Columbo

S1968E01 Prescription: Murder 1968-02-20

Columbo's first mystery pits him against a cheating doctor out to get rid of his wife in favor of his young, pretty actress girlfriend.

Pilot note — From the desk: Columbo opens its catalog run with “Prescription: Murder” (1968-02-20). Mystery structure that stars loved; TV acting showcase format. Peter Falk's negotiation legend and the guest-star ego Olympics.

S1971E01 Ransom for a Dead Man 1971-03-01

A brilliant tort attorney gets rid of her boring husband by faking his kidnapping and keeping the ransom. The FBI may be fooled, but not Columbo.

S1971E02 Murder by the Book 1971-09-15

When one member of a mystery writing team wants to break from his less talented partner, she becomes the victim in a real-life murder mystery.

S1971E03 Death Lends a Hand 1971-10-06

When the CEO of a private detective agency threatens the wife of a publisher with blackmail and she threatens to expose him, he accidentally kills her.

S1971E04 Dead Weight 1971-10-27

A war hero shoots and kills his business partner; an easily manipulated young divorcée is the only witness.

S1971E05 Suitable for Framing 1971-11-17

A wealthy art collector is murdered, and all signs point to a robbery gone wrong. But the nephew's alibi is a little too convenient, and Columbo pulls a fast one to ferret out the killer.

S1971E06 Lady in Waiting 1971-12-15

A mousy heiress murders her brother, pretending she thought he was a burglar. Lt. Columbo unravels her alibi.

S1972E01 Short Fuse 1972-01-19

Pressured to give up his birthright, a chemical company heir enacts a clever plan to get rid of his blackmailing uncle and take over the family business. But Lt. Columbo suspects the man's death was not just a tragic accident.

S1972E02 Blueprint for Murder 1972-02-09

Elliot Markham, a brilliant architect and con-man, murders a Texas millionaire and hides his body in order to keep his visionary construction project financed.

S1972E03 Étude in Black 1972-09-17

A ruthless conductor murders the gifted pianist with whom he is having an affair. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1972E04 The Greenhouse Jungle 1972-10-15

Columbo arrives at a kidnapping case, which at some point turns to worse. Everything seems to be related to a trust fund managed by a man with a great love for orchids.

S1972E05 The Most Crucial Game 1972-11-05

The manager of a football team murders its callow owner, making it look as if the young man had had an accident in his swimming pool. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1972E06 Dagger of the Mind 1972-11-26

In London, a respected Shakespearean acting duo cover up the unintended killing of their producer.

S1973E01 Requiem for a Falling Star 1973-01-21

A faded movie actress commits murder. Lt. Columbo, one of her biggest fans, is on the case.

S1973E02 A Stitch in Crime 1973-02-11

A surgeon has an ingenious plan for murdering his partner in a research project, but a nurse catches onto the scheme.

S1973E03 The Most Dangerous Match 1973-03-04

A chess player murders his opponent before a big match. Lt. Columbo must out-maneuver this crafty, but craven, killer.

S1973E04 Double Shock 1973-03-25

A smarmy TV chef and his identical twin brother, a rigidly proper banker, are suspects in the electrocution of their rich uncle.

S1973E05 Lovely But Lethal 1973-09-23

The formula for a miracle wrinkle cream leads the founder of a cosmetics company to murder and Columbo is on this case.

S1973E06 Any Old Port in a Storm 1973-10-07

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

S1973E07 Candidate for Crime 1973-11-04

Senatorial candidate Nelson Hayward murders his domineering campaign manager, staging it to appear that Hayward himself was the intended victim of a mob hit gone wrong.

S1973E08 Double Exposure 1973-12-16

A self-styled "motivation research specialist" uses subliminal cues to commit a murder. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1974E01 Publish or Perish 1974-01-18

A publisher hires a bomb enthusiast to murder a bestselling author of sex novels. Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1974E02 Mind Over Mayhem 1974-02-18

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.

S1974E03 Swan Song 1974-03-03

A gospel singer wants to be rid of his zealous wife. But a murder made to look like an airplane accident does not fool the wily Lt. Columbo.

S1974E04 A Friend in Deed 1974-05-05

A police commissioner provides a false alibi for a wife killer, but then expects an alibi in return.

