One member of a mystery-writing-team decides to kill his more talented partner when the better writer decides to go solo.

Murder by the Book

A private investigator kills his client's wife after she threatens to expose his blackmail scheme. The client then hires the detective to assist Columbo in the search for the killer.

Death Lends a Hand

A famous general kills a business associate, then woos a neurotic female witness to thwart Columbo's investigation.

Dead Weight

An art critic, Dale Kingston, kills his uncle for his valuable collection of paintings. All the clues lead to the dead man's first wife. Can Columbo correct the Lieutenant's error before it is too late?

Suitable for Framing

A woman shoots her overbearing brother, claiming she thought he was a burglar. Columbo doesn't buy the self-defense claim - he know's it's murder.

Lady in Waiting

A chemist rigs a bomb in his uncle's car to gain control of his uncle's company, then plants clues to make Columbo suspicious of the company's Vice-President.

Short Fuse

An architect kills his business partner and deliberately lets Columbo suspect him, leading Columbo to think that he's hidden the body in the foundation of a building under construction. He plans to let Columbo dig up the site and find nothing, knowing that its the perfect place to hide the body since Columbo would never look in the same place twice.

Blueprint for Murder

The mistress of a conductor becomes a target for murder after threatening to tell all to her lover's wife.

Étude in Black

Jarvis Goodland, along with his nephew, plan a kidnap scam to break the nephews trust fund, but after the money has been collected, Jarvis kills his partner.

The Greenhouse Jungle

The manager of a football team kills the team's owner, disguising himself as an ice cream vendor as a cover. He then uses a recording of a faked phone call as an alibi to prove he was elsewhere at the time of the murder.

The Most Crucial Game

While on a work trip to London, to learn the techniques of the British police, Columbo gets involved with the murder of Roger Haversham, a rich old businessman who is financing the careers of two rundown theater stars.  When Sir Roger threatens to end their careers, because he felt betrayed, he's killed.  A short while after, his butler figures out the motives for his master's murder, and blackmails the actors, who have no other choice than to kill him and make it look like he commited suicide due to remorse, because he murdered his employer. Columbo stills manages to catch both the murderers, with the help of a pearl and a new umbrella.

Dagger of the Mind

A fading movie star tries to murder a writer who is attempting to blackmail her, but accidentally kills her P.A.

Requiem for a Falling Star

Leonard Nimoy plays a heart surgeon whose talents turn to murder.  Stung by jealousy, he's planning a surgical death for his brilliant but ailing associate. Will Geer plays the intended victim.

A Stitch in Crime

A chess grandmaster disposes of the champion, who keeps coming back on him.

The Most Dangerous Match

A wealthy man is murdered; his twin nephews stand to inherit, but which one committed the crime?

Double Shock

Viveca Scott, the founder of Beauty Mark Cosmetics, is being threatened by her rival David Lang. When he finds out that her revolutionary cream formula actually removes wrinkles, he has the formula pirated.

Lovely But Lethal

A wine connoisseur kills his half- brother to prevent him selling the family winery to a merchant company so he can pay off his gambling debts.

Any Old Port in a Storm

A Senate Candidate running for office kills his campaign manager by making it look like he was the target for the killer's bullet.

Candidate for Crime

A filmmaker kills one of his clients. in a break, during the screening of a new ad campaign

Double Exposure

A publisher hires a Vietnam vet to kill his star author and thus give himself an alibi before the writer can defect to another publisher.

Publish or Perish

The director of a government institute that employs various scientific geniuses commits a clever murder. But another kind of genius is on the case: Lt. Columbo.

Mind Over Mayhem

A Country and Western singer kills his overpowering wife in a plane crash while he parachutes to safety.

Swan Song

A police commissioner provides an alibi to a friend who has just killed his wife. Later the commissioner kills his own wife and gets the friend to repay the favour.

A Friend in Deed

A health club owner kills his partner who is about to uncover a fraud and makes it look like an accident

An Exercise in Fatality

Brilliant photographer Paul Galesko plans to murder his domineering wife, Frances, and pin the crime on an ex-convict named Alvin Deschler. His plan is to make it look as if Alvin kidnapped his wife and killed her before picking up the ransom money.

