# Columbo - a few questions for discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 2, 2022, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074 "2022-01-02T07:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/61 "2022-09-25T16:34:15Z")
I think the writers were obligated to provide a story that would superficially pass muster if you didn’t analyze it too deeply. But the real selling point for the show was the character. The unkempt, apparently disorganized detective who appeared that way so the suspect would underestimate him and slip up. And Falk nailed it. You could look at his face and see that those wheels were relentlessly turning in his head. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/62 "2022-09-25T16:54:51Z")
In “Ransom for a Dead Man” (1971), Lee Grant has a programmable phone that she uses to establish her alibi. At one point, she has to explain to Columbo how it works. So befuddling high tech was there virtually from the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/63 "2022-09-25T19:15:44Z")
Thanks. I was thinking of the other phone episode. There was also a “pager” episode (with George Hamilton) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/64 "2022-09-25T23:28:27Z")
> [@icon](#): > > And as they come on do you say to yourself: …just one more time? No…but perhaps I should (to get into the spirit of things!) > [@Andy\_L](#): > > My impression is that more than a **few** episodes depend on new tech or on tech that Columbo could plausibly pretend ignorance of (dissolving sutures, fancy phone systems that allow forwarding, typewriters with a type ball, VCRs, closed circuit tv, reversing a photographic negative, etc.) Yes, among the 69 episodes there were quite a few that featured the New Tech of the day. I remember (in addition to those you mentioned) an episode with an extended scene of Columbo having trouble leaving a coherent message on an answering machine—it was clearly something he hadn’t done, before. I’m willing to forgive these plot points–after all, one reason we watch shows and movies from decades back is to ‘time travel’ and learn how things were done and how people’s experiences reflected the times. (At least that’s true for me.) ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/65 "2022-09-25T23:44:53Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > it was clearly something he hadn’t done, before. I would have to re-watch that episode to see, but for me whenever there is “new” technology, I always felt that Columbo knew exactly how it worked, or at least more than he let on, but wanted people to show him so that they could incriminate themselves further. Yes, the times he asks other investigators, then sure, he does not know, but when it is the culprit, I felt that it was part of schtick. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/66 "2022-09-25T23:47:50Z")
> [@icon](#): > > …for me whenever there is “new” technology, I always felt that Columbo knew exactly how it worked, or at least more than he let on, but wanted people to show him so that they could incriminate themselves further. Yes, the times he asks other investigators, then sure, he does not know, but when it is the culprit, I felt that it was part of schtick. I agree with all that, but the particular scene I described–and I don’t recall which episode it’s in–_wasn’t_ played out in front of the culprit. Columbo was in some public place, and no one was paying attention to him. It was purely a comic bit with Columbo grappling with ‘new technology’. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/67 "2022-09-26T00:49:44Z")
“Exercise in Fatality,” with Robert Conrad. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/68 "2022-09-26T01:15:29Z")
He was kept waiting for a computer to spit out some personnel records that he needed to track down a potential witness. It turned out the guy had moved on some time ago, so he left a message at his new number telling him to get in touch. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/69 "2022-09-26T11:26:12Z")
I have Columbo on DVD and watch an episode about every other week. The episode for yesterday was The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case. It Jamie Lee Curtis in a bit part very early in her career. The technology of the day was a programmable record player (which I hadn’t heard about in real life). Apparently you can program the spot on the record where the song starts and can easily listen to the second and fifth track. (I’m still not clear on how that works). The main characters were part of a group similar to the Mensa society. The killer is an arrogant genius, The gotcha was Columbo demonstrating how the murder was committed, but he was wrong… The killer interrupted him and showed Columbo how it was really done and how clever it was. It wasn’t stated as “how I did it”, The defense could be, “I figured out how the killer did it and was just showing how it was done”. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/70 "2022-09-26T11:32:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > s it true the weekly Columbo guest star is usually the killer? I’ve always had that impression that the show was predictable in that way. Yes, and the reason is that the show wasn’t centered around discovering the killer like many “who done its”, it was centered around the head game played between Columbo and the person he knew committed the murder. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/71 "2022-09-26T13:40:20Z")