S1974E05 An Exercise in Fatality 1974-09-15

A health club owner murders one of his franchisees. Lt. Columbo is on the case. Milo Janus owns a chain of health clubs, but one of his franchisees discovers the man is cheating him - and can prove it to the authorities. Janus responds by murdering his partner and making it look as if he had accidentally killed himself trying to lift a barbell that was too heavy for him. Janus creates a would-be perfect alibi for himself involving a tape recording of his victim's voice, a phone that doesn't light up, a sexy secretary, a party for friends at his house, and a pornographic horror movie. But no alibi is perfect when the rumpled Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1974E06 Negative Reaction 1974-10-15

A photographer murders his wife and blames her death on a bungled kidnapping. But Lt. Columbo has an even sharper eye than the Pulitzer Prize winner.

S1974E07 By Dawn's Early Light 1974-10-27

The commandant of a military academy murders the chairman of the board, who wants to oust him. Lt. Columbo takes up residence in the barracks to expose the killer.

S1975E01 Troubled Waters 1975-02-09

Lt. Columbo takes a trip to Acapulco, but finds himself on a new case when a used car dealer commits murder on the cruise ship.

S1975E02 Playback 1975-03-02

A gadget-happy inventor murders his mother-in-law; Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1975E03 A Deadly State of Mind 1975-04-27

A psychiatrist, who specializes in hypnosis, murders the husband of his mistress and convinces her to lie to the police; it's up to Lt. Columbo to discover the truth.

S1975E04 Forgotten Lady 1975-09-14

A faded dance star of film and stage murders her husband and makes it look like a suicide; Lt. Columbo doubts her seemingly perfect alibi.

S1975E05 A Case of Immunity 1975-10-12

The first secretary to the Suarian king may have immunity from the consequences of committing murder, but Lt. Columbo is wilier than any foreign diplomat.

S1975E06 Identity Crisis 1975-11-02

A top CIA operative commits murder the way only a brilliant spy can, never guessing he'll have to contend with a man like Lt. Columbo.

S1976E01 A Matter of Honor 1976-02-01

When a famous bullfighter's trusted bookkeeper turns up dead in a bullring, Lt. Columbo suspects murder--with a bull as the murder weapon.

S1976E02 Now You See Him 1976-02-29

A stage illusionist kills his employer and makes it look like a contract killing; it's up to Lt. Columbo to trick the master trickster.

S1976E03 Last Salute to the Commodore 1976-03-02

Charlie Clay runs the ship building business of his father-in-law, Commodore Swanson, who turns up murdered; Lt. Columbo is on the case.

S1976E04 Fade in to Murder 1976-10-10

An egotistical but successful star of a TV detective show murders his blackmailing producer and makes it look like a robbery.

S1976E05 Old Fashioned Murder 1976-11-28

The spinster head of a family-run museum murders her brother when he threatens to dissolve the financially strapped institution.

S1977E01 The Bye-bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case 1977-05-22

Sigma Society member Oliver Brandt murders his business partner when he threatens to expose him as an embezzler and constructs a seemingly foolproof alibi.

S1977E02 Try and Catch Me 1977-11-21

A mystery writer suspects her niece's husband of murdering her, and she exacts revenge by asphyxiating him in her house safe.

S1978E01 Murder Under Glass 1978-01-30

Food critic Paul Gerard, who has been extorting money from restaurant owners in exchange for good reviews, murders one when threatened with exposure.

S1978E02 Make Me a Perfect Murder 1978-02-25

Columbo suspects that a network executive may have killed her lover-boss for not promoting her.

S1978E03 How to Dial a Murder 1978-04-15

A behavioral psychologist whose wife died under suspicious circumstances trains his dogs to kill on command using a telephone.

S1978E04 The Conspirators 1978-05-13

Columbo investigates the murder of an arms dealer.

S1989E01 Columbo Goes to the Guillotine 1989-02-06

An egocentric psychic murders his old mentor, a magician charged to expose him as fraud, by beheading him while he's rehearsing his guillotine trick.

S1989E02 Murder, Smoke and Shadows 1989-02-27

A brothers search for the cause of his deceased sister's death leads to murder. During the investigation, Columbo questions a film director and also encounters a case of motion sickness.

S1989E03 Sex and the Married Detective 1989-04-03

When a successful sex therapist with a best selling book and a hit TV show is crushed to learn her business partner/lover is cheating on her, she plots appropriate revenge.

S1989E04 Grand Deceptions 1989-05-01

After the head of a private paramilitary think tank who is embezzling funds murders a blackmailer, he has to match wits with the persistent Lieutenant Columbo.

S1989E05 Murder, a Self Portrait 1989-11-25

Columbo investigates the apparent drowning of a famous painter's first wife.

