PRESCRIPTION MURDER and other Columbo stuff

[The Burgomaster]

I just started collecting the Columbo boxed sets.  The pilot movie, PRESCRIPTION MURDER is particularly good, and in addition to Peter Falk's always amusing portrayal of Lieutenant Columbo, Gene Barry also turns in a good performance as the bad guy.  (Every time I see him, I think of him running through the streets yelling, "Sylvia!")

The series had some interesting directors (including Steven Spielberg) and typical 1970s guest stars (so far, I've watched episodes with Robert Culp, Ray Milland, and even . . . yikes . . . Jack Cassidy!)

I remember watching these on Sunday nights when I was a kid.  Ah, the nostalgia . . . 

 

[BoyScoutKevin]

A great show with a great performance by Peter Falk.  And, yes, let us not forget the villains. I won't list them all, but the one I'd like to have seen, and he was on the show, but not as the villain, would have been Vincent Price.

And a bit of trivia, Peter Falk was not the first choice to play Columbo. The part was offered to both Bing Crosby and Lee J. Cobb, who both turned it down. And the rest, they say, is history.

[The Burgomaster]

Watched another episode last night with guest stars SUZANNE PLESHETTE and EDDIE ALBERT.  Bring back the 70s!

[peter johnson]

Have you got the one with Roddy McDowell as the smarmy bad guy who puts a bomb on an aerial tramway?  That one's my all-time favorite Columbo, as McDowell -- never a shrinking violet -- just SHOWS how IRRITATED Falk is making him -- he couldn't be more camp in fishnet stockings!!
peter johnson/denny crane

[vanlutz]

I bought in one giant swoop all the seasons. I just have to get the movie box set and I'll be complete. One of my favorite shows that still holds up.

My next favorite is The Rockford Files.

I was fortunate enough to see Peter Falk in his last show off-Broadway years ago. He was in the last play Arthur Miller wrote. The theatre held at best two hundred people, and he was fantastic. I met him afterwards and got a few autographs. It's a shame what's happening to him now.

[Hammock Rider]

I've always loved Columbo and been a fan of peter fALK. I'm reading his autobiography, Just One More Thing, and it's a good read. It's a fairly loose collection of stories from his life that he felt would interst people and of course a good section of it is devoted to the Columbo years. He seems like a good guy who takes his acting seriously but not himself.  The big shots back in the day told him he'd never work in movies or tv because of his glass eye. Ha, experts!