I’ve found a TV station that shows old mystery series (like Murder, She Wrote, Mannix, Perry Mason, etc.) and have been binge watching Columbo episodes.
Peter Falk’s rumpled, cigar-smoking detective (die-hard fans insist his first name is Frank based on a split-second screenshot of some paperwork) has a knack for getting to the bottom of things with “just one more thing.” Part of the fun of these shows is watching Columbo seemingly bumbling his way through a crime, while actually tricking the suspects into incriminating themselves. It’s even more fun seeing the now-famous guest stars (Dick van Dyke, William Shatner, Leslie Ann Warren, Leonard Nimoy, Will Geer, Jeanette Nolan, Jack Cassidy, Roddy McDowell, Janet Leigh, Vincent Price, Ricardo Montalban, Julie Newmar, etc. etc.). Most of the guest stars are known for their good-guy roles, but on Columbo, they got to explore their darker sides, and some of them obviously enjoyed it.
Each of the mysteries hinges on some tiny mistake the criminal makes while committing the murder–something only Columbo would even notice. The rest of the show is Columbo slowly but surely ferreting out what that clue means & what it means with regards to his suspects. Sure, it’s an old show with dated information, but it has a timeless quality among mystery shows and holds up well when compared to modern technological mysteries that rely on DNA and CSI to solve the crimes. If you haven’t seen an episode, look this show up on YouTube and see what you’ve been missing.