Columbo / episode list

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This episode list contains all episodes of the American television series Columbo , sorted according to the American first broadcast. It comprises ten seasons with 69 episodes. Columbo was not divided into seasons until the films were released on DVD. This fact explains why the "production" of the tenth season apparently took 13 years.

Overview

Season	Number of episodes	First broadcast in the USA		German-language first broadcast
		Season premiere	Season finale	Season premiere	Season finale
1	9	20th February 1968	February 9, 1972	October 11, 1969	4th September 1975
2	8th	17th September 1972	March 25, 1973	February 27, 1975	January 7, 1992
3	8th	23rd September 1973	May 5th 1974	April 19, 1975	March 17, 1992
4th	6th	15th September 1974	April 27, 1975	18th September 1975	February 25, 1992
5	6th	September 14, 1975	March 2, 1976	May 24, 1980	March 31, 1992
6th	3	October 10, 1976	May 22, 1977	April 7, 1992	April 21, 1992
7th	5	November 21, 1977	May 13, 1978	December 27, 1980	March 3, 1992
8th	4th	February 6, 1989	May 1, 1989	April 2, 1991	May 7, 1991
9	6th	November 25, 1989	May 14, 1990	April 16, 1991	4th June 1991
10	14th	December 9, 1990	January 30, 2003	April 28, 1992	September 7, 2004

