List of ''Columbo'' episodes

The following is an episode list for the crime fiction television series Columbo. After two pilot episodes, the show originally aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978 as one of the rotating programs of The NBC Mystery Movie. Columbo then aired less frequently on ABC beginning in 1989. The last installment was broadcast in 2003.

Because the Columbo episodes from 1989 to 2003 aired infrequently, different DVD sets have been released around the world. In Region 2 and 4, all episodes have now been released as 10 seasons, with the 10th season covering the last 14 shows from "Columbo Goes to College" (1990) to the most recent, "Columbo Likes the Nightlife" (2003).^[1]^[2] However, in France, and The Netherlands (also Region 2) the DVDs were released as 12 seasons.^[3] And in Region 1, all episodes from season 8 are grouped differently; all the episodes that are originally aired on ABC were released as the COLUMBO: The Mystery Movie Collections.^[4] For the sake of clarity, all episodes in this article are arranged as they appear in the UK release.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
Season		Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Network
	Pilots	2	February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20)	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01)	NBC
	1	7	September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15)	February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09)
	2	8	September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17)	March 25, 1973 (1973-03-25)
	3	8	September 23, 1973 (1973-09-23)	May 5, 1974 (1974-05-05)
	4	6	September 15, 1974 (1974-09-15)	April 27, 1975 (1975-04-27)
	5	6	September 14, 1975 (1975-09-14)	May 2, 1976 (1976-05-02)
	6	3	October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10)	May 22, 1977 (1977-05-22)
	7	5	November 21, 1977 (1977-11-21)	May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13)
	8	4	February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06)	May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01)	ABC
	9	6	November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)	May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14)
	10 + specials	14	December 9, 1990 (1990-12-09)	January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30)

Episodes

Pilot episodes

Before Peter Falk was cast in the role of Columbo, Bert Freed played the character in "Enough Rope", a 1960 episode of The Chevy Mystery Show, a TV anthology series. In 1962, that episode became a stage play titled "Prescription: Murder" (starring Thomas Mitchell as Columbo).

The play was adapted as a made-for-TV movie in 1968, with Falk debuting in the role. In this pilot episode, Columbo—rather than making the rumpled presentation that would later become the character's trademark—is less shabbily dressed, wearing suits, shorter hair, and heavier stage makeup. He carries a raincoat, which would become a staple, during some scenes. He also appears somewhat more aggressive when confronting suspects.

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Length	Original air date
1	"Prescription: Murder"	Richard Irving	Richard Levinson, William Link based on their play	Gene Barry	98 minutes	February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20)
Dr. Ray Fleming (Gene Barry), a psychiatrist, murders his wife (Nina Foch) and persuades his mistress Joan Hudson (Katherine Justice), who is an actress and one of his patients, to support his alibi by impersonating her. Final clue/twist: Knowing, that he has no hard evidence against Fleming, Columbo stages the suicide of his desperate mistress. Fleming shows no sign of emotion and even suggests that, if he was the murderer, he would have gotten rid of Joan anyway. Hearing this, the alive Joan testifies against Fleming.
2	"Ransom for a Dead Man"	Richard Irving	Story by : Richard Levinson, William Link Teleplay by : Dean Hargrove	Lee Grant	92 minutes	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01)
Leslie Williams (Lee Grant), a brilliant lawyer and pilot, murders her husband Paul (Harlan Warde) to get his money, arranging the act to look as if he had been kidnapped and killed by his captors. Final clue/twist: Columbo and Leslie's stepdaughter Margaret (Patricia Mattick) who hates her, successfully work together to get Leslie to implicate herself by revealing where she is keeping the cash ransom with which she absconded.

Season 1 (1971–72)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
3	1	"Murder by the Book"	Steven Spielberg	Steven Bochco	Jack Cassidy	73 minutes	September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15)
4	2	"Death Lends a Hand"	Bernard L. Kowalski	Richard Levinson & William Link	Robert Culp	73 minutes	October 6, 1971 (1971-10-06)
5	3	"Dead Weight"	Jack Smight	John T. Dugan	Eddie Albert	73 minutes	October 27, 1971 (1971-10-27)
6	4	"Suitable for Framing"	Hy Averback	Jackson Gillis	Ross Martin	73 minutes	November 17, 1971 (1971-11-17)
7	5	"Lady in Waiting"	Norman Lloyd	Story by : Barney Slater Teleplay by : Steven Bochco	Susan Clark	73 minutes	December 15, 1971 (1971-12-15)
8	6	"Short Fuse"	Edward M. Abrams	Story by : Lester Pine & Tina Pine and Jackson Gillis Teleplay by : Jackson Gillis	Roddy McDowall	73 minutes	January 19, 1972 (1972-01-19)
9	7	"Blueprint for Murder"	Peter Falk	Story by : William Kelley Teleplay by : Steven Bochco	Patrick O'Neal	73 minutes	February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09)

