Columbo
Suitable for Framing
TV Flash files “Suitable for Framing” as hour 6 of 69 in the TV Flash guide — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1971, episode 5, aired 1971-11-17, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1971E05: listed hour 6 of 69 in the Columbo guide, hour 5 of 6 in season 1971. It aired 1971-11-17 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “Dead Weight” (S1971E04). Next is “Lady in Waiting” (S1971E06).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Suitable for Framing sit in the Columbo guide?
S1971E05 is listed hour 6 of 69 — hour 5 of 6 in season 1971, season 1971 episode 5.
When did Columbo S1971E05 air?
Suitable for Framing aired 1971-11-17 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Where should I start?
Prescription: Murder for the 1968 trap, then Murder by the Book for the weekly form. If you only have one night, take Any Old Port in a Storm.
In the series
Why this series still plays
For the manners: an inverted mystery that spoils the killer on purpose, then lets Peter Falk talk a guest star to pieces. Prestige anthology in a raincoat — ego as the puzzle, courtesy as the trap.
The opening is a murder you are allowed to watch. That is the thesis, not a twist. Richard Levinson and William Link built Columbo as an inverted detective story: the killer's competence is the first act, Peter Falk's rumple is the second, and the third is a trap made of manners. If you came for a whodunit, the series has already spoiled itself on purpose. The pleasure is structural. How does a man in a raincoat talk a movie star into a mistake. The cut is the polite question that is not polite.
Filed against
- Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo
Peter Falk’s rumpled Columbo inverted the mystery — howdunit trap, one more thing, guest killers as prestige toys. Levinson and Link spoiled the murderer on purpose, then let a raincoat talk a movie star into a mistake. On TV Flash he is…