The Best Episodes Written By Richard Levinson

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   9.0/10(1 votes)

   #1 - Profit Sharing Plan

   S7:E233/13/1962

   When a long-time employee retires with little in the way of thanks, the man decides to rob the company and run off with his secret girlfriend. His wife, however, has other plans.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
2. 

   8.1/10(14 votes)

   #2 - Ransom for a Dead Man

   S0:E23/1/1971

   Leslie Williams, a brilliant lawyer and pilot, murders her husband Paul to get his money, arranging the act to look as if he had been kidnapped and killed by his captors.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson
3. 

   8.0/10(3 votes)

   #3 - Murder Case

   S2:E193/6/1964

   Lee Griffin is an actor who is reunited with his old girlfriend Diana at a London production of a play being financed by Diana's husband Charles Justin. Lee and Diana rekindle their old romance and hatch a plot to kill her husband who is a wealthy diamond merchant. Lee's first attempt to kill Charles fails, but he succeeds on his second try. On a trip to Paris, Lee assumes Charles's identity. Unfortunately, Charles was aware of Diana's unfaithfulness and murderer her before he was killed. He hid her body in a car which is being shipped to Paris. Customs officials find the body and Lee, who is posing as Charles, is arrested for the crime.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
4. 

   7.7/10(3 votes)

   #4 - Day of Reckoning

   S1:E1011/22/1962

   Paul Sampson murders his wife Caroline and is relieved when the police rule her death and accident. His conscience gets the best of him, however, and he decides to confess the murder to his family and friends. Unfortunately, no one believes him. They think the stress of his wife's death has gotten to him. Later he tells another friend, who also happens to be a judge. The judge, however, knew all along. He was Caroline's lover. Knowing that Paul's conscience is killing him, the judge chooses to remain silent. When Paul continues in his attempts to confess, he is eventually committed by his family to a mental hospital.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
5. 

   7.5/10(40 votes)

   #5 - Double Shock

   S2:E83/25/1973

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

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
6. 

   7.5/10(6 votes)

   #6 - Captive Audience

   S1:E510/18/1962

   Warren Barrow writes mystery novels under a pseudonymn. He sends his publisher a series of tape recordings that appear to detail either the plot of his next mystery novel or the plan for a murder he is actually going to commit. Using his own name on the tapes, Barrow describes how he renewed a friendship with a very attractive girl named Janet West. Janey, however, is married and wants someone to kill her wealthy husband. Blinded by passion, Barrow agrees to commit murder. At the last minute, however, he gets cold feet and later, out of guilt, decides to kill Janet. The tape ends, however. The publisher and another writer, Tom Keller, become convinced that Barrow is planning murder. The publisher calls the police while Keller heads for Janet's apartment. At the apartment, Keller discovers Janet dead and Barrow holding the murder weapon. Barrow is taken to the police station where he provides an ending to his novel and a complete confession, all on tape.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
7. 

   7.5/10(2 votes)

   #7 - Dear Uncle George

   S1:E305/10/1963

   John Chambers writes an advice to the lovelorn column under the pseudonymn Uncle George. He learns that his wife is cheating on him when a neighbor named Mrs. Weatherby, not knowing that John and Uncle George are the same person, writes a letter to his column asking for advice. Chambers kills his wife and then pins the blame on her lover. When he fakes shock when the police reveal his wife's affair, he is accepted as innocent because he doesn't have a motive. Chambers almost gets away with murder until Mrs. Weatherby tells the police that she mailed the Uncle George column asking for advice about the situation.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
8. 

   7.5/10(2 votes)

   #8 - Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale

   S2:E611/8/1963

   A small town sheriff investigates the disappearance of the wife of a man who has been acting suspiciously according to his nosy neighbors.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
9. 

   7.5/10(15 votes)

   #9 - The Murder of Sherlock Holmes

   S1:E19/30/1984

   Former English teacher Jessica Fletcher travels to New York to celebrate the success of her debut novel, but when an unwanted guest is murdered at a costume party, she wishes she'd stayed home.

   Director:N/A

   Writer:Richard Levinson

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   Writer:Richard Levinson
10. 

    7.4/10(67 votes)

    #10 - Prescription: Murder

    S0:E12/20/1968

    A psychiatrist uses a patient he is having an affair with to help him kill his wife, but his perfect alibi may come apart at the hands of a seemingly befuddled LAPD lieutenant.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
11. 

    7.4/10(45 votes)

    #11 - Étude in Black

    S2:E19/17/1972

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

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
12. 

    7.2/10(57 votes)

    #12 - Death Lends a Hand

    S1:E210/6/1971

    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.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
13. 

    7.1/10(32 votes)

    #13 - Columbo Cries Wolf

    S9:E21/20/1990

    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.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
14. 

    7.0/10(41 votes)

    #14 - The Most Dangerous Match

    S2:E73/4/1973

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

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
15. 

    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - Services Rendered

    S7:E1012/12/1961

    Being hit by a falling plank of wood has rendered a young man with amnesia. All he has in his possession is a $1000 bill and a note with a doctor's address. Visiting the doctor jogs his memory, which is unfortunate for one of them.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson
16. 

    6.3/10(40 votes)

    #16 - Dagger of the Mind

    S2:E411/26/1972

    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.

    Director:N/A

    Writer:Richard Levinson

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    Writer:Richard Levinson