Season 2 (1972–73)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
10	1	"Étude in Black"	Nicholas Colasanto	Story by : Richard Levinson & William Link Teleplay by : Steven Bochco	John Cassavetes	98 minutes	September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17)
11	2	"The Greenhouse Jungle"	Boris Sagal	Jonathan Latimer	Ray Milland	73 minutes	October 15, 1972 (1972-10-15)
12	3	"The Most Crucial Game"	Jeremy Kagan	John T. Dugan	Robert Culp	73 minutes	November 5, 1972 (1972-11-05)
13	4	"Dagger of the Mind"	Richard Quine	Story by : Richard Levinson & William Link Teleplay by : Jackson Gillis	Richard Basehart and Honor Blackman	93 minutes	November 26, 1972 (1972-11-26)
14	5	"Requiem for a Falling Star"	Richard Quine	Jackson Gillis	Anne Baxter	73 minutes	January 21, 1973 (1973-01-21)
15	6	"A Stitch in Crime"	Hy Averback	Shirl Hendryx	Leonard Nimoy	73 minutes	February 11, 1973 (1973-02-11)
16	7	"The Most Dangerous Match"	Edward M. Abroms	Story by : Jackson Gillis and Richard Levinson & William Link Teleplay by : Jackson Gillis	Laurence Harvey	73 minutes	March 4, 1973 (1973-03-04)
17	8	"Double Shock"	Robert Butler	Story by : Jackson Gillis and Richard Levinson & William Link Teleplay by : Steven Bochco	Martin Landau	73 minutes	March 25, 1973 (1973-03-25)

Season 3 (1973–74)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
18	1	"Lovely But Lethal"	Jeannot Szwarc	Story by : Myrna Bercovici Teleplay by : Jackson Gillis	Vera Miles	73 minutes	September 23, 1973 (1973-09-23)
19	2	"Any Old Port in a Storm"	Leo Penn	Story by : Larry Cohen Teleplay by : Stanley Ralph Ross	Donald Pleasence	98 minutes	October 7, 1973 (1973-10-07)
20	3	"Candidate for Crime"	Boris Sagal	Story by : Larry Cohen Teleplay by : Irving Pearlberg & Alvin R. Friedman and Roland Kibbee & Dean Hargrove	Jackie Cooper	98 minutes	November 4, 1973 (1973-11-04)
21	4	"Double Exposure"	Richard Quine	Stephen J. Cannell	Robert Culp	73 minutes	December 16, 1973 (1973-12-16)
22	5	"Publish or Perish"	Robert Butler	Peter S. Fischer	Jack Cassidy	73 minutes	January 13, 1974 (1974-01-13)
23	6	"Mind Over Mayhem"	Alf Kjellin	Story by : Robert Specht Teleplay by : Steven Bochco and Dean Hargrove & Roland Kibbee	José Ferrer	73 minutes	February 10, 1974 (1974-02-10)
24	7	"Swan Song"	Nicholas Colasanto	Story by : Stanley Ralph Ross Teleplay by : David Rayfiel	Johnny Cash	94 minutes	March 3, 1974 (1974-03-03)
25	8	"A Friend in Deed"	Ben Gazzara	Peter S. Fischer	Richard Kiley and Michael McGuire	94 minutes	May 5, 1974 (1974-05-05)

