Columbo
8/10
ABC Ended Drama • Crime • Mystery
20 Seasons · 69 Episodes · Premiered February 20, 1968 · Ended January 30, 2003
This is the detective series that inspired them all. Legendary actor Peter Falk is back in his 4-time Emmy® Award winning role, as the ruffled, cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant who is asking all the right questions.
Where to Watch:
ABC
Next Air Time: No upcoming air date
Seasons & Episodes
Season 1968
1 episode
E01
Prescription: Murder
Tue, Feb 20 1968 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo's first mystery pits him against a cheating doctor out to get rid of his wife in favor of his young, pretty actress girlfriend.
Season 1971
6 episodes
E01
Ransom for a Dead Man
Mon, Mar 1 1971 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A brilliant tort attorney gets rid of her boring husband by faking his kidnapping and keeping the ransom. The FBI may be fooled, but not Columbo.
E02
Murder by the Book
Wed, Sep 15 1971 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
When one member of a mystery writing team wants to break from his less talented partner, she becomes the victim in a real-life murder mystery.
E03
Death Lends a Hand
Wed, Oct 6 1971 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
When the CEO of a private detective agency threatens the wife of a publisher with blackmail and she threatens to expose him, he accidentally kills her.
E04
Dead Weight
Wed, Oct 27 1971 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A war hero shoots and kills his business partner; an easily manipulated young divorcée is the only witness.
E05
Suitable for Framing
Wed, Nov 17 1971 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A wealthy art collector is murdered, and all signs point to a robbery gone wrong. But the nephew's alibi is a little too convenient, and Columbo pulls a fast one to ferret out the killer.
E06
Lady in Waiting
Wed, Dec 15 1971 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A mousy heiress murders her brother, pretending she thought he was a burglar. Lt. Columbo unravels her alibi.
Season 1972
6 episodes
E01
Short Fuse
Wed, Jan 19 1972 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
Pressured to give up his birthright, a chemical company heir enacts a clever plan to get rid of his blackmailing uncle and take over the family business. But Lt. Columbo suspects the man's death was not just a tragic accident.
E02
Blueprint for Murder
Wed, Feb 9 1972 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
Elliot Markham, a brilliant architect and con-man, murders a Texas millionaire and hides his body in order to keep his visionary construction project financed.
E03
Étude in Black
Sun, Sep 17 1972 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A ruthless conductor murders the gifted pianist with whom he is having an affair. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E04
The Greenhouse Jungle
Sun, Oct 15 1972 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
Columbo arrives at a kidnapping case, which at some point turns to worse. Everything seems to be related to a trust fund managed by a man with a great love for orchids.
E05
The Most Crucial Game
Sun, Nov 5 1972 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
The manager of a football team murders its callow owner, making it look as if the young man had had an accident in his swimming pool. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E06
Dagger of the Mind
Sun, Nov 26 1972 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
In London, a respected Shakespearean acting duo cover up the unintended killing of their producer.
Season 1973
8 episodes
E01
Requiem for a Falling Star
Sun, Jan 21 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A faded movie actress commits murder. Lt. Columbo, one of her biggest fans, is on the case.
E02
A Stitch in Crime
Sun, Feb 11 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A surgeon has an ingenious plan for murdering his partner in a research project, but a nurse catches onto the scheme.
E03
The Most Dangerous Match
Sun, Mar 4 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A chess player murders his opponent before a big match. Lt. Columbo must out-maneuver this crafty, but craven, killer.
E04
Double Shock
Sun, Mar 25 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A smarmy TV chef and his identical twin brother, a rigidly proper banker, are suspects in the electrocution of their rich uncle.
E05
Lovely But Lethal
Sun, Sep 23 1973 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
The formula for a miracle wrinkle cream leads the founder of a cosmetics company to murder and Columbo is on this case.
E06
Any Old Port in a Storm
Sun, Oct 7 1973 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A wine connisseur kills his half- brother to prevent him selling the family winery to a merchant company so he can pay off his gambling debts.
E07
Candidate for Crime
Sun, Nov 4 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward murders his domineering campaign manager, staging it to appear that Hayward himself was the intended victim of a mob hit gone wrong.
E08
Double Exposure
Sun, Dec 16 1973 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A self-styled "motivation research specialist" uses subliminal cues to commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
Season 1974
7 episodes
E01
Publish or Perish
Fri, Jan 18 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A publisher hires a bomb enthusiast to murder a bestselling author of sex novels. Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E02
Mind Over Mayhem
Mon, Feb 18 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
The director of a government institute that employs various scientific geniuses commits a clever murder. But another kind of genius is on the case: Lt. Columbo.
E03
Swan Song
Sun, Mar 3 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
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.
E04
A Friend in Deed
Sun, May 5 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A police commissioner provides a false alibi for a wife killer, but then expects an alibi in return.
