mrs Columbo’s name revealed as the Lieutenant meets Sinatra
- Columbo’s Oscars pedigree
Tribute articles
Remembering the contributions of the actors, producers, writers and directors who made Columbo the greatest detective show of them all.
- Remembering the life of Peter Falk
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2021
- Celebrating Murder by the Book’s 50th anniversary
- Ransom for a Dead Man turns 50
- Thanks a lot, Sarge: RIP Bruce Kirby
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2020
- Thanks for the memories: RIP William Link
- RIP Honor Blackman
- Farewell to Milo Janus: RIP Robert Conrad
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2019
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2018
- RIP Steven Bochco
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2017
- The tragic real-life fates of three Columbo stars
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2016
- Bon voyage to Robert Vaughn
- The Columbo stars we lost in 2015
- Theo Bikel: a tribute
Interviews
- Memories of a Columbo killer: an interview with Ed Begley Jr
- The original Columbo Phile: an interview with author Mark Dawidziak
- Playwright pens Columbo prequel
- “Columbo brought us together” – a transatlantic love story
- Talking Columbo fandom on the ‘Headline This’ podcast
- A Columbo conversation on Blog Talk Radio
Books
- Shooting Columbo: the most significant new Columbo book in 30 years
- Columbo Phile 30th anniversary reprint available now
- Columbo book review: The Dean’s Death
- Book review: William Link’s The Columbo Collection
- New Columbo cookbook out now!
- Beyond Columbo: new Peter Falk biography out now
- Columbo’s little known novel A Christmas Killing
Columbo top 100 scenes
As decided by a panel of experts and published during the COVID lockdowns of 2020. Don’t dare miss it!
- Part 1 (100-91)
- Part 2 (90-81)
- Part 3 (80-71)
- Part 4 (70-61)
- Part 5 (60-51)
- Part 6 (50-41)
- Part 7 (40-31)
- Part 8 (30-21)
- Part 9 (20-11)
- Final part (10-1)
Detailed episode reviews
Full summaries and analysis of every Columbo episode in chronological order (if not shown below, they will be added once review completed).
Classic era (1968-78)
- Prescription: Murder
- Ransom for a Dead Man
- Murder by the Book
- Death Lends a Hand
- Dead Weight
- Suitable for Framing
- Lady in Waiting
- Short Fuse
- Blueprint for Murder
- Etude in Black
- The Greenhouse Jungle
- The Most Crucial Game
- Dagger of the Mind
- Requiem for a Falling Star
- A Stitch in Crime
- The Most Dangerous Match
- Double Shock
- Lovely But Lethal
- Any Old Port in a Storm
- Candidate for Crime
- Double Exposure
- Publish or Perish
- Mind Over Mayhem
- Swan Song
- A Friend in Deed
- An Exercise in Fatality
- Negative Reaction
- By Dawn’s Early Light
- Troubled Waters
- Playback
- Deadly State of Mind
- Forgotten Lady
- Case of Immunity
- Identity Crisis
- Matter of Honor
- Now You See Him
- Last Salute to the Commodore
- Fade in to Murder
- Old Fashioned Murder
- The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case
- Try and Catch Me
- Murder Under Glass
- Make Me a Perfect Murder
- How to Dial a Murder
- The Conspirators
‘New’ episodes (1989-2003)
- Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
- Murder, Smoke and Shadows
- Sex and the Married Detective
- Grand Deceptions
- Murder: A Self Portrait
- Columbo Cries Wolf
- Agenda for Murder
- Rest in Peace, Mrs Columbo
- Uneasy Lies the Crown
- Murder in Malibu
- Columbo Goes to College
- Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
- Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star
- Death Hits the Jackpot
Episode highlights
Bite-sized articles considering the five best moments/scenes from each episode in chronological order (list updated with each new article).
- Prescription: Murder
- Ransom for a Dead Man
- Murder by the Book
- Death Lends a Hand
- Dead Weight
- Suitable for Framing
- Lady in Waiting
- Short Fuse
- Blueprint for Murder
- Etude in Black
- The Greenhouse Jungle
- The Most Crucial Game
- Dagger of the Mind
- Requiem for a Falling Star
- A Stitch in Crime
- The Most Dangerous Match
- Double Shock
- Lovely but Lethal
- Any Old Port in a Storm
- Candidate for Crime
- Double Exposure
- Publish or Perish
- Mind Over Mayhem
- Swan Song
- A Friend in Deed
- An Exercise in Fatality
- Negative Reaction
- By Dawn’s Early Light
- Troubled Waters
- Playback
- A Deadly State of Mind
- Forgotten Lady
If you still can’t find what you’re looking for after wading through all that, hit me up in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do to help.
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