Columbo
NBC (ended 2003)
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Season 10
- Ep 14Columbo Likes the Nightlife1/30/03
A reporter with a lot of enemies ends up dead from an apparent suicide, Columbo becomes suspicious since the reporter was blackmailing several people. - Ep 13Murder with Too Many Notes3/12/01
Findlay Crawford, the awardwinning composer of movie soundtracks, has a very talented apprentice, Gabriel, who wants to leave Crawfords shadow and get recognition for the music he has written but which Crawford took credit for. This Crawford wont allow, and he drugs him, and uses his musical timing to make it appear as if Gabriel fell from the roof during one of Crawfords concerts.''''Columbo notices right away that Gabriel fell without even a scream, and then theres the small cut on Gabriels hand. Later, he finds a photo of Gabriel in tuxedo and sneakers - which makes Columbo wondering why Gabriel would wear fancy shoes, and two sizes too large.''''The cat and mouse game with Crawford leads him through the musical world of movies, beginning the slowest car chase in movie history.moreless - Ep 12Ashes to Ashes10/8/98
Columbo is called in to solve the murder of Hollywood gossip journalist Verity Chandler whose last target was Eric Prince, mortician to the stars. - Ep 11A Trace of Murder5/15/97
Millionaire Clifford Calvert is framed for murdering a man he did business with and who in turn filed a lawsuit against him. Columbo investigates and finds out that Mrs. Calvert has been having an affair and has lots of motive to set up her husband. - Ep 10Strange Bedfellows5/8/95
A corrupt horse breeder and the gambling syndicate are fixing the horse races puts Columbo into a double investigation while investigating a very clever killer. - Ep 9Undercover5/2/94
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. - Ep 8Butterfly in Shades of Grey1/10/94
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. - Ep 7It's All in the Game10/31/93
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.moreless - Ep 6A Bird in the Hand...11/22/92
A rich man disliked by his family has a bomb planted in his car, but before it explodes, he is run over and killed, but by who? - Ep 5No Time to Die3/15/92
Columbo attends his nephew's wedding and as the couple get ready to leave on their honeymoon, the bride disappears. Columbo investigates, he thinks his nephew may have made a few enemies on the police force. - Ep 4Death Hits the Jackpot12/15/91
A struggling photographer is murdered in an elaborate scheme to get hold of his lottery winnings. - Ep 3Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star4/29/91
Hugh Creighton is a successful criminal lawyer who has never lost a case. He has a live-in girlfriend, who is a former rock star. When he finds out that she's seeing an old boyfriend, he throws her out. She then threatens to reveal that the secret of his success is allowing witnesses to purjure themselves, unless he pays her for the time they were together. He then plans to kill her and frame her boyfriend. It isn't long before Columbo is on the case, and discovers a few inconsistencies.moreless - Ep 2Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health2/20/91
Wade Anders is the host of highly popular anti-crime television show. Budd Clarke's the man who was originally suppose to be the host of the show. But Anders convinced the network that he would be more suitable. One day Clarke approaches Anders and clearly is still miffed that Anders took away his job. He then tells Anders that he has in his possession, an old adult video that features Anders with an underaged girl. Clarke then tells Anders that unless he leaves the show, he will reveal this little thing about Anders. They agree to meet at Clarke's. Anders then prepares some cigarettes with a poison. When Anders goes to meet Clarke, he first requests that Clarke show him the tape. While they are watching it, Anders replaces Clarke's cigarettes. Clarke smokes them and dies, Anders then takes the videotape and replaces Clarke's story on him with one of his inactive ones, and replaces the cigarettes in Clarke's ashtray with some he prepared. After Clarke is discovered, Columbo and the police investigate, while the other investigators think it might be natural causes, Columbo finds a few irregularities, like for instance that the cigarette butts found where Clarke died have no nicotine stains, and that the cigarette butts found in the ashtray were crushed, while the ones found in other ashtrays were bent. Eventually Columbo goes to see Anders. Eventually Columbo goes to an old Army buddy of Clarke's, who sent the videotape of Anders. Colubo eventually breaks Anders' alibi--that he was in the editing room when Clarke died. It seems that the shot of him entering and leaving were from two different days, but he still has to place him at Clarke's. Columbo invites him to Clarke's and Clarke's pet dog jumps on Anders car, now his car has scratches that match the dog's paws. Which means how else could have the dog have scratched his car, if he never went there as he claimed.moreless - Ep 1Columbo Goes to College12/9/90