E05
An Exercise in Fatality
Sun, Sep 15 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A health club owner murders one of his franchisees. Lt. Columbo is on the case. Milo Janus owns a chain of health clubs, but one of his franchisees discovers the man is cheating him - and can prove it to the authorities. Janus responds by murdering his partner and making it look as if he had accidentally killed himself trying to lift a barbell that was too heavy for him. Janus creates a would-be perfect alibi for himself involving a tape recording of his victim's voice, a phone that doesn't light up, a sexy secretary, a party for friends at his house, and a pornographic horror movie. But no alibi is perfect when the rumpled Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E06
Negative Reaction
Tue, Oct 15 1974 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
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.
E07
By Dawn's Early Light
Sun, Oct 27 1974 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
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.
Season 1975
6 episodes
E01
Troubled Waters
Sun, Feb 9 1975 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Lt. Columbo takes a trip to Acapulco, but finds himself on a new case when a used car dealer commits murder on the cruise ship.
E02
Playback
Sun, Mar 2 1975 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E03
A Deadly State of Mind
Sun, Apr 27 1975 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A psychiatrist, who specializes in hypnosis, murders the husband of his mistress and convinces her to lie to the police; it's up to Lt. Columbo to discover the truth.
E04
Forgotten Lady
Sun, Sep 14 1975 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A faded dance star of film and stage murders her husband and makes it look like a suicide; Lt. Columbo doubts her seemingly perfect alibi.
E05
A Case of Immunity
Sun, Oct 12 1975 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
The first secretary to the Suarian king may have immunity from the consequences of committing murder, but Lt. Columbo is wilier than any foreign diplomat.
E06
Identity Crisis
Sun, Nov 2 1975 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A top CIA operative commits murder the way only a brilliant spy can, never guessing he'll have to contend with a man like Lt. Columbo.
Season 1976
5 episodes
E01
A Matter of Honor
Sun, Feb 1 1976 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
When a famous bullfighter's trusted bookkeeper turns up dead in a bullring, Lt. Columbo suspects murder--with a bull as the murder weapon.
E02
Now You See Him
Sun, Feb 29 1976 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A stage illusionist kills his employer and makes it look like a contract killing; it's up to Lt. Columbo to trick the master trickster.
E03
Last Salute to the Commodore
Tue, Mar 2 1976 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.
E04
Fade in to Murder
Sun, Oct 10 1976 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
An egotistical but successful star of a TV detective show murders his blackmailing producer and makes it look like a robbery.
E05
Old Fashioned Murder
Sun, Nov 28 1976 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
The spinster head of a family-run museum murders her brother when he threatens to dissolve the financially strapped institution.
Season 1977
2 episodes
E01
The Bye-bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case
Sun, May 22 1977 4:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
Sigma Society member Oliver Brandt murders his business partner when he threatens to expose him as an embezzler and constructs a seemingly foolproof alibi.
E02
Try and Catch Me
Mon, Nov 21 1977 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A mystery writer suspects her niece's husband of murdering her, and she exacts revenge by asphyxiating him in her house safe.
Season 1978
4 episodes
E01
Murder Under Glass
Mon, Jan 30 1978 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
Food critic Paul Gerard, who has been extorting money from restaurant owners in exchange for good reviews, murders one when threatened with exposure.
E02
Make Me a Perfect Murder
Sat, Feb 25 1978 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo suspects that a network executive may have killed her lover-boss for not promoting her.
E03
How to Dial a Murder
Sat, Apr 15 1978 5:00 PM GMT+0000
90 min
A behavioral psychologist whose wife died under suspicious circumstances trains his dogs to kill on command using a telephone.
E04
The Conspirators
Sat, May 13 1978 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo investigates the murder of an arms dealer.
Season 1989
5 episodes
E01
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
Mon, Feb 6 1989 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
An egocentric psychic murders his old mentor, a magician charged to expose him as fraud, by beheading him while he's rehearsing his guillotine trick.
E02
Murder, Smoke and Shadows
Mon, Feb 27 1989 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A brothers search for the cause of his deceased sister's death leads to murder. During the investigation, Columbo questions a film director and also encounters a case of motion sickness.
E03
Sex and the Married Detective
Mon, Apr 3 1989 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
When a successful sex therapist with a best selling book and a hit TV show is crushed to learn her business partner/lover is cheating on her, she plots appropriate revenge.
E04
Grand Deceptions
Mon, May 1 1989 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.
E05
Murder, a Self Portrait
Sat, Nov 25 1989 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo investigates the apparent drowning of a famous painter's first wife.
Season 1990
6 episodes
E01
Columbo Cries Wolf
Sat, Jan 20 1990 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
When Dian Hunter, the publisher of the men's magazine "Bachelor's World", wants to sell her stock to a media tycoon, her adulterous partner Sean Brantley objects. Soon afterwards, Miss Hunter apparently disappears on a London-bound flight.