season 1

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
1	1	Murder by prescription	Prescription: Murder	Feb. 20, 1968	Oct 11, 1969	Richard Irving	Richard Levinson & William Link	Gene Barry
The respected psychiatrist Dr. Ray Flemming and his wife Carol celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary with friends. As always, Ray uses every opportunity to prove his superior intelligence. Flemming gets a call from his lover, Joan Hudson, during the party and drives to her on the pretext of having to care for an acute patient. After returning home, the party is already over, his wife confronts him with the fact that she knows about his affair and wants to leave him. To ward off this, he develops an insidious plan: He wants to commit the perfect crime. He tells his wife that he has already planned a trip to Acapulco to consolidate the marital happiness. After his wife continued to tell a friend about this, he strangled her from behind and staged a robbery-murder break-in by smashing the balcony door and exposing valuables such as B. silver candlesticks and cutlery stowed in one of the suitcases. His lover Joan, a young actress, supports him in pretending that he is going on the plane with his wife. Disguised in his wife's dress, a quarreling scene is staged on the plane and the woman leaves the plane in protest before it takes off to return home. Joan Hudson returns Mrs. Flemming's dress by stuffing it into a laundry bag ready for collection in front of the apartment. Dr. Flemming, however, begins the journey and discards the booty on an offshore fishing tour. When he got home, Inspector Columbo was already waiting in his apartment and told him that his wife was still alive. When he arrives at the hospital, Dr. Flemming's wife even before she could be questioned. She just said Ray several times. Here Columbo's suspicion of Dr. He and Flemming asks him why he didn't instinctively call for his wife when he got home. Columbo starts his research and pursues the following clues: Where is Mrs. Flemming's dress? Where are the gloves? Why was the suitcase overweight on the outward journey and much lighter on the journey home? Why was Mrs. Flemming strangled from behind? The dress shows up when the laundry delivers it cleaned. The fluctuation in the weight of the suitcase is explained with a large amount of holiday magazines that were simply left there after reading. The suede gloves were made by Dr. But Flemming's accomplice was simply left in her handbag. Since Columbo wants to search the apartment again for the gloves, Flemming pretends to have found them in the desk and presents them to Columbo. The latter accepts this find, which increases his distrust even more. Columbo can Dr. Flemming just doesn't prove anything and Flemming lets him feel that too. He even complains about it to a public prosecutor friend and wants to have the inspector removed from the case. Joan Hudson also remains strong and cannot be cracked by Columbo. But then the inspector uses a ruse. His patient is played to the doctor that Ms. Hudson killed herself. Flemming arrives at the house in time to see a corpse being packed on the stretcher and transported away. Columbo implicates Dr. Flemming in conversation about the dead and suspected beloved. Flemming denies ever having loved the woman and she would always have only been a means to an end. Suddenly, Joan Flemming, accompanied by the police, appears alive and well. In view of the statements made by Dr. Flemming is now ready to testify against the doctor.
2	2	Ransom for a dead man	Ransom for a Dead Man	1st Mar 1971	17th May 1973	Richard Irving	Dean Hargrove, idea: Richard Levinson & William Link	Lee Grant
In order to get money, the lawyer Leslie Williams fakes a blackmail. She tinkered a ransom note with letters cut out from a newspaper and cut a new tape from several tape recordings of the answering machine with a call from her husband. When he gets home that evening, the husband is shot in cold blood and the body is taken away by car. Although it is still a kidnapping, Inspector Columbo appears on the scene and meticulously observes the goings-on: Interception circuits are installed and the house is still guarded, FBI agents come and go. He is very interested in the behavior of Mrs. Williams. With the help of a tape recorder with a timer and a telephone system that can be programmed using a punch card, Mrs. Williams fakes the call from her husband, who is supposedly still alive. The call is of course too short to be followed up. Finally, the order arrives for Mrs. Williams to throw a bag of ransom money from an airplane for the release of her wealthy husband. The money is taken from a trust fund and given to Mrs. Williams. This puts the money in a shoulder bag. Everything goes to the airport where this bag is exchanged for the same bag without money but with a flashing light when changing. Mrs. Williams flies on the given route in a moment, throws out the flashing light that everyone takes to be a sign of the kidnappers, turns a loop and throws the bag off as requested. The emergency services arrive too late on the ground and the bag is found empty. Mrs. Williams returns home where she hides the exchanged bag with the money in a secret compartment in the closet. The next day, her husband's body was washed ashore. Now it is murder and Columbo takes over the investigation and suspects a conspiracy that he has to get to the bottom of. In the meantime, Mr. Williams' daughter Margret has also returned home from the Swiss boarding school. The relationship between the stepmother and Margret is more than icy. Columbo had the first suspicions quite early on, as he noticed that when Mr. Williams' car