Cooper and Justin are two college students, who are spoiled and conceited. They think that they can get away with anything cause they have their father's money and influence to back them. However, Cooper's father has placed him on notice, it seems that he gets a lot of girls pregnant and his father has to bail him out, he tells him that this is it. Their latest scheme is getting a copy of the exam they will be taking. But their professor finds out about it and tells them that the only thing that they have to look forward to is either being flunked or expelled. But when they spot having dinner with his girlfriend, they decide that this could be the opportunity they need to get rid of him. They steal the gun of the brother of the campus security guard. They wait until their next class which is being taught by Columbo. They trick the professor into leaving and while he is in the garage they are watching him on a close circuit camera and when he is position they press a button that triggers the gun. Columbo then proceeds to investigate and the boys are only to eager to help out. Eventually Columbo sets a trap for them; he lets them think that they found the murder weapon in the car of the man they are trying to frame but only the car that they he told them about doesn't belong to the man but to Columbo's wife, so how could the gun have gotten in it, if they hadn't planted it there.moreless
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Season 9
- Ep 6Murder in Malibu5/14/90
When con-artist Wayne Jennings is rejected by the wealthy romance novelist he planned to marry, he sets out to make the story she is writing look like a robbery gone awry. - Ep 5Uneasy Lies the Crown4/28/90
Wesley Corman, a dentist who prefers gambling to his wealthy wife, decides to kill her movie-star lover and frame her for his murder. - Ep 4Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo3/31/90
Vivian Dimitri blames two people for her husband's death in prison: his former partner-in-crime Charlie Chambers and Columbo, the detective who put him in jail. Now she is ready for some payback. First it's Charlie, then she will strike too close to home for Columbo. Or will she? - Ep 3Agenda for Murder2/10/90
Paul Staplin, a man who over the years has been in trouble with the law on more than one occasion, has committed suicide. Columbo is called in to investigate but he immediately sees it for a murder. The last person to see Staplin alive was Oscar Finch, a man with very strong political connections and who does not want Columbo nosing around asking "just one more thing."moreless - Ep 2Columbo Cries Wolf1/20/90
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 a lot of time with the young girls he works with. - Ep 1Murder, a Self Portrait11/25/89
Artist Max Barsini has his hands full: his wife Vanessa is always suspicious of his other "models", his live-in model Julie wants to be more than just his subject, and his ex-wife Louise stills pulls at his heart strings. Together Max asks them what they think of each other with explosive results.moreless
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Season 8
- Ep 4Grand Deceptions5/1/89
Colonel Frank Brailie runs a private military foundation for soldiers. General Paget, the owner of the facility, has become suspicious when a large amount of money seems to be going to a "Special project fund." - Ep 3Sex and the Married Detective4/3/89
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. - Ep 2Murder, Smoke and Shadows2/27/89
Movie director and wunderkind Alex Bradey keeps everyone dancing to his tune - his producer, the studio, his leading man and his ex-girlfriend whom he set up together to keep the actor in his film. But an old friend of Bradey's shows up and wants revenge for the death of his sister, whom Bradey ended up getting killed in a high-school film stunt and then covered up. Bradey maneuvers the friend into being electrocuted on a film set that he orders watered down for a film shoot.''''The off-schedule order to water down the street is just the first of several clues that Columbo notes as he investigates the "accidental" death, and he soon figures out that Bradey is the one responsible. Columbo isn't the only problem Alex has - his producer is cancelling his film due to cost overruns and missed deadlines, and his secretary has figured out he had the brother killed and resorts to blackmail. Finally, Alex falls prey to a staged scene of his own when Columbo proves his own superior ability to direct by setting up a con to get Alex to confess his crime on a movie set as the film of the accidental death shows in the background.moreless - Ep 1Columbo Goes to the Guillotine2/6/89
A fake psychic conspires with an old friend (who debunks psychics) to convince a secret government agency that he really is a psychic. Afterwards he meets with the old friend, a magician, at the magician's workshop and kills him to settle a long-standing grudge.''''The psychic makes the death look as if the magician was killed accidentally by a guillotine he used as a trick.moreless
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Season 7
- Ep 5The Conspirators5/13/78
An Irish poet, who fronts a peace organization while secretly running guns, kills an arms dealer who tries to swindle him. - Ep 4How to Dial a Murder4/15/78
A famous psychiatrist uses an appointment with his doctor be his alibi while he calls his house, where his dead wifes lover is. The call serves as the first step in a conditioning reflex on the psychiatrists dogs. The other part is the word "Rosebud" as uttered by the victim.''''When Columbo comes to the scene, the psychiatrist is very understanding when the police says that they may have to put his dogs to death. But Columbo notices how friendly the dogs seem, and then theres the telephone thats hanging from its hook...moreless - Ep 3Make Me a Perfect Murder2/28/78
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. - Ep 2Murder under Glass1/30/78
A famous food critic is threatened by a restaurant owner, and so the critic leaves. Soon after, the cook dies.''''Columbos 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 theres the cheques to a mysterious society, and the victims calender. Can Columbos cooking skills really match the food critics taste?moreless - Ep 1Try and Catch Me11/21/77
A writer of murder mysteries wreaks revenge on her nephew-in-law by blaming him for her niece´s murder.
