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] In France and the Netherlands (also Region 2), however, the DVDs were released as 12 seasons.^[3] 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 Collection.^[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, Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead as Roy and Claire Flemming, and Patricia Medina as Flemming's mistress^[5]).

The play was adapted as a made-for-TV movie in 1968, with Falk debuting in the role. In this made-for-TV movie, Columbo—rather than making the rumpled presentation that later became 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, and wears it in some scenes. He also appears somewhat more aggressive when confronting suspects.

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim played by	Original air date	Length
1	"Prescription: Murder"	Richard Irving	Richard Levinson & William Link based on their play	Gene Barry as Ray Flemming	Nina Foch as Carol Flemming	February 20, 1968 (1968-02-20)	94 min
Dr. Ray Flemming (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: Columbo stages the suicide of Flemming’s mistress, then urges him to confess now that the love of his life has killed herself for him. Flemming mocks Columbo's words, saying he never cared deeply for Joan and would have gotten rid of her eventually, anyway. Joan, listening in, agrees to testify against Flemming.
2	"Ransom for a Dead Man"	Richard Irving	S : Richard Levinson & William Link; T : Dean Hargrove	Lee Grant as Leslie Williams	Harlan Warde as Paul Williams	March 1, 1971 (1971-03-01)	92 min
Leslie Williams (Lee Grant), a brilliant and ruthless lawyer, 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: Margaret (Patricia Mattick), who hates her stepmother Leslie, tells Leslie she will go away if Leslie gives her a lot of money. When Leslie pays Margaret off with some of the ransom cash, Columbo, who had persuaded Margaret to demand money from Leslie, has the final proof he needs.

Season 1 (1971–72)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
3	1	"Murder by the Book"	Steven Spielberg	Steven Bochco	Jack Cassidy as Ken Franklin	Martin Milner as Jim Ferris and Barbara Colby as Lilly La Sanka	September 15, 1971 (1971-09-15)	76 min
4	2	"Death Lends a Hand"	Bernard Kowalski	Richard Levinson & William Link	Robert Culp as Carl Brimmer	Patricia Crowley as Lenore Kennicut	October 6, 1971 (1971-10-06)	76 min
5	3	"Dead Weight"	Jack Smight	John T. Dugan	Eddie Albert as Martin Hollister	John Kerr as Roger Dutton	October 27, 1971 (1971-10-27)	76 min
6	4	"Suitable for Framing"	Hy Averback	Jackson Gillis	Ross Martin as Dale Kingston and Rosanna Huffman as Tracy O'Connor	Robert Shayne as Rudy Matthews and Rosanna Huffman as Tracy O'Connor	November 17, 1971 (1971-11-17)	76 min
7	5	"Lady in Waiting"	Norman Lloyd	S : Barney Slater; T : Steven Bochco	Susan Clark as Beth Chadwick	Richard Anderson as Bryce Chadwick	December 15, 1971 (1971-12-15)	75 min
8	6	"Short Fuse"	Edward M. Abroms	S : Lester Pine & Tina Pine; S/T : Jackson Gillis	Roddy McDowall as Roger Stanford	James Gregory as David Buckner and Lawrence Cook as Quincy	January 19, 1972 (1972-01-19)	75 min
9	7	"Blueprint for Murder"	Peter Falk	S : William Kelley; T : Steven Bochco	Patrick O'Neal as Elliot Markham	Forrest Tucker as Beau Williamson	February 9, 1972 (1972-02-09)	75 min