was found, the driver's seat had moved unusually far forward. After several attempts and also a flight lesson with Mrs. Williams, Columbo succeeds in identifying the technology for the call. Unfortunately, he cannot convict the perpetrator with these clues. Margret Williams is also firmly convinced that her stepmother has something to do with her father's death and also talks about it at a meeting with Columbo. Mrs. Williams is simply nothing to prove; even a phone call from him faked in the same way (although he is standing in the room) cannot bring Mrs. Williams to her knees. Therefore, he develops a plan: Margret shocks her stepmother by saying that she knows everything. But she wouldn't care and she would go back to the Swiss boarding school without comment if her annual pocket money were increased significantly. Mrs. Williams gets into the trade. The next day she accompanies Margret to the airport and gives her the suitcase with the money that is to be paid into a Swiss account. Margret then disappears towards the gate. Confident of victory, Mrs. Williams goes to the airport restaurant where she meets Columbo. Together they decide to have a drink until a colleague hands the inspector a box. The money case is inside and the money is inside. The serial numbers were noted before the handover, so it is clear that the money comes from her husband's ransom. Columbo sums up that he had to get the perpetrator to spend the money in order to convict him. And through the character of Mrs. Williams he was convinced that she believed that she could solve everything with money and that other people too, had no scruples like her. Mrs. Williams congratulates Columbo on this move and lets herself be led away without resistance.
3	3	Deadly separation	Murder by the Book	Sep 15 1971	Apr 10, 1975	Steven Spielberg	Steven Bochco	Jack Cassidy
The author duo Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris have created a joint detective. Her adventures are sold in a very profitable bestselling line. Jim Ferris, the actual author and writer of the books, tells his rather untalented partner Ken Franklin (who also never contributed a line to the books) that he wanted to part with him. Franklin then decides to kill his partner with the perfect murder plan. Under the pretext of wanting to reconcile with him, he visits Ferris in his office and persuades him to accompany him to his vacation home outside of Los Angeles. When he arrives at the car, Franklin turns back to get his "forgotten" lighter from the office. But in reality he uses this to fake a fight in the office and to hide a list of names in a drawer. Once on land, Franklin stops briefly at Mrs. Lilly La Sanka's department store, who runs it alone. He orders some groceries for the weekend and calls Ferris's wife, Joanna, to tell her he's made up with Jim. Mrs. La Sanka is very curious about which “young lady” Mr. Franklin has brought with her for this weekend. He says he has no one with me this time. When he arrives at the weekend house, Franklin says that Ferris should call his wife and tell her he'll be working longer in the office today. During this call he shoots Ferris and his wife overhears the shot over the phone. The corpse is wrapped in plastic wrap and hidden in the trunk of the car. Meanwhile, his wife and the police have arrived at Jim Ferris' office. There is a lot of activity in the office by photographers, forensics and other police officers. Columbo takes Mrs. Ferris into the quiet hallway and first calms her down and takes her home. There he meets Mr. Franklin for the first time, who pretends to be a concerned family friend. The next step is for Ken Franklin to place Ferris' body in his front yard. When the police arrive, he indicates this as a warning from unknown people. Columbo notices that despite all the excitement, Mr. Franklin had time to open his mail. In the further course of the investigation, Franklin presents the inspector with the hidden list that contains the names of several Mafia sizes. He tries to convince Columbo that Ferris is working on a book that will expose the machinations of so many mobsters and that he must have made a lot of enemies and potential murderers. Investigations by Columbo in this direction are rather unsuccessful. In the meantime, Mrs. La Sanka is watching Franklin after a theater performance. She lets him understand that she knows who was sitting in his car that evening. At a meal they agree on a hush money which Franklin will bring to her. When the money is handed over, people eat and drink together and Ken pretends Lilly to be in love with her. It all ends with Mr. Franklin killing her with a bottle of champagne. Mrs. La Sanka's body is sunk in the nearby lake, believing her rowboat capsized. The next day after the body was discovered, Columbo also turns up at Mr. Franklin's weekend house. During the investigation in the department store he finds the current book by the author duo with a personal dedication and in the kitchen one of the champagne corks (made of plastic) of the brand that Mr. Franklin likes to drink. Columbo immediately suspects another murder. Finally, Columbo confronts Mr. Franklin with his theory. As a support, Columbo Ferris explains that he made notes for his books day and night in order to record ideas and ideas. On the same note, he found the exact description of the murder and found it to be the perfect murder in itself. The murder of Mrs. La Sanka, on the other hand, was bungling. Franklin gives in and gives up. He points out to Columbo, however, that exactly that idea came from himself, was his only, ever best idea and he did not know that Ferris once wrote down this idea too.