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Season 6
- Ep 3The Bye-bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case5/22/77
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. - Ep 2Old Fashioned Murder11/28/76
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/robbers 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 robbers 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...moreless - Ep 1Fade in to Murder10/10/76
An actor who plays a TV detective commits the perfect murder, but finds himself matching wits with real-life detective Columbo.
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Season 5
- Ep 6Last Salute to the Commodore3/2/76
Commodore Swanson is tired of his greedy son-in-law turning his ship building business into an embarrassment and decides to sell the company. - Ep 5Now You See Him2/29/76
The Great Santini is a master magician, but his employer discovers that he was a German camp guard during World War II and blackmails him. Santini is forced to engineer a perfect murder--he kills the owner while apparently performing his famous "water tank" illusion on stage in front of dozens of witnesses. Santini in fact supposedly hides out beneath the stage, and uses a radio transmitter to convince a waiter that he is there when he's busy killing the owner. Now Columbo must unravel a magical mystery and break a perfect alibi.
moreless - Ep 4A Matter of Honor2/1/76
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?moreless - Ep 3Identity Crisis11/2/75
A spy is killed on a lonely beach by his contact''but the killer has been photographed beforehand walking with the victim. - Ep 2A Case of Immunity10/12/75
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 have problem crushing the ambassadors 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...moreless - Ep 1Forgotten Lady9/14/75
An aging song-and-dance star is Lt. Columbo's quarry in the fifth season opener. The disheveled detective suspects the actress of killing her wealthy husband to finance her dream, a comeback on Broadway.
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Season 4
- Ep 6A Deadly State of Mind4/27/75
A doctor kills the husband of the woman ,he is having an affair with. but he is 'seen' leaving the house by a witness,who is happens to be blind. - Ep 5Playback3/2/75
An inventor video tapes his mother-in-law's death, and then replays it back to the security guard, to give himself an alibi. - Ep 4Troubled Waters2/9/75
While holidaying on board a cruise liner, Columbo helps capture the killer, of the singer with the ships band. - Ep 3By Dawn´s Early Light10/27/74
The head of a military school, kills one of the governors, by sabotaging the gun, that is used on founders day. - Ep 2Negative Reaction10/15/74
Famous photographer Paul Galesko wants to kill his wealthy but annoying wife. He sets up a trusting ex-con to take the wrap. Can Columbo see beyond the false images and prove Galesko is guilty? - Ep 1An Exercise in Fatality9/15/74
A health club owner kills his partner who is about to uncover a fraud and makes it look like an accident
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Season 3
- Ep 8A Friend in Deed5/5/74
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 favor. - Ep 7Swan Song3/3/74
After years of being controlled and blackmailed by his wife a Country and Western singer kills her and tries to make it look like it was really meant to be him killed and not her. - Ep 6Mind over Mayhem2/18/74
Dr. Marshal Cahill, the head of a think tank, is forced to protect his plagarizing son by killing the professor, Nichols, who discovered the plagarized information. Cahill programs a robot to take his place during a war game exercise that he runs from an isolated room, then fakes a hit-and-run accident on Nichols and plants evidence to make it look like a drug theft gone awry.''''The first thing Columbo notices upon arrival is a match burned down to the base - something Columbo knows well because it's how you light a cigar. And Dr. Cahill is the only other cigar smoker around. There are a lot of other little things that Columbo notices as well, and with the help of a child prodigy he discovers how Cahill used the robot to provide himself with an alibi. But without one major clue, Columbo arrests the son to force Cahill, who was willing to kill for his son, to confess his crime to protect the boy.moreless - Ep 5Publish or Perish1/18/74
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. - Ep 4Double Exposure12/16/73
A film maker kills one of his clients in a break during the screening of a new ad campaign. - Ep 3Candidate for Crime11/4/73
A Senate Candidate running for office, kills his campaign manager, by making it look like he was the target for the killers bullet. - Ep 2Any Old Port in a Storm10/7/73
Winemaker Adrian Carsini decides to kill his younger brother before he can sell the family winery. Columbo will have to use Adrian's excellent wine knowledge against him to bring the killer to justice. - Ep 1Lovely but Lethal9/23/73
Viveca Scott, the founder of Beauty Mark Cosmetics, is threatened by her rival, David Lang. When he finds out that her revolutionary cream formula actually remove wrinkles, he has the formula pirated and Viveca decides to murder him.