S1990E01 Columbo Cries Wolf 1990-01-20

When Dian Hunter, the publisher of the men's magazine "Bachelor's World", wants to sell her stock to a media tycoon, her adulterous partner Sean Brantley objects. Soon afterwards, Miss Hunter apparently disappears on a London-bound flight.

S1990E02 Agenda for Murder 1990-02-10

This time Columbo is put on a murder that was made to look like a suicide. However, he notices some loose ends, and asks a lawyer and a governor to clear these problems up.

S1990E03 Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo 1990-03-31

A woman who blames Columbo for the loss of her husband sets out to get back at him.

S1990E04 Uneasy Lies the Crown 1990-04-28

The unsuccessful junior partner in a dental group, a bad husband and degenerate gambler, faces divorce and ostracism from his father-in-law's firm.

S1990E05 Murder in Malibu 1990-05-14

A successful writer of romance novels who is involved with a young, ambitious womanizer, is found shot to death in her Malibu home.

S1990E06 Columbo Goes to College 1990-12-09

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.

S1991E01 Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health 1991-02-20

Columbo investigates a self-proclaimed security expert turned crime show host for the murder of a rival with incriminating evidence of pornography.

S1991E02 Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star 1991-04-29

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.

S1991E03 Death Hits the Jackpot 1991-12-15

Freddie Brower, a down-on-his-luck photographer in the final stages of a divorce, wins $30 million in the lottery. In order to not share it with his wife before the divorce is finalized, he arranges for his uncle Leon to cash in the ticket and give Freddy the money after the divorce. But uncle Leon Lamarr has ideas of his own.

S1992E01 No Time to Die 1992-03-15

Columbo attends his nephew's wedding and as the couple get ready to leave on their honeymoon, the bride disappears; Columbo investigates and suspects his nephew may have made a few enemies on the police force.

S1992E02 A Bird in the Hand... 1992-11-22

Harold likes to gamble, but as a rule he loses and he is heavily in debt. His uncle is the famous Big Fred who is the owner of a football team and he is a millionaire. But Harold can't get a dime from him. So Harold decides to kill his uncle by a pipe bomb under his car. He is not surprised when he is told Big Fred is dead. He is surprised however that the death is due to a road accident. He rushes to his uncle's house and he finds Lt. Columbo getting excited about the car with the bomb...

S1993E01 It's All in the Game 1993-10-31

Lauren Staton and Lisa Martin kill their two-timing lover Nick Franco. Lauren's the one who pulled the trigger and they've made it look like Franco was killed by a burglar in his apartment. They've prepared well with both having solid alibis. Lt. Columbo is in charge of the case and is very much attracted to the beautiful Lauren. She uses that to her advantage and is soon buying him gifts and giving him the odd kiss. Columbo is flattered but begins to see anomalies in some of the physical evidence. He becomes certain that Lauren is involved in Franco's death but ...

S1994E01 Butterfly in Shades of Grey 1994-01-10

L.A. radio moderator Fielding Chase kills Gerry Winters, a member of his staff who tried to help Chase's daughter Victoria (also a staff member) to leave her father and become a novelist in New York. Chase presents a fine alibi: Winters was shot dead while speaking to him on the phone, even the shooting was recorded on his answering machine. Everything seems perfect, but will Lt. Columbo really believe this story?

S1994E02 Undercover 1994-05-02

Lieutenant Columbo investigates men and women who are being killed over pieces of a photo they have, that shows where 4 million dollars in stolen money is hidden.

S1995E01 Strange Bedfellows 1995-05-08

When Graham McVeigh kills his brother and frames a mob bookie for the crime and then kills the bookie and claims self-defense. He finds himself facing trouble from both Columbo and the bookie's superior in the mob.

S1997E01 A Trace of Murder 1997-05-15

A beautiful woman and her forensic expert boyfriend try to frame her very rich husband for murder.

S1998E01 Ashes to Ashes 1998-10-08

After a much maligned Hollywood gossip columnist is murdered by her former lover, Columbo tries to find a way to prove he was responsible for the crime.

S2001E01 Murder with Too Many Notes 2001-03-12

A Hollywood film composer and conductor murdered a talented musician who has been ghostwriting most of his work in recent years.

S2003E01 Columbo Likes the Nightlife 2003-01-30

Columbo gets a taste of the Los Angeles rave scene as he investigates the apparent suicide of a tabloid reporter.

Finale note — From the desk: The guide closes on “Columbo Likes the Nightlife” (2003-01-30) — a series bookend worth the package context. Peter Falk's negotiation legend and the guest-star ego Olympics.