Season 2 (1972–73)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
10	1	"Étude in Black"	Nicholas Colasanto	S : Richard Levinson & William Link; T : Steven Bochco	John Cassavetes as Alex Benedict	Anjanette Comer as Jennifer Welles	September 17, 1972 (1972-09-17)	97 min
11	2	"The Greenhouse Jungle"	Boris Sagal	Jonathan Latimer	Ray Milland as Jarvis Goodland	Bradford Dillman as Tony Goodland	October 15, 1972 (1972-10-15)	74 min
12	3	"The Most Crucial Game"	Jeremy Kagan	John T. Dugan	Robert Culp as Paul Hanlon	Dean Stockwell as Eric Wagner	November 5, 1972 (1972-11-05)	74 min
13	4	"Dagger of the Mind"	Richard Quine	S : Richard Levinson & William Link; T : Jackson Gillis	Richard Basehart as Nicholas Frame and Honor Blackman as Lillian Stanhope	John Williams as Sir Roger Haversham and Wilfrid Hyde-White as Tanner	November 26, 1972 (1972-11-26)	98 min
14	5	"Requiem for a Falling Star"	Richard Quine	Jackson Gillis	Anne Baxter as Nora Chandler	Pippa Scott as Jean Davis and John Colicos as Al Cumberland (photograph)	January 21, 1973 (1973-01-21)	74 min
15	6	"A Stitch in Crime"	Hy Averback	Shirl Hendryx	Leonard Nimoy as Barry Mayfield	Anne Francis as Sharon Martin and Jared Martin as Harry Alexander	February 11, 1973 (1973-02-11)	74 min
16	7	"The Most Dangerous Match"	Edward M. Abroms	S : Richard Levinson & William Link; S/T : Jackson Gillis	Laurence Harvey as Emmett Clayton	Jack Kruschen as Tomlin Dudek	March 4, 1973 (1973-03-04)	74 min
17	8	"Double Shock"	Robert Butler	S : Jackson Gillis, Richard Levinson & William Link; T : Steven Bochco	Martin Landau in a dual role as Dexter Paris and Norman Paris	Paul Stewart as Clifford Paris and Julie Newmar as Lisa Chambers	March 25, 1973 (1973-03-25)	74 min

Season 3 (1973–74)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
18	1	"Lovely But Lethal"	Jeannot Szwarc	S : Myrna Bercovici; T : Jackson Gillis	Vera Miles as Viveca Scott	Martin Sheen as Karl Lessing and Sian Barbara Allen as Shirley Blaine	September 23, 1973 (1973-09-23)	73 min
19	2	"Any Old Port in a Storm"	Leo Penn	S : Larry Cohen; T : Stanley Ralph Ross	Donald Pleasence as Adrian Carsini	Gary Conway as Rick Carsini	October 7, 1973 (1973-10-07)	96 min
20	3	"Candidate for Crime"	Boris Sagal	S : Larry Cohen; T : Irving Pearlberg, Alvin R. Friedman, Roland Kibbee & Dean Hargrove	Jackie Cooper as Nelson Hayward	Ken Swofford as Harry Stone	November 4, 1973 (1973-11-04)	93 min
21	4	"Double Exposure"	Richard Quine	Stephen J. Cannell	Robert Culp as Bart Keppel	Robert Middleton as Vic Norris and Chuck McCann as Roger White	December 16, 1973 (1973-12-16)	70 min
22	5	"Publish or Perish"	Robert Butler	Peter S. Fischer	Jack Cassidy as Riley Greenleaf and John Chandler as Eddie Kane	Mickey Spillane as Alan Mallory and John Chandler as Eddie Kane	January 13, 1974 (1974-01-13)	73 min
23	6	"Mind Over Mayhem"	Alf Kjellin	S : Robert Specht; T : Steven Bochco, Dean Hargrove & Roland Kibbee	José Ferrer as Marshall Cahill	Lew Ayres as Howard Nicholson	February 10, 1974 (1974-02-10)	73 min
24	7	"Swan Song"	Nicholas Colasanto	S : Stanley Ralph Ross; T : David Rayfiel	Johnny Cash as Tommy Brown	Ida Lupino as Edna Brown and Bonnie Van Dyke as Maryann Cobb	March 3, 1974 (1974-03-03)	99 min
25	8	"A Friend in Deed"	Ben Gazzara	Peter S. Fischer	Richard Kiley as Mark Halperin and Michael McGuire as Hugh Caldwell	Rosemary Murphy as Margaret Halperin and an uncredited actress as Janice Caldwell	May 5, 1974 (1974-05-05)	98 min

