Columbo
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
TV Flash files “Columbo Goes to the Guillotine” as the first listed hour of season 1989 — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1989, episode 1, aired 1989-02-06, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1989E01: listed hour 46 of 69 in the Columbo guide, first listed hour of season 1989. It aired 1989-02-06 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “The Conspirators” (S1978E04). Next is “Murder, Smoke and Shadows” (S1989E02).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Columbo Goes to the Guillotine sit in the Columbo guide?
S1989E01 is listed hour 46 of 69 — first listed hour of season 1989, season 1989 episode 1.
When did Columbo S1989E01 air?
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine aired 1989-02-06 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…