Columbo
Make Me a Perfect Murder
TV Flash files “Make Me a Perfect Murder” as hour 43 of 69 in the TV Flash guide — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1978, episode 2, aired 1978-02-25, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1978E02: listed hour 43 of 69 in the Columbo guide, hour 2 of 4 in season 1978. It aired 1978-02-25 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Murder Under Glass” (S1978E01). Next is “How to Dial a Murder” (S1978E03).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Columbo suspects that a network executive may have killed her lover-boss for not promoting her.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Make Me a Perfect Murder sit in the Columbo guide?
S1978E02 is listed hour 43 of 69 — hour 2 of 4 in season 1978, season 1978 episode 2.
When did Columbo S1978E02 air?
Make Me a Perfect Murder aired 1978-02-25 and is listed at 120 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…