SVS: “Columbo”

I’m not recommending a film this week, I’m recommending a TV show. Actually, to be honest, I’m not recommending a show. I’m recommending a performance. A character: Lieutenant Colombo, whose eponymous series is currently streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.

With his rumpled raincoat, ever-present cigar, bumbling demeanour and Sherlock Holmesian powers of deduction, disarmingly polite homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo took on some of the most cunning murderers in Los Angeles, most of whom made one fatal, irrevocable mistake: underestimating his investigative genius.

I’d be hard-pressed to come up with a show that has brought me more pleasure in all my years of TV viewing. But rather than ramble on about its brilliance, I’ll highlight two things that really stand out in my mind, even now: One is the way it turns the typical TV whodunit on its head, showing us the crime (and its perpetrator) in the opening moments of each episode. Which means we audience members aren’t trying to figure out who committed the crime; we’re trying to figure out how the rumpled Columbo will figure it out. A radically different dynamic, and one whose success is pretty much entirely the fault of one man: Peter Falk. I could watch him forever and in anything, but especially in this. Don’t let his TV pedigree fool you; Lieutenant Columbo is one of the all-time great performances.

The other distinctive feature? Its ability to consistently attract really wonderful and high-profile guest stars. Like John Cassavetes in that clip above. And Johnny Cash. And Dick Van Dyke. And Anne Baxter. And Leonard Nimoy. And Ricardo Montalban. And Janet Leigh. And Theodore Bickel. And the list goes on. And it’s awesome.  (It’s also the only show I can think of that has single-handedly made me love an entirely different character and show: Tony Shaloub’s Adrian Monk, from the again-eponymous and homage-laden “Monk.”)

Unsurprisingly, not all episodes are created equal — though Falk is ALWAYS worth watching — and sixty-eight might seem like a daunting number. So here are a few favorites, just to get you started.

“By Dawn’s Early Light” (featuring Patrick McGoohan): The commandant of a military academy murders the chairman of the board, who wants to oust him. Lt. Columbo takes up residence in the barracks to expose the killer.

“Any Old Port in a Storm” (featuring Donald Pleasence): A connoisseur running a California winery murders his younger half-brother to prevent him from selling the family business. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

“Double Shock” (featuring Martin Landau): PLOT SUMMARY [REDACTED], because this one features features pretty much my favorite moment in any of the episodes, and I’m not going to spoil it.

“Swan Song” (featuring Johnny Cash): A gospel singer wants to be rid of his zealous wife. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.

“Negative Reaction” (featuring Dick Van Dyke): A photographer murders his wife and blames her death on a bungled kidnapping. But Lt. Columbo has an even sharper eye than the Pulitzer Prize winner.

Attribution(s): All publicity images and stills are the property of NBC and other respective production studios and distributors, and are intended for editorial use only.