Solving crimes all the time.
Lieutenant Columbo from the Los Angeles Police Department is one of the greatest, most iconic TV characters of all time.
In three words, he’s: Persistent, observant, grubby.
Why he’s a TV great: Peter Falk is the actor behind the iconic detective. He has done other things, but is synonymous with the Columbo role.
The Columbo TV series re-defined the ‘whodunnit’ mode of cop shows on TV. Rather than let the viewer try guess who was the murderer, we see who the perpetrator is at the start and the ensuing episode is all about Columbo investigating and of course, nabbing the person responsible.
Dressed in a grubby mac and with a nose for a crime like no other, Columbo was, and still is, one of the all time TV great characters.
Once Columbo got a sniff of a crime, he was relentless. Of course, because of his demeanour and appearance he was often under-estimated by the murderers, but soon, they begin to realise, that Columbo is not like any other detective.
He’d arrive on the crime scene in his grubby mac and usually puffing on a cigar. His dishevelled appearance meant he was never taken too seriously by the murderer.
This played into Columbo’s hands as it was then, when the guard was down, that he would ask the most pertinent and vital questions. A man of exceptional intelligence and nous for solving mysterious crimes, he became a thorn in the side of the murderers.
Every episode had the same format. Guy commits crime, Columbo arrives to study crime scene, befriends the murderer, learns lots, puts the puzzle together, annoys the murderer and finally, solves the crime.
Each episode was the same format, but we were all transfixed on this grubby little detective taking on the bad guys and always winning. Peter Falk was the man behind the character and he was amazing in the role.
His best quote: It became almost a catchphrase, but it has to be ‘Just one more thing….’
Clip via weavehole
If we could put him in any other show: Fearless, intelligent and single-minded, he would be brilliant in Love/Hate. Fran and the boys would be all locked up in no time.
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