Negative Reaction

The head of a military school kills one of the governors by sabotaging the gun which is used on founders day.

By Dawn's Early Light

While holidaying on board a cruise liner, Columbo helps capture the killer of the singer with the ship's band.

Troubled Waters

An inventor video tapes his mother-in-law's death, and then replays it back to the security guard, to give himself an alibi.

Playback

A doctor kills the husband of the woman he is having an affair with but is seen leaving the house by a witness who is happens to be blind.

A Deadly State of Mind

A fading actress kills her husband when he refuses to back her comeback show.

Forgotten Lady

An ambassador from Suari and his code clerk kill the chief of security in an attempt to make it look like the chief was a traitor, who blew up the legation safe and stole £600.000 on behalf of a dissident group.  But Columbo gets suspicious. He just has one problem crushing the ambassador's alibi and then, when the code clerk turns up dead, the ambassador has an alibi again. But even if Colombo could rock the two alibis, there is always the immunity problem.

A Case of Immunity

A spy is killed on a lonely beach by his contact, but the killer has been photographed beforehand walking with the victim.

Identity Crisis

The owner of a bull ranch in Mexico gives his workers the day off, and then talks his number one man into fighting the bull who nearly killed his son. But instead he shoots him with a tranquilizer gun, and lets the bull kill him.  Colombo, who is on vacation in Mexico, gets dragged into this case by an admiring colleague, but he has trouble convincing the Mexicans that the accident is really homicide. And how do you prove that the bull is a murder weapon?

A Matter of Honor

Master magician the great Santini is amazing audiences at the Cabaret of Magic.  What they don’t know is that Santini hopes to pull of the grandest illusion of his career - making club owner Jesse T. Jerome disappear.  The crude Jerome is the only person who knows that Santini was a Nazi death camp guard named Stefan Mueller, He has been blackmailing the magician since learning his dark secret.

Now You See Him

The family and friends of brilliant naval architect Commodore Otis Swanson have gathered for the company’s annual party. The commodore, however, has become increasingly discontented with the way his son-in-law, Charles Clay, has developed the shipbuilding firm into a vast, impersonal corporation.  He is tired of being surrounded by freeloaders like his alcoholic daughter, Joanna, his irresponsible nephew,  Swanny, and of course, Charles. The only man he respects is Wayne Taylor, the head of the boatyard. In fact, the Commodore intends to sell the company.  That night, Charles is wiping clean the belaying pin used to bash the Commodore’s skull.

Last Salute to the Commodore

Ward Fowler, who plays debonair television detective Lieutenant Lucerne, has a reputation for being a difficult actor.  His series is a hit, however, so the network and studio executives again and again capitulate to his demands.  Although separated, husband and wife team Sid and Claire Daley continue to produce the Inspector Lucerne program.  Claire continually advises everyone else to go along with their stars demands. Not even Sid knows that Claire is blackmailing Ward. Claire discovers Ward in Canada. She knows he deserted from the United States Army during the Korean War. If that information got out ,it would ruin Ward's career.  When Claire takes a phone call in Ward's trailer, the actor overhears her saying she’ll be getting a sandwich at Tony’s Deli. Ward gets to Tony’s Deli just after Claire disguising himself with a ski mask and bulky parka he pretends to be a hold up man.

Fade in to Murder

The female head of a museum hires one of the guards to rob the museum to collect the insurance money. But during the robbery she kills him and her own brother, and makes it look like they killed each other.  The guard/robber's brother reports a strange message on his answering machine, that makes it seem that he has been killed. And Columbo gets the case. When Columbo first comes to the crime scene, he notices that the lights are off, a gold medallion in the robber's pants, and signs that pointed to the fact that he was going abroad after the heist. And he concluded that these clues mean that someone else was involved.

Old Fashioned Murder

Two former college friends, now partners in an accounting firm, become enemies when one realizes the other has embezzled funds. The reason for his embezzling ways is his wife, she demands nothing but the best.

The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case

A writer of murder mysteries wreaks revenge on her nephew-in-law by blaming him for her niece's murder.

