Columbo: Season 1

1971 · 7 episodes · ★ 7.3

What Season 1 of Columbo

Season 1 brings together seven stories in which viewers know from the start who commits the crime, so the suspense isn't about figuring out the culprit. Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, wears a rumpled beige raincoat and smokes cigars. He seems absent-minded, and suspects, often wealthy and powerful people, underestimate him. Facing them, the killer is confident and tries to throw him off the trail and cover his tracks. Columbo, meanwhile, asks seemingly innocent questions until he gathers the evidence that incriminates them. Peter Falk plays the lead.

7episodes

Sep 15, 1971premiered

Feb 9, 1972last episode

8.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 Murder by the Book
Sep 15, 1971 · 76 min · ★ 7.7
One member of a mystery-writing-team decides to kill his more talented partner when the better writer decides to go solo.
Directed by: Steven Spielberg · Written by: Steven Bochco · Starring: Jack Cassidy, Barbara Colby, Bernie Kuby, Haven Earle Haley
1x02 Death Lends a Hand
Oct 6, 1971 · 76 min · ★ 7.3
A private investigator kills his client's wife after she threatens to expose his blackmail scheme. The client then hires the detective to assist Columbo in the search for the killer.
Directing: Bernard L. Kowalski · Writing: Richard Levinson, William Link · Starring: Robert Culp, Ray Milland, Eric James, Len Wayland
1x03 Dead Weight
Oct 27, 1971 · 76 min · ★ 6.7
A famous general kills a business associate, then woos a neurotic female witness to thwart Columbo's investigation.
Directed by: Jack Smight · Written by: John T. Dugan · Starring: Ron Castro, John Kerr, Val Avery, Clete Roberts
1x04 Suitable for Framing
Nov 17, 1971 · 76 min · ★ 7.6
An art critic, Dale Kingston, kills his uncle for his valuable collection of paintings. All the clues lead to the dead man's first wife. Can Columbo correct the Lieutenant's error before it is too late?
Directing: Hy Averback · Writing: Jackson Gillis · Starring: Sandra Gould, Ross Martin, Rosanna Huffman, Joan Shawlee
1x05 Lady in Waiting
Dec 15, 1971 · 75 min · ★ 7.1
A woman shoots her overbearing brother, claiming she thought he was a burglar. Columbo doesn't buy the self-defense claim - he know's it's murder.
Directed by: Norman Lloyd · Written by: Steven Bochco · Starring: Richard Bull, Jon Lormer, Frank Baxter, Richard Anderson
1x06 Short Fuse
Jan 19, 1972 · 75 min · ★ 7.0
A chemist rigs a bomb in his uncle's car to gain control of his uncle's company, then plants clues to make Columbo suspicious of the company's Vice-President.
Directing: Edward M. Abroms · Writing: Jackson Gillis · Starring: Roddy McDowall, Anne Francis, Steve Gravers, Rosalind Miles
1x07 Blueprint for Murder Season Finale
Feb 9, 1972 · 75 min · ★ 7.8
An architect kills his business partner and deliberately lets Columbo suspect him, leading Columbo to think that he's hidden the body in the foundation of a building under construction. He plans to let Columbo dig up the site and find nothing, knowing that its the perfect place to hide the body since Columbo would never look in the same place twice.
Directed by: Peter Falk · Written by: Steven Bochco · Starring: Janis Paige, Forrest Tucker, Patrick O'Neal, Pamela Austin