Columbo

Season 1 Episode 1. The premiere of the series, directed by Steven Spielberg himself. Introducing Columbo (Peter Falk) as the detective who everyone underestimates due to his appearance and manner. A duo of crime writers is over when one writer wants to end the series to contiue on his own sparking a murder. Columbo is soon on the case trying to solve a crime created by a writer of them but what will the big giveaway be?

Season 1 Episode 2. A hot-tempered private detective accidentally kills a woman who he tries to blackmail. Columbo is assigned to the case and is soon placed in a co-operative position with the private detective by the husband. Great ending to this episode.

Season 1 Episode 3. When a man is witnessed shooting another man at his home, she notifies the police and Columbo begins to investigate. The man is a famous war hero and after a search of his house, he brings up nothing and afterwards he is very doubtful of the witness who was on a boat outside at a good distance away. However when the war hero starts to woo the 'witness' she starts to change her mind on what she saw and begins to believe she was seeing things. The the body turns up...

Season 1 Episode 4. Another great episode with a brilliant ending where Columbo investigates the death and robbery of a wealthy art collector by his nephew. Working with a woman who provides him with an alibi, he's certain nothing can go wrong but then proceeds to frame the ex-wife for the doings when Columbo gets too close.

Season 1 Episode 5. Always having her life controlled by her family, Beth snaps and kills her brother after he threatens to fire a man she has fallen in love with at work. Making it look like an accident to Columbo, she seems to be getting away with it until her boyfriend (Leslie Nielsen) starts to get unsettled by her new changes now she's a 'free' woman.

Season 1 Episode 6. When the CEO of a chemical plant is killed by his nephew Roger using an explosive device in his limo, Columbo is assigned to investigate the incident and prove that it was no accident.

Season 1 Episode 7. An architech, Elliot, kills Bo Williamson over a disagreement of a new project then hides the body and makes it appear he's out of town. Columbo is soon on the case and pointing out the flaws in the disappearance and with the concerns of Goldie, his first wife, he targets the construction site as the place where the body is buried but is Columbo as spot on as he thinks? Last episode of Season 1.

Season 1 Pilot 1. The first Columbo movie where a psychiatrist and an actress/patient/lover work together to cover up his murder of his wife. However they don't reckon on the constant suspicions and questions of Lt. Columbo who is sure there's more to this than meets the eye.

Season 1 Pilot 2. Columbo movie where a lawyer murders her husband and then fakes his kidnapping so everyone thinks he's still alive. Unfortunately her stepdaughter believes she was involved as does Columbo but neither have the proof needed. Great seeing Columbo react after a loop-the-loop in a plane. ''I'd apprectiate it if we didn't talk for a while."

Season 2 Episode 1. A famous symphony conductor is having an affair with a young, beautiful pianist who gives him an ultimatum: divorce his wife or she'll spread the affair and ruin him. As usual, the epsiode begins with the murder, you see who does it and how it's done and then it introduces Columbo who works for homocide. Between telling amusing stories about his wife and going off topic and admiring the suspects' car or house, he's often intruding on and harrassing his suspect much to their annoyance. But despite his manner he's always in deep thought, troubled by little details that don't add up, and then on leaving he'll say '...just one more thing', and point out a flaw in the crime. Then at the end comes the fatal mistake that never occured to the suspect, or sometimes the viewer too, and usually brilliantly done. This is the first episode of Season 2 and introduces his dog, who he has yet to name but judging by reactions it won't be Fido or Beethoven...

Season 2 Episode 2. Faking his own kidnapping, with the aid of his uncle, Goodland uses this in order to get his wife to access the trust fund where most of his money is kept. Planning to use this money to keep his wife from straying, his uncle sees it as a wate and drawing a gun, changes the plan. This is where Columbo steps in, who is suspicious after being confronted with so many clues. After amusingly falling down a hill, he is soon partnered with a homicide prodigy who hopes to learn things from Columbo despite their very different methods. This was a weaker episode, the prodigy was pretty annoying and the uncle wasn't that great a villian although the plot stood up to standards.

Season 2 Episode 3. It seems like a straight forward accident - slipping in his pool and hitting his head and no evidence points otherwise. There are subtle clues that Columbo thinks point otherwise but breaking the seemingly perfect alibi of the killer is another task in itself. Great ending.

Season 2 Episode 4. A producer of Macbeth discovers that his 'secret' lover and her husband have been deceiving him and using him to stage the play so he threatens to close it down but in a heated argument he accidentally dies. No witnesses in sight, they take the body to his house and stage it like he took a fall. Set in London rather than the typical American backset, Columbo is visiting Scotland Yard to learn about their methods and soon becomes involved in the investigation. However, when the one clue he picks up on ends up wrong, Columbo must find another way to catch the couple out. It was a good episode, great seeing Columbo run about with a camera like he was on holiday and funny to see his queasiness back as he tries to eat dinner while avoiding looking at passed around photos of an autopsy.

Season 2 Episode 5. Nora Chandler, a classic movie star is being blackmailed by Jerry Parks, a reporter so she blows up his car as he parks but finds she accidentally kills her secretary whom he was planning to marry. Columbo soon enters, starstruck by the actress, but will he be able to pin the crime on her as Nora discovers the reporter also had a motive for killing his wife-to-be. Great episode per usual with the usual Columbo ending, catching the suspect out in style.