E02
Agenda for Murder
Sat, Feb 10 1990 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
This time Columbo is put on a murder that was made to look like a suicide. However, he notices some loose ends, and asks a lawyer and a governor to clear these problems up.
E03
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo
Sat, Mar 31 1990 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A woman who blames Columbo for the loss of her husband sets out to get back at him.
E04
Uneasy Lies the Crown
Sat, Apr 28 1990 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
The unsuccessful junior partner in a dental group, a bad husband and degenerate gambler, faces divorce and ostracism from his father-in-law's firm.
E05
Murder in Malibu
Mon, May 14 1990 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A successful writer of romance novels who is involved with a young, ambitious womanizer, is found shot to death in her Malibu home.
E06
Columbo Goes to College
Sun, Dec 9 1990 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo is invited as guest speaker in a Criminology course and squares off against two cunning students, who are confident they have duped the lieutenant with various leads, when their professor is found murdered.
Season 1991
3 episodes
E01
Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
Wed, Feb 20 1991 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo investigates a self-proclaimed security expert turned crime show host for the murder of a rival with incriminating evidence of pornography.
E02
Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star
Mon, Apr 29 1991 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo is pitted against an equally brilliant, nationally recognized criminal defence lawyer who murders his rock star girlfriend when he discovers she is seeing another man.
E03
Death Hits the Jackpot
Sun, Dec 15 1991 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Freddie Brower, a down-on-his-luck photographer in the final stages of a divorce, wins $30 million in the lottery. In order to not share it with his wife before the divorce is finalized, he arranges for his uncle Leon to cash in the ticket and give Freddy the money after the divorce. But uncle Leon Lamarr has ideas of his own.
Season 1992
2 episodes
E01
No Time to Die
Sun, Mar 15 1992 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo attends his nephew's wedding and as the couple get ready to leave on their honeymoon, the bride disappears; Columbo investigates and suspects his nephew may have made a few enemies on the police force.
E02
A Bird in the Hand...
Sun, Nov 22 1992 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Harold likes to gamble, but as a rule he loses and he is heavily in debt. His uncle is the famous Big Fred who is the owner of a football team and he is a millionaire. But Harold can't get a dime from him. So Harold decides to kill his uncle by a pipe bomb under his car. He is not surprised when he is told Big Fred is dead. He is surprised however that the death is due to a road accident. He rushes to his uncle's house and he finds Lt. Columbo getting excited about the car with the bomb...
Season 1993
1 episode
E01
It's All in the Game
Sun, Oct 31 1993 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Lauren Staton and Lisa Martin kill their two-timing lover Nick Franco. Lauren's the one who pulled the trigger and they've made it look like Franco was killed by a burglar in his apartment. They've prepared well with both having solid alibis. Lt. Columbo is in charge of the case and is very much attracted to the beautiful Lauren. She uses that to her advantage and is soon buying him gifts and giving him the odd kiss. Columbo is flattered but begins to see anomalies in some of the physical evidence. He becomes certain that Lauren is involved in Franco's death but ...
Season 1994
2 episodes
E01
Butterfly in Shades of Grey
Mon, Jan 10 1994 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
L.A. radio moderator Fielding Chase kills Gerry Winters, a member of his staff who tried to help Chase's daughter Victoria (also a staff member) to leave her father and become a novelist in New York. Chase presents a fine alibi: Winters was shot dead while speaking to him on the phone, even the shooting was recorded on his answering machine. Everything seems perfect, but will Lt. Columbo really believe this story?
E02
Undercover
Mon, May 2 1994 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Lieutenant Columbo investigates men and women who are being killed over pieces of a photo they have, that shows where 4 million dollars in stolen money is hidden.
Season 1995
1 episode
E01
Strange Bedfellows
Mon, May 8 1995 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
When Graham McVeigh kills his brother and frames a mob bookie for the crime and then kills the bookie and claims self-defense. He finds himself facing trouble from both Columbo and the bookie's superior in the mob.
Season 1997
1 episode
E01
A Trace of Murder
Thu, May 15 1997 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A beautiful woman and her forensic expert boyfriend try to frame her very rich husband for murder.
Season 1998
1 episode
E01
Ashes to Ashes
Thu, Oct 8 1998 4:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
After a much maligned Hollywood gossip columnist is murdered by her former lover, Columbo tries to find a way to prove he was responsible for the crime.
Season 2001
1 episode
E01
Murder with Too Many Notes
Mon, Mar 12 2001 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
A Hollywood film composer and conductor murdered a talented musician who has been ghostwriting most of his work in recent years.
Season 2003
1 episode
E01
Columbo Likes the Nightlife
Thu, Jan 30 2003 5:00 PM GMT+0000
120 min
Columbo gets a taste of the Los Angeles rave scene as he investigates the apparent suicide of a tabloid reporter.
Cast
Peter Falk
as Lieutenant Columbo