Season 4 (1974–75)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
26	1	"An Exercise in Fatality"	Bernard Kowalski	S : Larry Cohen; T : Peter S. Fischer	Robert Conrad as Milo Janus	Philip Bruns as Gene Stafford	September 15, 1974 (1974-09-15)	97 min
27	2	"Negative Reaction"	Alf Kjellin	Peter S. Fischer	Dick Van Dyke as Paul Galesko	Antoinette Bower as Frances Galesko and Don Gordon as Alvin Deschler	October 6, 1974 (1974-10-06)	95 min
28	3	"By Dawn's Early Light"	Harvey Hart	Howard Berk	Patrick McGoohan as Lyle Rumford	as William Haynes	October 27, 1974 (1974-10-27)	98 min
29	4	"Troubled Waters"	Ben Gazzara	S : Jackson Gillis; S/T : William Driskill	Robert Vaughn as Hayden Danzinger	Poupée Bocar as Rosanna Wells	February 9, 1975 (1975-02-09)	98 min
30	5	"Playback"	Bernard L. Kowalski	David P. Lewis & Booker T. Bradshaw	Oskar Werner as Harold van Wick	Martha Scott as Margaret Midas	March 2, 1975 (1975-03-02)	73 min
31	6	"A Deadly State of Mind"	Harvey Hart	Peter S. Fischer	George Hamilton as Mark Collier	Stephen Elliott as Carl Donner and Lesley Ann Warren as Nadia Donner	April 27, 1975 (1975-04-27)	74 min

Season 5 (1975–76)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
32	1	"Forgotten Lady"	Harvey Hart	William Driskill	Janet Leigh as Grace Wheeler	Sam Jaffe as Henry Willis	September 14, 1975 (1975-09-14)	100 min
33	2	"A Case of Immunity"	Ted Post	S : James Menzies;	Hector Elizondo as Hassan Salah and Sal Mineo as Rachman Habib	André Lawrence as Youseff Alafa and Sal Mineo as Rachman Habib	October 12, 1975 (1975-10-12)	70 min
34	3	"Identity Crisis"	Patrick McGoohan	William Driskill	Patrick McGoohan as Nelson Brenner	Leslie Nielsen as A.J. "Geronimo" Henderson	November 2, 1975 (1975-11-02)	95 min
35	4	"A Matter of Honor"	Ted Post	Brad Radnitz	Ricardo Montalban as Luis Montoya	Robert Carricart as Hector Rangel	February 1, 1976 (1976-02-01)	70 min
36	5	"Now You See Him..."	Harvey Hart	Michael Sloan	Jack Cassidy as Stefan Mueller	Nehemiah Persoff as Jesse Jerome	February 29, 1976 (1976-02-29)	85 min
37	6	"Last Salute to the Commodore"	Patrick McGoohan	Jackson Gillis	Fred Draper as Swanny Swanson	John Dehner as Otis Swanson and Robert Vaughn as Charles Clay	May 2, 1976 (1976-05-02)	91 min

Season 6 (1976–77)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
38	1	"Fade in to Murder"	Bernard L. Kowalski	S : Henry Garson; T : Lou Shaw and Peter Feibleman	William Shatner as Ward Fowler	Lola Albright as Claire Daley	October 10, 1976 (1976-10-10)	73 min
39	2	"Old Fashioned Murder"	Robert Douglas	S : Lawrence Vail; T : Peter S. Feibleman	Joyce Van Patten as Ruth Lytton	Peter S. Feibleman as Milton Schaeffer and Tim O'Connor as Edward Lytton	November 28, 1976 (1976-11-28)	73 min
40	3	"The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case"	Sam Wanamaker	Robert Malcolm Young	Theodore Bikel as Oliver Brandt	Sorrell Booke as Bertie Hastings	May 22, 1977 (1977-05-22)	70 min