Season 2 Episode 6. A calm, cool and controlled surgeon (Leonard Nimoy) uses dissolvable suture for a heart valve operation. A suspicious nurse becomes the victim and this is where Columbo steps in but can he find the motive and get the surgeon to slip up? Well, of course! Great ending per usual.

Season 2 Episode 7. A chess grandmaster is to be pitted against a retired Soviet player and he finds himself outclassed. Fixing it to look like an accident, he throws his opponent into a trash compactor but not all goes to plan and he survives and Columbo is called in to match wits with a most remarkable mind before the victim can make another move.

Season 2 Episode 8. The final episode of Season 2 has Columbo investigating when a wealthy old man dies of a supposed heart attack. Apart from agitating the mistress of the manor, he finds two suspects in the form of twin brothers. Both stand to inherit a lot of money and both have motives but who actually committed the murder? Great epsiode.

Season 3 Episode 1. First episode of Season 3 shows the cosmetics world as a cut-throat business with a miracle beauty cream being the object of desire. Cosmetics queen, Viveca Scott, learns that the formula for the cream that may save her business is stolen by one of her own employees for sale to her rival. After the murder, Columbo is soon on the scene to unravel the clues and catch the suspect out. Vincent Price and a young Martin Sheen are among the cast in this episode.

Season 3 Episode 2. Adrian Carsini is a fanatical wine connoisseur who kills his brother when he threatens to sell the vineyard to fund his own wedding. Storing the body in his wine vault while he travels to New York to attend a conference, he later disposes of the body on his return, in such a way as to make his brother's demise look like an accident. There are clues there though that don't add up to Lt. Columbo but he soon befriends Carsini in the hope to not only learn about wine, something he always lacked the knowledge of, but pin him in some way to the death of his brother.

Season 3 Episode 6. Columbo matches wits with the head of a scientific think tank who kills a fellow scientist when he makes a claim that his son plagarised his work from a deceased mentor. There are a lot of solid alibis but Columbo is determined to find the real suspect.

Season 4 Episode 6 (last episode of season) - A psychiatrist and expert on human behaviour is using a woman to help write his book but her husband finds out they're having an affair and in a struggle, the psychiatrist accidentally kills the husband. Making up a story to satisfy the police, Lt. Columbo has doubts about the womans' statement and sets about using his own methods to trap the killer. Another great episode.

Season 5 Episode 5 - A master magician kills the nightclub owner after a blackmail attempt and Columbo is soon investigating. This sees the return of the homicide prodigy from Season 2 episode 'The Greenhouse Jungle' who wasn't as annoying this time round. Ending got a laugh out of me with Columbo producing the evidence needed in multiples! Great episode.

Season 5 Episode 6 - When Commodore Otis Swanson goes missing from his boat, Columbo, assisted by a veteran sergeant and a novice, is sent to investigate. They have a suspect but haven't got the proof but a sudden development turns everything on its' head and soon they need to find another killer. This was a different episode, with a little twist just over half-way through and without the viewer knowing who the killer was until the very end. This was a pretty funny episode too with Columbo clueless about boats and ships and just repeating all the terms such as 'boom' and 'self-steering' to himself. This was also a funny shipyard scene with Columbo trying to shout questions and hear answers over background noise. The ending was random and funny too with Columbo going to meet his wife in a different way than usual. Great episode though as always.

Season 7 Episode 1 - A successful crime writer locks her nephew in a soundproof vault in her room, making it look like a theft that went wrong but Columbo isn't as fooled. Seeking her help in the unravelling of the case, Columbo finds out that the victim left something behind that may be the key to the case.

Season 7 Episode 2 - Columbo investigates the poisoning of a restaurant chef but the suspect had already left before he was killed. As the battle of wits begins, Columbo must figure out how the victim was poisoned.

Season 7 Episode 3 - A high-flying TV executive kills her boss/secret lover while managing to have an alibi and a witness to her whereabouts. Columbo is soon on the scene doing what he does best - annoying the suspect.

Season 8 Episode 2

Season 8 Episode 3

Season 9 Episode 1

Season 9 Episode 5

Season 10 Episode 2

Season 11 Episode 2

Special 1/8

Special 2/8

Special 6/8

Season 4 Episode 3 - a stern Colonel in a military academy decides to take action when the property owner makes plans to change it into a co-ed college due to poor enrolement. Columbo is on the scene and finds that the tragic accident could have been more than that but a careless cadet is fingered as a likely suapect by the Colonel. This was a good episode but not one of my overall favourites.

Season 6 Episode 2 - Ruth and Edward Lytton, brother and sister, own a museum but due to lack of funds, Edward plans to sell it. Ruth, however, conducts a robbery and double-murder using the new security guard who has a debt to pay. Columbo is soon on the scene though questioning the inconsistencies throughout but finds there are family secrets he must delve into first before he can catch the real suspect.

Season 6 Episode 3 (last episode of season) - Columbo investigates a murder within a group that contains some of the highest IQs in the world. Rigging up the room to sound like the victim is shot and the killer is exiting a door on the other side as they enter while the real murderer is with them, it'll take Columbo all his mental power to catch out the killer. Great riddle in this episode where the killer tests Columbos IQ. Cleverly done episode.