Season 4 (1974–75)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
26	1	"An Exercise in Fatality"	Bernard L. Kowalski	Story by : Larry Cohen Teleplay by : Peter S. Fischer	Robert Conrad	94 minutes	September 15, 1974 (1974-09-15)
27	2	"Negative Reaction"	Alf Kjellin	Peter S. Fischer	Dick Van Dyke	92 minutes	October 6, 1974 (1974-10-06)
28	3	"By Dawn's Early Light"	Harvey Hart	Howard Berk	Patrick McGoohan	94 minutes	October 27, 1974 (1974-10-27)
29	4	"Troubled Waters"	Ben Gazzara	Story by : Jackson Gillis and William Driskill Teleplay by : William Driskill	Robert Vaughn	94 minutes	February 9, 1975 (1975-02-09)
30	5	"Playback"	Bernard L. Kowalski	David P. Lewis & Booker T. Bradshaw	Oskar Werner	73 minutes	March 2, 1975 (1975-03-02)
31	6	"A Deadly State of Mind"	Harvey Hart	Peter S. Fischer	George Hamilton	73 minutes	April 27, 1975 (1975-04-27)

Season 5 (1975–76)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
32	1	"Forgotten Lady"	Harvey Hart	William Driskill	Janet Leigh	92 minutes	September 14, 1975 (1975-09-14)
33	2	"A Case of Immunity"	Ted Post	Story by : James Menzies Teleplay by : Lou Shaw	Hector Elizondo	73 minutes	October 12, 1975 (1975-10-12)
34	3	"Identity Crisis"	Patrick McGoohan	William Driskill	Patrick McGoohan	94 minutes	November 2, 1975 (1975-11-02)
35	4	"A Matter of Honor"	Ted Post	Brad Radnitz	Ricardo Montalban	73 minutes	February 1, 1976 (1976-02-01)
36	5	"Now You See Him..."	Harvey Hart	Michael Sloan	Jack Cassidy	85 minutes	February 29, 1976 (1976-02-29)
37	6	"Last Salute to the Commodore"	Patrick McGoohan	Jackson Gillis	Fred Draper	98 minutes	May 2, 1976 (1976-05-02)

Season 6 (1976–77)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
38	1	"Fade in to Murder"	Bernard L. Kowalski	Story by : Henry Garson Teleplay by : Lou Shaw and Peter S. Feibleman	William Shatner	73 minutes	October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10)
39	2	"Old Fashioned Murder"	Robert Douglas	Story by : Lawrence Vail Teleplay by : Peter S. Feibleman	Joyce Van Patten	73 minutes	November 28, 1976 (1976-11-28)
40	3	"The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case"	Sam Wanamaker	Robert Malcolm Young	Theodore Bikel	73 minutes	May 22, 1977 (1977-05-22)

Season 7 (1977–78)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
41	1	"Try and Catch Me"	James Frawley	Story by : Gene Thompson Teleplay by : Gene Thompson & Paul Tuckahoe	Ruth Gordon	70 minutes	November 21, 1977 (1977-11-21)
42	2	"Murder Under Glass"	Jonathan Demme	Robert van Scoyk	Louis Jourdan	73 minutes	January 30, 1978 (1978-01-30)
43	3	"Make Me a Perfect Murder"	James Frawley	Robert Blees	Trish Van Devere	94 minutes	February 25, 1978 (1978-02-25)
44	4	"How to Dial a Murder"	James Frawley	Story by : Anthony Lawrence Teleplay by : Tom Lazarus	Nicol Williamson	70 minutes	April 15, 1978 (1978-04-15)
45	5	"The Conspirators"	Leo Penn	Based on an Idea by : Pat Robison Teleplay by : Howard Berk	Clive Revill	98 minutes	May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13)

Season 8 (1989)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
46	1	"Columbo Goes to the Guillotine"	Leo Penn	William Read Woodfield	Anthony Andrews	89 minutes	February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06)
47	2	"Murder, Smoke and Shadows"	James Frawley	Richard Alan Simmons	Fisher Stevens	91 minutes	February 27, 1989 (1989-02-27)
48	3	"Sex and the Married Detective"	James Frawley	Jerry Ludwig	Lindsay Crouse	90 minutes	April 3, 1989 (1989-04-03)
49	4	"Grand Deceptions"	Sam Wanamaker	Sy Salkowitz	Robert Foxworth	89 minutes	May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01)