4th	4th	Murder with the left hand	Death Lends a Hand	Oct 6, 1971	4th Sep 1975	Bernard L. Kowalski	Richard Levinson & William Link	Robert Culp
Mr. Brimmer is a former police officer and runs a detective agency that is state-of-the-art. At the beginning he impressively shows that he is two-handed - that is, he can shoot perfectly with both the right and the left. Arthur Kennicutt, head of a major publishing house, has hired Mr. Brimmer to shadow his wife because he suspects she is cheating. Mr. Brimmer tells Mr. Kennicutt that there is no doubt that his wife is not cheating and that he should not worry about it. What Kennicutt doesn't know is that his wife Lenore Kennicutt can overhear the meeting in the next room. After Mr. Kennicutt has left the office, Mr. Brimmer reveals the background to this action to Mrs. Kennicutt: He withholds all incriminating material as long as she ensures that the detective agency is supplied with sensitive information from the publishing house. Mrs. Kennicutt wants to think about it. In the evening, Brimmer meets Mrs. Kennicutt at his house (they are neighbors as the Kennicutts also have a beach house in the area). She tells him that she will not allow herself to be blackmailed and will confess everything to her husband. In a scramble, Brimmer hits Mrs. Kennicutt in the face with his left hand, the left hand falls on an edge and is dead. Brimmer disposed of the corpse in an industrial area. The police quickly find out that the site was not the place of death and the search for the perpetrator begins. It is also found that the woman was hit by a left-handed person with a noticeable ring on her finger. Since Columbo doesn’t really get any further with the investigation, Mr. Kennicutt ironically hires Mr. Brimmer to support Columbo. However, Columbo quickly notices that Brimmer is more likely to provide him with unnecessary or misleading information. Much to Mr. Brimmer's annoyance, Columbo finds out that Mrs. Kennicutt really had an affair with her golf instructor, Ken Archer. (Brimmer had always denied that to Columbo). Archer also leads Columbo on the trail of an earlier "shadow" of a trained man in a suit with a "marine hairstyle". Although Brimmer gives exactly that employee an assignment abroad, Columbo can connect this man with a detective agency. When Columbo also finds out that Mr. Brimmer is "two-handed", he becomes more and more nervous. Brimmer tries to buy the inspector with an extremely lucrative job offer, but he does not succeed. Columbo's suspicions harden in the direction of Brimmer, but he lacks the proof. Columbo confronts Brimmer that Mrs. Kennicutt was wearing contact lenses. He even has the body exhumed. After the inspection, he tells Kennicutt and Brimmer that one of the two contact lenses is missing and that the scene of the crime is where it was found. In the evening, Brimmer's company car doesn't start and has it brought to the workshop. He drives into his house in another car from the detective agency's vehicle pool and searches the entire floor, including the flokat carpet, for the contact lens, but cannot find it. The lens must be in the trunk of his car. Brimmer breaks into the workshop, starts searching the trunk and finds the contact lens he is looking for, when suddenly the lights go on and Inspector Columbo and Mr. Kennicutt and the police appear in the light. Brimmer sees himself confronted, but talks his way out again and tries to dispose of the lens with a cigarette pack, which does not escape the inspector's attention. Finally Brimmer gives up. Columbo reveals to Kennicutt that both lenses were found during the exhumation of Mrs. Kennicutt's corpse, but that he was only able to convict the real murderer with this trick. When asked how he managed to sabotage Brimmer's car, Columbo simply says: "Did you never put potatoes in the exhaust of a car as a child?"
5	5	Murder in private	Dead Weight	Oct. 27, 1971	June 12, 1975	Jack Smight	John T. Dugan	Eddie Albert
On a sailing trip, the shy Helen believes she is watching a murder. The police do not believe her, as a highly decorated naval officer lives at the site of the alleged crime. But Inspector Columbo is not impressed.
6th	6th	Murder in pastel	Suitable for framing	Nov 17, 1971	July 24, 1975	Hy Averback	Jackson Gillis	Ross Martin
When the well-known art collector and multimillionaire Kingston decides to change his will in favor of his ex-wife, the nephew, previously appointed as the main heir, shoots his uncle and disguises the act as a robbery.
7th	7th	Steps out of the shadows	Lady in waiting	Dec 15, 1971	Aug 21, 1975	Norman Lloyd	Steven Bochco, idea: Barney Slater & Ted Leighton	Susan Clark
The family tyrant Bryce Chadwick forbids his sister Beth to marry the corporate attorney Hamilton. He can't believe that anyone could be interested in Beth for reasons other than greed. When Bryce gives the lawyer an ultimatum, events precipitate.
8th	8th	Cigars for the boss	Short fuse	Jan. 19, 1972	Aug 7, 1975	Edward M. Abroms	Jackson Gillis, idea: Lester and Tina Pine, Jackson Gillis	Roddy McDowall
The young scientist Roger Stanford is blackmailed by his uncle. He wants to sell the family business and needs the voice of his nephew on the board. When the blackmailer's car explodes, Inspector Columbo steps in.
9	9	A monument for eternity	Blueprint for Murder	Feb 9, 1972	July 10, 1975	Peter Falk	Steven Bochco, idea: William Kelley & Ted Leighton	Patrick O'Neal
Star architect Eliot Markham has big plans. He wants to build a huge office complex with the money of the millionaire Williamson. But he doesn't believe in the idea. After a violent argument, the millionaire has disappeared. Inspector Columbo is called in to solve the case.