For that reason, Mystery fans say that Columbo isn’t really ‘Mystery’. They weren’t saying it was bad but just saying it’s not a who-done-it. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/72 "2022-09-26T14:31:14Z")
Well, the episode where Martin Landau played twins kind of bumped up against the regular format a bit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/73 "2022-09-26T14:44:39Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Well, the episode where Martin Landau played twins kind of bumped up against the regular format a bit Also, there’s LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE, where it looks like we’re seeing the killer (a) clean up the crime scene in the immediate aftermath of the murder, and then (b) arrange an alibi for himself by making it seem like the victim is still alive — and then, later in the episode, we get the switcheroo reveal that, uh, no, that’s not whodunit. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/74 "2022-09-26T15:06:46Z")
In addition to Last Salute to the Commodore, there are a couple others that do not follow the normal format. No Time to Die and Undercover are based on books by Ed McBain and follow the format in the books. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/75 "2022-09-26T21:30:43Z")
In a Columbo investigation the suspect always has reasonable explanations for their behavior that should remove suspicion from them. Columbo always finds that one thing they can’t explain or the one bit of evidence they couldn’t cover up. We know from the beginning who did it and how they did it, what we don’t know is what that missing piece of the puzzle is that the perpetrator can’t explain away. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/76 "2022-09-26T22:04:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > In a Columbo investigation the suspect always has reasonable explanations for their behavior that should remove suspicion from them. Columbo always finds that one thing they can’t explain or the one bit of evidence they couldn’t cover up. We know from the beginning who did it and how they did it, what we don’t know is what that missing piece of the puzzle is that the perpetrator can’t explain away Of course, a healthy number of times, the answer is that there _isn’t_ such a puzzle piece, and so instead of finding one he just fakes one. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/77 "2022-09-26T22:33:20Z")
Sometimes the perp slips up and makes an incriminating remark: _'What a way to go, shot in the back!"_ _“Excuse me? I thought you hadn’t seen the body…?”_ "_Oh, well, I just_ **assumed** _he was shot in the back."_ Oops! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/78 "2022-09-26T22:52:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Sometimes the perp slips up and makes an incriminating remark: > > _'What a way to go, shot in the back!"_ > _“Excuse me? I thought you hadn’t seen the body…?”_ > "_Oh, well, I just_ **assumed** _he was shot in the back."_ > > Oops IIRC, wasn’t the killer’s alibi in that one that he was on the phone with the victim then? So, yeah, he figured on a shot in the back upon (a) hearing a gunshot after (b) hearing no _“wait, wait, don’t shoot me!”_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/79 "2022-09-26T22:58:38Z")
Yep, that was the one where Shatner was the talk show host. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074/80 "2022-09-27T00:05:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Exercise in Fatality,” with Robert Conrad. > [@terentii](#): > > He was kept waiting for a computer to spit out some personnel records that he needed to track down a potential witness. > > It turned out the guy had moved on some time ago, so he left a message at his new number telling him to get in touch. Thanks! And, general comment to the thread: to be clear, the scene was NOT making fun of Columbo for failing to be tech-savvy. It was more a case of getting the audience to nod along: ‘yeah, those machines are SO scary/confusing!’ For those not old enough to remember: answering machines caused major, _major_ angst back in the 1970s. People freaked out both about setting up their own outgoing message ('should I be funny? should I use music? is THAT what I sound like???") and about leaving messages on other people’s machines (a la Columbo in the scene in question). Of course some of this survives to this day in the aversion many have to calling and leaving voice-mail messages. JUST TEXT, DAMMIT (is the cry from these people). > > [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > For that reason, Mystery fans say that Columbo isn’t really ‘Mystery’. They weren’t saying it was bad but just saying it’s not a who-done-it. Well, okay, most of the episodes are not “who-done-it” stories. But they’re still mysteries, with the mystery being ‘HOW will Columbo nail this person who’s constructed their crime so carefully???’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/columbo-a-few-questions-for-discussion/957074.md?page=5)