Columbo
Death Hits the Jackpot
TV Flash files “Death Hits the Jackpot” as the last listed hour of season 1991 — Columbo (1971–2003) on NBC, season 1991, episode 3, aired 1991-12-15, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S1991E03: listed hour 59 of 69 in the Columbo guide, last listed hour of season 1991. It aired 1991-12-15 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star” (S1991E02). Next is “No Time to Die” (S1992E01).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Death Hits the Jackpot sit in the Columbo guide?
S1991E03 is listed hour 59 of 69 — last listed hour of season 1991, season 1991 episode 3.
When did Columbo S1991E03 air?
Death Hits the Jackpot aired 1991-12-15 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…