Writers Richard Levinson & William Link introduced Columbo in a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Hour, with Bert Freed in the role. Eight years later, after that particular episode had been adapted for the stage, Columbo returned in an NBC TV-movie, with Peter Falk starring in "Prescription: Murder", which brought the original pilot full circle.
In 1971, NBC decided to make Columbo a component of their new Mystery Movie wheel anthology, along with McMillan & Wife and McCloud, the latter of which came over from the failed Four-In-One anthology. The format was basic, a reversal of the classic whodunits in that the killer would be revealed to the audience early, and it was just a matter of when Columbo put all the clues together.
Columbo's relentless pursuit of the case would lend itself to parody. As season six began, ABC and Hanna-Barbera introduced a canine detective, Mumbly, who was later revealed to be a lookalike cousin of Dick Dastardly's sidekick, Muttley, and was posited initially as a parody of Columbo, but being here, there, and everywhere to the annoyance of the suspect was borrowed from Droopy. Unfortunately, the heroic Mumbly lasted one year before he was rebooted to replace cousin Muttley due to a rights dispute in another series.
In addition, radio & cartoon legend Casey Kasem impersonated Columbo on two occasions. The first was when Telly Savalas (Kojak) was feted on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast, the other as a villain on The Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew Mysteries. In both cases, Kasem was unable to replicate Falk's vocal patterns as Columbo.
In all, Columbo ran for 8 seasons on NBC, and then was brought back 11 years later on ABC, which utilized the series on and off for 14 years (1989-2003). To think that the character of Columbo actually turns 60 in two years time begs the question. Could anyone fill that rumpled trenchcoat now, several years after Falk's passing?
Unfortunately, the video's been deleted. So, in its place, we'll sub in a screenshot of Peter Falk in character as Columbo:
Rating: A.
Falk was so distinctive that no one else could take the role IMO.
ReplyDeleteThis episode is one of the classics. Love the flair Bernard Kowalski brought to this; the montage shown on Culp's sunglasses especially. It was always interesting to see how each director would tackle the challenge of making such a conversational show visually interesting. For my money, Culp is the second best Columbo villain ever, behind Patrick McGoohan.
It's hard for me to try to imitate Falk's distinctive voice without suddenly developing a dry cough. That aside, I made the inquiry about a reboot because, well, Universal is in the habit of rebooting properties for better or worse like everyone else these days, reviving Magnum, PI with a Latino lead being the latest idea.
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