Season 7 (1977–78)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim played by	Original air date	Runtime
41	1	"Try and Catch Me"	James Frawley	T : Paul Tuckahoe; S/T :	Ruth Gordon as Abigail Mitchell	Charles Frank as Edmund Galvin	November 21, 1977 (1977-11-21)	70 min
42	2	"Murder Under Glass"	Jonathan Demme	Robert van Scoyk	Louis Jourdan as Paul Gerard	Michael V. Gazzo as Vittorio Rossi	January 30, 1978 (1978-01-30)	73 min
43	3	"Make Me a Perfect Murder"	James Frawley	Robert Blees	Trish Van Devere as Kay Freestone	Laurence Luckinbill as Mark McAndrews	February 25, 1978 (1978-02-25)	97 min
44	4	"How to Dial a Murder"	James Frawley	S : Anthony Lawrence; T : Tom Lazarus	Nicol Williamson as Eric Mason	Joel Fabiani as Charlie Hunter	April 15, 1978 (1978-04-15)	73 min
45	5	"The Conspirators"	Leo Penn	Idea : Pat Robison; T : Howard Berk	Clive Revill as Joe Devlin	Albert Paulsen as Vincent Pauley	May 13, 1978 (1978-05-13)	93 min

Season 8 (1989)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim played by	Original air date	Runtime
46	1	"Columbo Goes to the Guillotine"	Leo Penn	William Read Woodfield	Anthony Andrews as Elliott Blake	Anthony Zerbe as Max Dyson	February 6, 1989 (1989-02-06)	88 min
47	2	"Murder, Smoke and Shadows"	James Frawley	Richard Alan Simmons	Fisher Stevens as Alex Brady	Jeff Perry as Leonard Fisher	February 27, 1989 (1989-02-27)	90 min
48	3	"Sex and the Married Detective"	James Frawley	Jerry Ludwig	Lindsay Crouse as Joan Allenby	Stephen Macht as David Kincaid	April 3, 1989 (1989-04-03)	89 min
49	4	"Grand Deceptions"	Sam Wanamaker	Sy Salkowitz	Robert Foxworth as Frank Brailie	Andy Romano as Lester Keegan	May 1, 1989 (1989-05-01)	68 min

Season 9 (1989–90)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer played by	Victim played by	Original air date	Runtime
50	1	"Murder: A Self Portrait"	James Frawley	Robert Sherman	Patrick Bauchau as Max Barsini	Fionnula Flanagan as Louise Barsini; [unknown actor plays Barsini agent]	November 25, 1989 (1989-11-25)	71min
51	2	"Columbo Cries Wolf"	Daryl Duke	William Read Woodfield	Ian Buchanan as Sean Brantley	Deidre Hall as Dian Hunter	January 20, 1990 (1990-01-20)	67min
52	3	"Agenda for Murder"	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Bloom	Patrick McGoohan as Oscar Finch	Louis Zorich as Frank Staplin	February 10, 1990 (1990-02-10)	98 min
53	4	"Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"	Vincent McEveety	Peter S. Fischer	Helen Shaver as Vivian Dimitri	Edward Winter as Charlie Chambers	March 31, 1990 (1990-03-31)	98 min
54	5	"Uneasy Lies the Crown"	Alan J. Levi	Steven Bochco	James Read as Wesley Corman	Marshall R. Teague as Adam Evans	April 28, 1990 (1990-04-28)	92 min
55	6	"Murder in Malibu"	Walter Grauman	Jackson Gillis	Andrew Stevens as Wayne Jennings	Janet Margolin as Theresa Goren	May 14, 1990 (1990-05-14)	90 min

Season 10 and specials (1990–2003)[]

