Interestingly, when “Columbo” series creators Richard Levinson and William Link were seeking an actor to play the role in the TV movie “Prescription: Murder” in 1967, they wanted either Lee J. Cobb or Bing Crosby. Only after those actors turned down the part, and Universal Studios producer Richard Irving suggested Falk, did Levinson and Link agree to hire the then-40-year-old actor. See video montage of Peter Falk’s life.
After one more pilot, “Ransom For a Dead Man” in 1971, “Columbo” became part of “The NBC Mystery Movie,” a fondly remembered rotating series of glossily produced 90-minute to two-hour presentations that included “McMillan and Wife,” “McCloud” and other shows.
Here, then, are the five best “Columbo” episodes. All seven seasons of the original NBC CMCSA -0.55% series are available on DVD from Universal Home Entertainment, in a price range of $15 to $25 each.
1) “A Friend In Deed.” Original airdate: May 5, 1974 — the final episode of the show’s third season.
During “Columbo’s” first season, each episode was 90 minutes long. NBC decided to extend the shows to two hours for the next season, and some of the episodes from 1972-73 show the strain of trying to fit in another half-hour.
By the third season, however, “Columbo’s” show runners had truly mastered the two-hour format. In “A Friend In Deed,” Columbo is presented with his greatest challenge — how to catch a killer who is also his supervisor. Richard Kiley plays Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Halperin, who helps establish an alibi for a rich man, Hugh Caldwell, who has just killed his wife. [Source: marketwatch.com]