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Season 2
- Ep 8Double Shock3/25/73
A wealthy man is murdered; his twin nephews stand to inherit, but which one committed the crime? - Ep 7The Most Dangerous Match3/4/73
When a chess grandmaster realizes that he is unable to defeat his rival at a tournament, he resorts to murder and makes it look like suicide. But Columbo isn't fooled... and the victim isn't quite dead.
- Ep 6A Stitch in Crime2/11/73
Heart surgeon Barry Manfield turns his talents turn to murder and plans to kill his mentor, who refuses to release their research findings prematurely. When the mentor has a heart attack, Manfield plots the perfect murder, but must kill two people to cover his tracks while he waits for his plan to succeed.moreless - Ep 5Requiem for a Falling Star1/21/73
Nora Chandler, a fading movie star is threatened by a forthcoming tell-all book and some of the secrets it will reveal. She attempts to murder Jerry Parks, the author but accidentally kills her P.A. Columbo roots out the connection between the current case and the mysterious disappearance of the actress's husband. The solution to the case involves a Shriner's ring, and an inoperative fountain.moreless - Ep 4Dagger of the Mind11/26/72
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, that is financing the careers of two has-been theater stars trying to restart their careers. When Sir Roger threatens to finish 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 kill him, and make it look like he committed 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.moreless - Ep 3The Most Crucial Game11/5/72
The manager of a football team kills the team's owner, disguising himself as an ice cream vender 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. - Ep 2The Greenhouse Jungle10/15/72
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. - Ep 1tude in Black9/17/72
The mistress of a conductor becomes a target for murder after threatening to tell all to her lover's wife.
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Season 1
- Ep 9Blueprint for Murder2/9/72
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.moreless - Ep 8Short Fuse1/19/72
A chemist rigs a bomb in his uncle's car so he can gain control of his uncle's company. He then plants clues to make Columbo suspicious of the company's Vice-President. - Ep 7Lady in Waiting12/15/71
Beth Chadwick is tired of her brother Bryce running her life. The last straw is when he threatens to break up her romance with Peter Hamilton, a company lawyer. Beth lays a trap for Bryce and shoots him, claiming that she thought he was a prowler. By stealing his house key, she plans for him to try to enter through her bedroom French doors. But when Bryce shows up after using a spare key, she is forced to improvise. The coroner's inquest backs up her story, but for Columbo, too many little things do not add up. ''''If Bryce had to walk around the house to get to the doors, why are there no grass stains on his shoes? If Beth never went out the day of the murder, how did a late edition of the newspaper end up in the front hall? But when a witness remembers hearing gunshots before an alarm, Columbo figures it all out.moreless - Ep 6Suitable for Framing11/17/71
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 but Columbo doesn't believe it. - Ep 5Dead Weight10/27/71
A famous general kills an associate because he fears he will expose his illegal business practices. A somewhat neurotic divorcee witnesses the murder and reports it. The general then woos her and makes her fall for him, causing her to change her story. - Ep 4Death Lends a Hand10/6/71
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. - Ep 3Murder by the Book9/15/71
Ken Franklin is the untalented writer but skilled PR agent of a mystery book writing team that created detective Mrs. Melville. He kills his partner and the real writer, Jim Ferris, because Ferris is planning on breaking up the team and writing on his own. Franklin uses an elaborate scheme to make it appear as if Ferris were killed by mobsters because his next story, an expose on the Mafia, would incriminate them.''''Franklin's plan is perfect except that a fan of Mrs. Melville, Lilly La Sanka, saw him.moreless - Ep 2Ransom for a Dead Man3/1/71
Lawyer Leslie Williams concocts an elaborate plan to make her husband's murder look like a kidnapping gone wrong. When it looks like all the bases are covered, Columbo must find a way to trip up this calm and collected lady. - Ep 1Prescription: Murder2/20/68
Psychiatrist Ray Flemming employs his girlfriend to pose as his wife. Barry kills the wife in front of the girlfriend and the two of them take off on a plane for the 'perfect alibi'. They stage a fight on the plane and the 'wife' returns home where she is supposedly killed by an intruder. Things get messy when the dry cleaning comes back from the cleaners.moreless