season 2

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
10	1	Etude in black	Etude in Black	17 Sep 1972	Dec. 4, 1975	Nicholas Colasanto	Steven Bochco, idea: Richard Levinson & William Link	John Cassavetes
Conductor Alex's marriage is in danger when his lover suddenly tries to set the tone. Shortly afterwards, the pianist is dead. Everything initially indicates suicide.
11	2	Flowers of evil	The Greenhouse Jungle	Oct 15, 1972	27 Mar 1975	Boris Sagal	Jonathan Latimer	Ray Milland
Orchid grower Jarvis has an idea to help his nephew out of his troubles: Tony should kidnap himself. The deception succeeds, but Tony is found dead.
12	3	When the ice cream man comes	The Most Crucial Game	Nov 5, 1972	13 Mar 1975	Jeremy Paul Kagan	John T. Dugan	Robert Culp
The owner of a football team is dead by his pool. He was slain, but with what and by whom?
13	4th	Age does not protect against stupidity	Dagger of the Mind	Nov. 26, 1972	Jan. 7, 1992	Richard Quine	Jackson Gillis, idea: Richard Levinson & William Link	Richard Basehart Honor Blackman
Columbo is in London for training. When theater director Haversham dies under mysterious circumstances, Columbo soon leads the investigation.
14th	5	Gossip can be deadly	Requiem for a Falling Star	Jan. 21, 1973	May 22, 1975	Richard Quine	Jackson Gillis	Anne Baxter
Film diva Nora Chandler murdered her husband. Only her secretary Jean is aware of this. When Jean gets involved with a reporter, Nora senses danger - and gets rid of the confidante. Nobody suspects that Nora's grief is only theater.
15th	6th	Two lives on one thread	A stitch in crime	Feb 11, 1973	Feb. 27, 1975	Hy Averback	Shirl Hendryx	Leonard Nimoy
Dr. Mayfield almost kills his colleague during an operation by using the wrong thread to sew. When the head nurse becomes suspicious, she has to die soon afterwards.
16	7th	Chess the murderer	The Most Dangerous Match	4th Mar 1973	Jan. 29, 1976	Edward M. Abroms	Jackson Gillis, idea: Jackson Gillis, Richard Levinson & William Link	Laurence Harvey
Ex-world chess champion Dudek is crushed by a garbage compactor. Grandmaster Clayton can thus enter the competition without his worst competitor.
17th	8th	Double hit	Double shock	25th Mar 1973	Nov 20, 1975	Robert Butler	Steven Bochco & Peter Allan Fields, idea: Jackson Gillis, Richard Levinson & William Link	Martin Landau (dual role)
The wealthy Clifton wants to marry young Lisa, but doesn't live to see that day again. Columbo suspects his nephew, the TV chef Dexter, to have murdered Clifton. But then suddenly a twin brother appears.

season 3

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
18th	1	A touch of murder	Lovely but lethal	23 Sep 1973	Dec 10, 1975	Jeannot Szwarc	Jackson Gillis, idea: Myrna Bercovici	Vera Miles
Viveca Scott kills an employee because he wants to sell an anti-wrinkle cream formula to the competition. The only confidante dies shortly afterwards in a car accident.
19th	2	Wine is thicker than blood	Any old port in a storm	Oct 7, 1973	Apr 19, 1975	Leo Penn	Stanley Ralph Ross, idea: Larry Cohen	Donald Pleasence
Adrian Carsini is a winemaker for whom his wines are more important than his profit. When his half-brother wants to sell the winery, he murders it and makes it look like a diving accident.
20th	3	Die for me	Candidate for Crime	Nov 4, 1973	Feb 11, 1992	Boris Sagal	Irving Pearlberg, Alvin R. Friedman, Roland Kibbee & Dean Hargrove, idea: Larry Cohen	Jackie Cooper
Nelson Hayward is a candidate for the US Senate. Because his campaign manager knows too much about him, he kills him and makes the act look like a failed assassination attempt. But Inspector Columbo has his doubts. Then a second "assassination attempt" takes place.
21st	4th	A thoroughly motivated death	Double exposure	Dec 16, 1973	Feb. 26, 1976	Richard Quine	Stephen J. Cannell	Robert Culp
Dr. Bart Kepple plans the perfect crime. During a film screening, he lures his victim to the door through messages hidden in the film and shoots them. His alibi appears to be watertight.
22nd	5	Write or die	Publish or Perish	Jan. 18, 1974	June 26, 1975	Robert Butler	Peter S. Fischer	Jack Cassidy
The bestselling author Allen Mallory wants to change the publisher. Riley Greenleaf, his current publisher, has him killed for this. In order to have an alibi at the time of the crime, he deliberately causes a car accident in front of witnesses.
23	6th	Devilish intelligence	Mind Over Mayhem	Feb. 18, 1974	17th Mar 1992	Alf Kjellin	Steven Bochco, Dean Hargrove & Roland Kibbee, idea: Robert Specht	José Ferrer
Dr. Marshall Cahill, the head of a cybernetic research institute, is reported to admit that his son stole someone else's research. But instead of making the fraud public, he murders the only confidante and fakes a robbery.
24	7th	Swan song	Swan Song	3rd Mar 1974	Jan. 1, 1977	Nicholas Colasanto	David Rayfiel, idea: Stanley Ralph Ross	Johnny Cash
Famous country star Tommy Brown is blackmailed by his wife for seducing the underage Marie-Ann. To get rid of the two, Brown stages a plane crash in which he himself jumps off with a parachute.
25th	8th	My dead - your dead	A friend in deed	May 5th 1974	Jan. 14, 1992	Ben Gazzara	Peter S. Fischer	Richard Kiley , Michael McGuire
The policeman Mark Halperin helps his colleague to cover up the murder of his wife. Shortly thereafter, he kills his own wife and claims the favor again. A burglar is supposed to pay for the murders.