Try and Catch Me

A famous food critic is threatened by a restaurant owner, and so the critic leaves. Soon after, the cook dies.  Columbo's involvement is welcomed by all the other chefs in the area, but Columbo wonders why the dead restaurant owner slammed the drawers before he died. And how could the poison that killed him enter an unopened bottle without the killer even being in the room? Could it have been suicide?  But then there's the cheques to a mysterious society, and the victim's calender. Can Columbo's cooking skills really match the food critic's taste?

Murder Under Glass

Mark McAndrews a top network programmer is promoted to a New York position.  His assistant, who is very ambitious and his lover, expects to get his old job. But of course he feels she is out of her league and needs more experience. Kay, feeling betrayed, decides to seek revenge.

Make Me a Perfect Murder

A famous psychiatrist uses an appointment with his doctor as his alibi while he calls his house, where his dead wife's lover is. The call serves as the first step in a conditioning reflex on the psychiatrist's dogs. The other part is the word Rosebud as uttered by the victim.  When Columbo arrives on the scene, the psychiatrist is very understanding when police say they may have to put his dogs to death. But Columbo notices how friendly the dogs seem, and then there's the telephone that's hanging from it's hook.

How to Dial a Murder

An Irish poet, who fronts a peace organization while secretly running guns, kills an arms dealer who tries to swindle him.

The Conspirators

Lt. Columbo delves into the world of magic, ESP and slight of hand as he investigates the death of a magician, and there appears to be a tie to a prodigal psychic supported by a government founded institute on parapsychology.

Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

An egocentric film director resorts to his mastery of special effects to murder a vengeful friend who discovers the director's role in the movie stunt death of the friend's sister years before.

Murder, Smoke and Shadows

A sex therapist catches her boyfriend with another woman when he thinks she is out of town. She then disguises herself and manages to kill him while in disguise, not realizing that a potential suitor saw her enter the bathroom as a dark-haired woman and exit as a blonde.

Sex and the Married Detective

Frank Brailie runs a private military foundation for wanabe soldiers owned by the wheelchair bound General Padget.  The General has become suspicious of Frank as a great deal of money seems to be going to a Special Projects Fund.  The General tells a close colleague to investigate Frank and the Special Projects Fund.  Instead of reporting his fraudulent findings back to the General, he decides to blackmail Frank for some of the money, Frank agrees and starts to plan his murder.

Grand Deceptions

A famous artist, Max Barsini, lives with his wife Vanessa and a beautiful live-in model named Julie at his beach house/studio. Max's ex-wife Louise lives in the beach house next door.  Together, these women comprise Max's own little harem.  He loves them all in different ways, but, more importantly, likes to control them.  In fact, Max derives a great deal of satisfaction from the fact that they all fight for his attention and are reliant upon him financially and emotionally.  The competitive jealousy between the women reaches a head at the dinner table one night when Max asks each of them what they think of the other. Their answers prove the intense rivalry between the women.

Murder, a Self Portrait

Columbo is asked to investigate the disappearance of Dian Hunter, director of a men's magazine.  Naturally, the prime suspect is her lover and co-editor Sean Brantley, who spends lots of time with the young girls he works with.

Columbo Cries Wolf

Columbo matches wits with a brilliant attorney responsible for the murder of the one man  who could stifle his meteoric political career.

Agenda for Murder

Columbo unwittingly becomes part of a deranged woman's diabolical plot to destroy the two men she believes responsible for her husband's death in prison. After murdering one, she moves in on the other, Columbo, to kill the person closest to him, his wife.

Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo

While investigating the death of a popular actor, Columbo must outwit a cunning dentist, who has set up his wife for a murder in order to keep up his image and expensive lifestyle.

Uneasy Lies the Crown

An ambitious womanizer, rejected by the romance novelist he planned to marry, ends the story she was writing with a gun and makes the murder look like robbery gone awry.

Murder in Malibu

Lt. Columbo is invited as guest speaker in a Criminology course and squares off against two cunning students, who are confident they have duped the lieutenant with various leads, when their professor is found murdered.

Columbo Goes to College

Wade Anders, a former security expert, hosts the show Crime Alert.  A rival host, news reader Bud, discovers Wade was in a porno movie and plans to tell the world then take over his show.

Murder can be Hazardous to Your Health

Lt. Columbo is pitted against an equally brilliant, nationally recognized criminal defence lawyer who murders his rock star girlfriend when he discovers she is seeing another man.

Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star

After winning a $30 million lottery, photographer Freddy Brower, who wishes to keep the money a secret from the wife who is divorcing him, arranges with his uncle, wealthy jeweler Leon Lamarr, to pretend the lottery ticket is Lamarr's, until the divorce is final. Little does Brower know his uncle is having an affair with Brower's wife. Lamarr kills Brower in order to keep the lottery winnings for himself.

Death Hits the Jackpot

Columbo attends the wedding of his police officer nephew. While her husband takes a shower, the bride disappears from the bridal suite. The groom enlists Uncle Columbo's help in unraveling the case. Seems she has been kidnapped by a psychopath who intends to kill her once he consummates "their" marriage.

No Time to Die

Given a deadline to pay his debts or else, chronic gambler Harold plants a bomb under the Rolls Royce of his uncle, sports magnate Big Fred. However, Big Fred is killed by a hit-and-run driver while jogging that very morning, and the Rolls Royce explodes when Fred's gardener tries to move it out of the way of the TV camera crews. Just when Columbo thinks he has the goods on Harold, it is Harold who turns up dead.

A Bird in the Hand

Nick Franco is a violent, two-timing gigolo and his current paramour, Laura Stanton, has had enough. With the help of a young woman named Lisa, she murders her lover and sets herself up with an airtight alibi. When Columbo starts sniffing on her trail, Laura quickly works to seduce the married detective, hoping that her sex appeal will throw the usually stubborn Lieutenant off the scent.

It's All in the Game

Ego-maniac Fielding Chase, is a radio talk show host who in order to prevent his daughter from moving to New York, murders a member of his staff.

Butterfly in Shades of Grey

A photograph is the only clue for Columbo when two dead men and a seven year old mystery with $4 million dollars involved as well as an obnoxious insurance investigator come into play.

Undercover

Graham McVeigh, a thoroughbred ranch owner, kills his brother, and frames a local mob bookie. Then, under the guise of making good on his brother's debt, he kills the bookie as well, claiming self-defense. Mob boss Vincenzo Fortelli starts to exert pressure on McVeigh. To solve the crime Columbo must work with the gangster.

Strange Bedfellows

Cathleen Calvert and her lover, crime scene investigator Patrick Kinsley, plot to get rid of Calvert's husband, Clifford, a powerful businessman, by killing an investment broker with whom he is currently feuding, and pinning the murder on Clifford. As long as he is alive and in prison, Cathleen has access to all his money. Columbo must uncover a criminal who is part of the team handling the investigation.

A Trace of Murder

Mortician to the stars Eric Prince, kills gossip reporter Verity Chandler, who had knowledge of skeletons in Prince's closet. Columbo must figure out what happened to her and why.

Ashes to Ashes

Hollywood film composer and conductor Findlay Crawford has been mentor to a talented young composer who has been ghostwriting most of Crawford's work for the last few years, and penned Crawford's entire last movie score, which won an Oscar. When the protege wants to venture out on his own, Crawford, whose own talent seems to have run dry, concocts the perfect murder, made to look like a suicide.

Murder With Too Many Notes

The final Columbo story starring Peter Falk, Los Angeles rave promoter Justin Price helps his girlfriend Vanessa get rid of the corpse of her ex-husband, who was backing Price's new club, after he drops dead in Vanessa's apartment. When an investigative reporter pieces the crime together and threatens to blackmail Justin, Justin kills him.

Columbo Likes the Nightlife

Columbo is a friendly, verbose, disheveled-looking police detective who is consistently underestimated by his suspects. Despite his unprepossessing appearance and apparent absentmindedness, he shrewdly solves all of his cases and secures all evidence needed for indictment. His formidable eye for detail and meticulously dedicated approach often become clear to the killer only late in the storyline.

All Episodes of Columbo

Browse all episodes of Columbo

Season 1

Murder by the Book

Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/15/1971

Death Lends a Hand

Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1971

Dead Weight

Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/27/1971

Suitable for Framing

Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/17/1971

Lady in Waiting

Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 12/15/1971

Short Fuse

Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 1/19/1972

Blueprint for Murder

Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 2/9/1972