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Murderer(s) played by	Victim(s) played by	Original air date	Runtime
56	1	"Columbo Goes to College"	E.W. Swackhamer	S : Frederick King Keller S/T : Jeffrey Bloom	Stephen Caffrey as Justin Rowe and Gary Hershberger as Cooper Redman	James Sutorius as D.E. Rusk	December 9, 1990 (1990-12-09)	98 min
57	2	"Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health"	Daryl Duke	Sonia Wolf & Patricia Ford & April Raynell	George Hamilton as Wade Anders	Peter Haskell as Budd Clarke	February 20, 1991 (1991-02-20)	98 min
58	3	"Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star"	Alan J. Levi	William Read Woodfield	Dabney Coleman as Hugh Creighton	Cheryl Paris as Marcy Edwards	April 29, 1991 (1991-04-29)	98 min
59	4	"Death Hits the Jackpot"	Vincent McEveety	Jeffrey Bloom	Rip Torn as Leon Lamarr and Jamie Rose as Nancy Brower	Gary Kroeger as Freddy Brower	December 15, 1991 (1991-12-15)	98 min
60	5	"No Time to Die"	Alan J. Levi	S : Ed McBain; T : Robert van Scoyk	(No murder. Daniel McDonald plays the would-be murderer.)	(None)	February 15, 1992 (1992-02-15)	93 min
61	6	"A Bird in the Hand ..."	Vincent McEveety	Jackson Gillis	Tyne Daly as Dolores McCain and Greg Evigan as Harold McCain	Steve Forrest as Fred McCain, León Singer as Fernando and Greg Evigan as Harold McCain	November 22, 1992 (1992-11-22)	98 min
62	7	"It's All in the Game"	Vincent McEveety	Peter Falk	Faye Dunaway as Lauren Staton and Claudia Christian as Lisa Martin	Armando Pucci as Nick Franco	October 31, 1993 (1993-10-31)	98 min
63	8	"Butterfly in Shades of Grey"	Dennis Dugan	Peter S. Fischer	William Shatner as Fielding Chase	Jack Laufer as Gerry Winters	January 10, 1994 (1994-01-10)	98 min
64	9	"Undercover"	Vincent McEveety	S : Ed McBain; T : Gerry Day	Ed Begley Jr. as Irving Krutch (Jon Beshara and an uncredited actor also portray two characters who kill each other)	Burt Young as Mo Weinberg and Shera Danese as Geraldine Ferguson	May 2, 1994 (1994-05-02)	98 min
65	10	"Strange Bedfellows"	Vincent McEveety	Lawrence Vail	George Wendt as Graham McVeigh	Jeff Yagher as Teddy McVeigh and Jay Acovone as Bruno Romano	May 8, 1995 (1995-05-08)	89 min
66	11	"A Trace of Murder"	Vincent McEveety	Charles Kipps	David Rasche as Patrick Kinsley and Shera Danese as Cathleen Calvert	Raye Birk as Howard Seltzer	May 15, 1997 (1997-05-15)	98 min
67	12	"Ashes to Ashes"	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Hatcher	Patrick McGoohan as Eric Prince	Rue McClanahan as Verity Chandler	October 8, 1998 (1998-10-08)	90 min
68	13	"Murder with Too Many Notes"	Patrick McGoohan	T : Patrick McGoohan; S/T : Jeffrey Cava	Billy Connolly as Findlay Crawford	Chad Willett as Gabriel McEnery	March 12, 2001 (2001-03-12)	98 min
69	14	"Columbo Likes the Nightlife"	Jeffrey Reiner	Michael Alaimo	Matthew Rhys as Justin Price and Jennifer Sky as Vanessa Farrow	Carmine Giovinazzo as Tony Galper and Douglas Roberts as Linwood Coben	January 30, 2003 (2003-01-30)	88 min

Repeat offenders[]

Here is a list of the actors who starred as more than one murderer:

Patrick McGoohan starred in four episodes as the murderer: By Dawn's Early Light (Emmy Award) (1974), Identity Crisis (also directed) (1975), Agenda for Murder (Emmy Award) (also directed) (1990), and Ashes to Ashes (also directed (and co-wrote - uncredited)) (1998). He also directed two additional episodes: "Last Salute to the Commodore" (1976) and "Murder With Too Many Notes" (also co-wrote) (2001).
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, filmed at Marion Davies estate), The Most Crucial Game (1972), and Double Exposure (1973). He 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).
Martin Landau starred in one episode in a double role as identical twin brothers who committed murder together: Double Shock (1973).

References[]

^ "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.
^ 1932-, Lachman, Marvin (2014). The villainous stage : crime plays on Broadway and in the West End. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9534-4. OCLC 903807427.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)