Season 4

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
26th	1	Money, power and muscles	An Exercise in Fatality	Sep 15 1974	Feb. 18, 1992	Bernard L. Kowalski	Peter S. Fischer, idea: Larry Cohen	Robert Conrad
Milo Janus runs a thriving health club chain. When a branch manager gives him trouble, he strangles him and makes it look like a training accident.
27	2	Snapshot for the ages	Negative reaction	Oct 15, 1974	23 Dec 1978	Alf Kjellin	Peter S. Fischer	Dick van Dyke
The photographer Paul Galesko came up with a plan. He kills his wife and makes the act look like a fatal kidnapping.
28	3	The devil's corporal	By Dawn's Early Light	Oct. 27, 1974	Feb 25, 1992	Harvey Hart	Howard Berk	Patrick McGoohan
The civilian superior of the institution dies when a cannon explodes at a private military academy. Everything points to an accident.
29	4th	Dream ship of death	Troubled Waters	Feb 9, 1975	Jan. 21, 1992	Ben Gazzara	William Driskill, idea: Jackson Gillis	Robert Vaughn
On a cruise, the singer Susanna Wells blackmailed her ex-lover. Shortly afterwards she dies. Inspector Columbo happens to be on board and investigates in his spare time.
30th	5	Playback	Playback	2nd Mar 1975	Sep 18 1975	Bernard L. Kowalski	David P. Lewis & Booker T. Bradshaw	Oskar Werner
Harold van Wick runs his mother-in-law's electronics company. When she tries to remove him from his post, he shoots her. Manipulating the surveillance cameras in his high-tech house is supposed to create a watertight alibi.
31	6th	The sleep that never ends	A deadly state of mind	Apr. 27, 1975	Jan 15, 1976	Harvey Hart	Peter S. Fischer	George Hamilton
Dr. Marc Collier kills his patient's husband, with whom he is having an affair. In order to cover up the act, he stages a robbery with his lover.

Season 5

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
32	1	Deadly comeback	Forgotten lady	Sep 14 1975	10 Mar 1992	Harvey Hart	William Driskill	Janet Leigh
The aging dancer Grace Wheeler is planning her comeback. When her husband refuses his financial support, she kills him and disguises the act as suicide.
33	2	Murder in the embassy	A case of immunity	Oct 12, 1975	31 Mar 1992	Ted Post	Lou Shaw, idea: James Menzies	Hector Elizondo
Hassan Salah, the secretary of a North African embassy in Los Angeles, with the help of an accomplice, murders the security chief of the property and steals $ 600,000 from the safe. For the police, the incident looks like an attack by fanatics.
34	3	Death on the beach	Identity Crisis	Nov 2, 1975	Feb. 4, 1992	Patrick McGoohan	William Driskill	Patrick McGoohan
The secret agent Nelson Brenner murders his former partner "Geronimo" at a secret meeting. The police initially believe in robbery and murder.
35	4th	Blood red dust	A Matter of Honor	Feb. 1, 1976	24 Mar 1992	Ted Post	Brad Radnitz, idea: Larry Cohen, Brad Radnitz	Ricardo Montalbán
Inspector Columbo is on vacation in Mexico. When a bullfighter is fatally injured, the local police ask Columbo for help because they do not believe it was an accident.
36	5	When appearances are deceptive	Now You See Him	Feb. 29, 1976	May 24, 1980	Harvey Hart	Michael Sloan	Jack Cassidy
The "great Santini" is blackmailed because of his Nazi past. To put an end to the inconvenience, he uses a trick. He has himself locked up in a metal box in a pool of water so that he has an alibi for the murder of his blackmailer.
37	6th	The old man and death	Last Salute to the Commodore	May 2, 1976	Jan. 28, 1992	Patrick McGoohan	Jackson Gillis	Fred Draper
Before the shipbuilder Otis Swanson can sell his company, it seems at first that he dies on the high seas. The suspicion soon falls on someone who is also found murdered shortly afterwards.

