Columbo

:This article is on the television program Columbo. For information on the city, see Colombo.

History of the show

The character of Columbo first appeared in 1960 on the NBC anthology series The Chevy Mystery Show. Columbo was played by Bert Freed. The episode, titled "Enough Rope," was adapted by Levinson and Link from their short story "May I Come In."

Related Topics:
1960 - NBC - Bert Freed

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The teleplay in turn was adapted into a stage play called Prescription: Murder with Thomas Mitchell in the role. The production starred Joseph Cotten as the murderer and Agnes Moorehead as the victim.

Related Topics:
Thomas Mitchell - Joseph Cotten - Agnes Moorehead

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Up to this point the writers had regarded Columbo as only a supporting role, but they soon found that he was stealing attention away from the stars.

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Finally, the play was made into a television movie for NBC in 1968. Mitchell had died, and the writers suggested Lee J. Cobb and Bing Crosby for the role, but Cobb was unavailable and Crosby turned it down. Director Richard Irving convinced Levinson and Link that Falk, who wanted the role, could pull it off even though he was much younger than what the writers had in mind.

Related Topics:
Television movie - 1968 - Lee J. Cobb - Bing Crosby - Richard Irving

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The TV-movie pitted Falk's Columbo against a murdering physician played by Gene Barry, who, of course, is uncovered, charged and arrested.

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The popularity of the character prompted the creation of a regular series on NBC that premiered the fall of 1971 as part of the wheel series NBC Mystery Movie, initially on Wednesday night. Columbo was an immediate hit in the Nielsen ratings and Falk won an Emmy Award for his role in the first year of the series. In the second season it was moved, along with the other shows in the Mystery Movie rotation, to Sunday night and ran for a total seven seasons. After cancellation in 1978, it was revived in occasional made-for-television movies on ABC.

Related Topics:
1971 - Wheel series - NBC Mystery Movie - Columbo - Nielsen ratings - Emmy Award - 1978 - ABC

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