Just One more Thing: The Genius of Columbo

I was sad to hear about the passing of Peter Falk like most fans of the actor. Falk was a great actor, and his filmography should be seen by more people, not just "The Princess Bride" which he is known for.

But I just wanted to pause and mention Falk's great creation, "Columbo", the greatest detective in television history. I feel like I grew up with "Columbo", back before you could by any television series known to man, there was still this thing called re-runs, also television movies.

I'm not sure when I first watched "Columbo", my dad really liked it, he watched all the murdery mystery shows like "Murder She Wrote", right up to today's super sleuth "Monk", but even my dad will probably tell you, no one beats "Columbo".

"Columbo" had a unique premise which separated itself from other crime shows, it actually showed the murder being commited and who the cuprit was. The rest of the time, we got to see Columbo figure it all out.

Falk was able to make the detective endearing, you don't think much of him, he's a bit of a small guy, smoking a cigar, sometimes he would bring his hound dog with him, occasionally he would talk of his never seen Mrs. Columbo (Until she got her own show). But Columbo always came through, he would always surprise you.

My theory was Columbo always knew from the very beginning who the murderer was, but he just had to figure out how they did it before he could apprehend him. This usually meant unending questions to the suspect. "Just one more thing" or "just one more questions" would usually be his statements during his pleasant interrogation. Sometimes he would apologize for his excessive questions, he was always polite to the suspects.

The plots were usually ingenious, the first "Columbo" episode was directed by non-other than a young Steven Spielberg. Steven Bothco who created the series "Hillstreet Blues" and "NYPD Blue" wrote some episodes. But the magic really was with Falk's portrayal of the detective. To me as a kid, he was the epitome of what a great detective should be, yes even more than Bogart's depiction of Sam Spade or Phillip Marlowe. Columbo was just that kind of decent detective who seemed rough on the inside but was soft on the outside. He was able to play dumb, but he always got his man.

I loved "Columbo" growing up, I bought my dad some DVDs of the show for Christmas one year, as far as I know it's the only show he does watch regularly on DVD, it just goes to show you, somethings never show their age, I hope Columbo lives forever.