Reviewed by Justin Bateman
Stars Peter Falk | UK certification PG | UK RRP £29.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 547 minutes
It might be a stretch to imagine that there’s someone out there who’s never heard of Columbo but on the off-chance that there is, here’s how it works. California. Sunshine. Background story. Slightly convoluted reason for and implementation of murder. As a viewer, we see all of this so there’s no mystery. Then, after about 20 minutes, Lieutenant Columbo (Falk) turns up in his beige mac, puffing on a cigar and apparently being the most clueless homicide detective in the history of the LAPD. He then spends the rest of what is now a "howdunnit", cosying up to the prime suspect, lulling him or her into a false sense of security before explaining the whole thing and arresting the killer, the joy of the show being in this exposition.
This particular season is sometimes referred to as the "Murder Mystery Movie" series, although as all Columbo episodes are around this length the real mystery is the nomenclature. Anyway, this season was filmed in 1990, something that is all too clear from the hairstyles and sweaters. Honestly, some of the perpetrators ought to have been arrested for crimes against fashion alone. Falk does his bumbling/brilliant cop routine perfectly but a lot of the supporting cast are woefully daytime soap opera. The stories generally do enough to maintain the interest but only occasionally does it rise above melodrama. So while it all passes the time quite pleasantly, there’s nothing much new or exciting to be had from this and with the show seemingly on a loop on daytime television, it will probably only be the hardcore completists who’ll be rushing out for this particular box set.
EXTRAS None