Columbo
Try and Catch Me
TV Flash files “Try and Catch Me” as the last listed hour of season 1977 — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1977, episode 2, aired 1977-11-21, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1977E02: listed hour 41 of 69 in the Columbo guide, last listed hour of season 1977. It aired 1977-11-21 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “The Bye-bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case” (S1977E01). Next is “Murder Under Glass” (S1978E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
A mystery writer suspects her niece's husband of murdering her, and she exacts revenge by asphyxiating him in her house safe.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Try and Catch Me sit in the Columbo guide?
S1977E02 is listed hour 41 of 69 — last listed hour of season 1977, season 1977 episode 2.
When did Columbo S1977E02 air?
Try and Catch Me aired 1977-11-21 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…