Frederic P Miller

Columbo (TV series) Frederic P Miller

Publisher Marketing: Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Columbo is an American crime fiction TV series, starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show popularized the inverted detective story format; almost every episode began by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator. Thus there is no "whodunit" element. The plot mainly revolves around how the perpetrator, whose guilt is known, would finally be exposed and arrested. The show's creator once referred to it as a "howcatchem." The character first appeared in a 1960 episode of the television-anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show. This was adapted into a stage play, and a TV-movie based on the play was broadcast in 1968 as the pilot for a series. The series began on a Sunday presentation of the "NBC Mystery Movie" rotation: Quincy, M. E., McCloud, McMillan and Wife, and other whodunits. The series spawned a similar format on Wednesday nights with fare such as The Snoop Sisters, Hec Ramsey, and Banacek. Columbo aired regularly from 1971 to 1978 on NBC, and then more infrequently on ABC beginning in 1989. The most recent episode was broadcast in 2003.