Tag Archives: Crime

Columbo: Murder: A Self Portrait

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Columbo still has a dog called Dog. Either he’s getting new dogs and keeping up the Dog naming tradition, or Dog is breaking all records for the longevity of a basset hound. We begin this week with Columbo taking Dog … Continue reading →

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Columbo: Grand Deceptions

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Roger Pocock

We begin with a slow panning shot across model soldiers on a battlefield, and it’s a great way to start an episode of Columbo. Anyone who has seen the 1970s episodes will also have high hopes, because we know the … Continue reading →

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Columbo: Sex and the Married Detective

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Name two things that don’t fit naturally together. You might say wellington boots and sunglasses, trampolines and caviar, hospitals and popcorn, bicycles and leathers, libraries and raves, pineapple and pizza, swimming pools and face paint, or even tubas and detectives. … Continue reading →

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Columbo: Murder, Smoke and Shadows

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Roger Pocock

If I can be permitted to engage in a brief moment of nostalgia, when the first season of Columbo was made in 1971, the first episode was directed by somebody you might have heard of: Stephen Spielberg. He went on … Continue reading →

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Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Roger Pocock

If you are a fan of a television show that ended years ago, its triumphant return is a magical moment. I can’t quite claim to be in that lucky contingent with the return of Columbo in 1989, because I wasn’t … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Love, on Instant Replay

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Kate’s final case is an unusual one. The victim, Laura White, had been asking for trouble with her twisted behaviour, running a dating agency and using that as an opportunity to threaten her clients and film her exploits. In the … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Feelings Can Be Murder

Posted on April 23, 2023 by Roger Pocock

For the first time in a while the writers of this series play to its strengths, with Kate involved in a murder case simply because she is a journalist. She doesn’t need to have any pre-involvement with either the murderer … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Falling Star

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Roger Pocock

The writers of this show continue to rely on an outrageous degree of coincidence in terms of Kate’s involvement in the murder mystery stories. As per nearly every other episode, she just happens to be involved in the life of … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: A Chilling Surprise

Posted on April 9, 2023 by Roger Pocock

This show really didn’t seem to know what it wanted to be. We’ve gone from thriller to Columbo-esque how-will-she-catch-’em murders, to whodunits with an amateur sleuth who is always placing herself in danger, and now the writer this week seemed … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: The Valley Strangler

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Three years she grew in sun and shower, Then Nature said, “A lovelier flower On earth was never sown; This Child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make A Lady of my own. This … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Off the Record

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Roger Pocock

If we were unsure of Kate’s marital status, she makes it clear in this episode. She is Kate Columbo no more: “I went to court and got my maiden name back.” Oddly, Mike expresses surprise at hearing Kate introduce herself … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: It Goes with the Territory

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Roger Pocock

What goes with the territory? For Kate, it’s danger, and that’s an element that differs very much from the parent show. Once again Jenny is imperilled as well, so having a daughter also adds to that element of risk. You … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Ladies of the Afternoon

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Roger Pocock

What’s this? Mrs Columbo isn’t Mrs Columbo any more? There have been some odd ideas floated around as to why this happened, and in the absence of a detailed interview with somebody connected with this show we can only really … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: A Puzzle for Prophets

Posted on March 5, 2023 by Roger Pocock

You’ve got to hand it to this show: they tried to choose interesting people as the killers. We had a retired police officer in Murder is a Parlor Game and a ventriloquist in A Riddle for Puppets. Now it’s the … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Caviar with Everything

Posted on February 26, 2023 by Roger Pocock

The first episode of Mrs Columbo was about 90 minutes, but every subsequent episode has been around the 45 minute mark. This is significantly shorter than a Columbo episode, despite still showing us the murder first and then having Kate … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: A Riddle for Puppets

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Roger Pocock

We start this episode with a lot of shots of disembodied ventriloquist dummy heads, which had me on edge right from the beginning. The story centres around ventriloquist Noel Abbott, who is a recognisable, famous entertainer, but takes the trouble … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Murder is a Parlor Game

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Mrs Columbo is still hanging on the coat-tails of the parent show, but unlike the first episode this one could easily have worked as an actual Columbo episode, with minimal rewriting, so let’s return to a review format that regular … Continue reading →

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Mrs Columbo: Word Games

Posted on February 5, 2023 by Roger Pocock

To say this series has a bad reputation would be an understatement. As a Columbo fan, I have been aware of the existence of a spin-off show for many years, but have never seen a single episode. Everything I have … Continue reading →

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Columbo: The Conspirators

Posted on January 29, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Every generation of children has their worries. My parents had to survive through the war years. Before my time, many children were born into a world of fear, thinking that a nuclear attack could hit at any time. Nowadays climate … Continue reading →

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Columbo: How to Dial a Murder

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Roger Pocock

Dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend, but they can also be deadly weapons in the wrong hands. In this episode of Columbo, the very inventive seventh season continues with the most unusual method of killing yet, but can … Continue reading →

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