Season 9 (1989–90)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Runtime	Original air date
50	1	"Murder: A Self Portrait"	James Frawley	Robert Sherman	Patrick Bauchau	88 minutes	November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)
51	2	"Columbo Cries Wolf"	Daryl Duke	William Read Woodfield	Ian Buchanan	90 minutes	January 20, 1990 (1990-01-20)
52	3	"Agenda for Murder"	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Bloom	Patrick McGoohan	88 minutes	February 10, 1990 (1990-02-10)
53	4	"Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"	Vincent McEveety	Peter S. Fischer	Helen Shaver	88 minutes	March 31, 1990 (1990-03-31)
54	5	"Uneasy Lies the Crown"	Alan J. Levi	Steven Bochco	James Read	90 minutes	April 28, 1990 (1990-04-28)
55	6	"Murder in Malibu"	Walter Grauman	Jackson Gillis	Andrew Stevens	92 minutes	May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14)

Season 10 and specials (1990–2003)

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Original air date
56	1	"Columbo Goes to College"	E.W. Swackhamer	Story by : Jeffrey Bloom and Frederick King Keller Teleplay by : Jeffrey Bloom	Stephen Caffrey/Gary Hershberger	December 9, 1990 (1990-12-09)
57	2	"Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health"	Daryl Duke	Sonia Wolf, Patricia Ford and April Raynell	George Hamilton	February 20, 1991 (1991-02-20)
58	3	"Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star"	Alan J. Levi	William Read Woodfield	Dabney Coleman	April 29, 1991 (1991-04-29)
59	4	"Death Hits the Jackpot"	Vincent McEveety	Jeffrey Bloom	Rip Torn	December 15, 1991 (1991-12-15)
60	5	"No Time to Die"	Alan J. Levi	Story by : Ed McBain Teleplay by : Robert van Scoyk	(No murder. Daniel McDonald plays the would-be murderer.)	February 15, 1992 (1992-02-15)
61	6	"A Bird in the Hand..."	Vincent McEveety	Jackson Gillis	Tyne Daly and Greg Evigan	June 19, 1992 (1992-06-19)
62	7	"It's All in the Game"	Vincent McEveety	Peter Falk	Faye Dunaway and Claudia Christian	October 31, 1993 (1993-10-31)
63	8	"Butterfly in Shades of Grey"	Dennis Dugan	Peter S. Fischer	William Shatner	January 10, 1994 (1994-01-10)
64	9	"Undercover"	Vincent McEveety	Story by : Ed McBain Teleplay by : Gerry Day	Ed Begley Jr.	May 2, 1994 (1994-05-02)
65	10	"Strange Bedfellows"	Vincent McEveety	Lawrence Vail	George Wendt	April 23, 1996 (1996-04-23)
66	11	"A Trace of Murder"	Vincent McEveety	Charles Kipps	David Rasche	November 4, 1997 (1997-11-04)
67	12	"Ashes to Ashes"	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Hatcher	Patrick McGoohan	October 8, 1998 (1998-10-08)
68	13	"Murder With Too Many Notes"	Patrick McGoohan	Story by : Jeffrey Cava Teleplay by : Jeffrey Cava and Patrick McGoohan	Billy Connolly	March 12, 2001 (2001-03-12)
69	14	"Columbo Likes the Nightlife"	Jeffrey Reiner	Michael Alaimo	Jennifer Sky and Matthew Rhys	January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30)

Repeat offenders

Here is a list of the actors who starred as murderers in more than one episode:

Patrick McGoohan starred in four episodes as the murderer: By Dawn's Early Light (Emmy Award) (1974), Identity Crisis (1975), Agenda for Murder (Emmy Award) (1990), and Ashes to Ashes (1998).
Jack Cassidy starred in three episodes as the murderer: Murder by the Book (1971), Publish or Perish (1974), and Now You See Him... (1976).
Robert Culp starred in three episodes as the murderer: Death Lends a Hand (1971), The Most Crucial Game (1972), and Double Exposure (1973). Also appeared in one episode as the father of the murderer: Columbo Goes to College (1990).
George Hamilton starred in two episodes as the murderer: A Deadly State of Mind (1975) and Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health (1991).
William Shatner starred in two episodes as the murderer: Fade in to Murder (1976) and Butterfly in Shades of Grey (1994).

Notes

↑ "Columbo - Complete Series DVD UK". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
↑ UK DVD Cover shows the complete collection
↑ "Columbo, saison 12 Fr". Retrieved April 2, 2012.
↑ "COLUMBO US DVD release at Universal Studio". Retrieved April 2, 2012.

References

Dawidziak, Mark (1989). The Columbo Phile : A Casebook. New York: Mysterious Press. ISBN 978-0-89296-984-5.

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