Season 6

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
38	1	Murder in the bistro	Fade in to Murder	Oct 10, 1976	Apr 7, 1992	Bernard L. Kowalski	Lou Shaw & Peter Feibleman, idea: Henry Garson	William Shatner
TV inspector Lucerne kills his former lover because, as the producer of his series, she refuses to raise his fees and knows too much about his past.
39	2	A burglary murder	Old-Fashioned Murder	Nov 28, 1976	Apr 14, 1992	Robert Douglas	Peter S. Feibleman, idea: Laurence Vail	Joyce van Patten
A museum of antiquities was broken into. Apparently the burglar was taken by surprise by the director of the museum and a shootout broke out in which both were killed.
40	3	Death symphony	The Bye-Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case	May 22, 1977	Apr 21, 1992	Sam Wanamaker	Robert Malcolm Young	Theodore Bikel
The members of the Intelligentia Club are characterized by an extremely high intelligence quotient. When one of the members commits the “perfect” crime, there is a trial of strength with Inspector Columbo.

Season 7

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
41	1	Age does not protect against murder	Try and Catch Me	Nov 21, 1977	Dec. 27, 1980	James Frawley	Gene Thompson & Paul Tuckahoe, idea: Gene Thompson	Ruth Gordon
Acclaimed writer Abigail Mitchell, author of 32 successful crime novels, is certain that Edmund Galvin killed his wife, Phyllis, their beloved niece. The police believe that the young woman died four months ago in a boat accident. Mitchell does not report her suspicions to the police, but locks Galvin in her safe, where he suffocates.
42	2	Murder a la carte	Murder Under Glass	Jan. 30, 1978	Jan. 1, 1983	Jonathan Demme	Robert van Scoyk	Louis Jourdan
A gourmet critic kills a restaurant owner because he no longer wants to be blackmailed by him.
43	3	Murder on your own	Make Me a Perfect Murder	Feb 25, 1978	Oct 21, 1984	James Frawley	Robert Blees	Trish Van Devere
The TV manager Marc MacAndrews is promoted. His secret lover is now hoping for the post that has become vacant. When MacAndrews refuses, she takes revenge.
44	4th	Murder by phone	How to Dial a Murder	Apr 15, 1978	June 10, 1984	James Frawley	Tom Lazarus, idea: Anthony Lawrence	Nicol Williamson
The psychologist Dr. Mason has an insidious plan. He trains his attack dogs to commit the perfect murder. The victim is his best friend and assistant.
45	5	Weapons of evil	The Conspirators	May 13, 1978	3rd Mar 1992	Leo Penn	Howard Berk, idea: Pat Robinson	Clive Revill
Irish poet Joe Devlin is an official advocate of peace, but he secretly supports the IRA . When an arms dealer gives him trouble, he kills him.

Season 8

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
46	1	Deadly tricks	Columbo Goes to the Guillotine	Feb 6, 1989	Apr 30, 1991	Leo Penn	William Read Woodfield	Anthony Andrews
The CIA and the Pentagon are looking for people with clairvoyant skills. One of these alleged psychics is Elliott Blake. However, he cheated during the test and is now eliminating his confidante, the magician Max, with the help of a magic guillotine. Everything looks like a tragic accident.
47	2	The forgotten dead	Murder, Smoke and Shadows	Feb. 27, 1989	Apr 9, 1991	James Frawley	Richard Alan Simmons	Fisher Stevens
The successful Hollywood director Alex Bradley receives an unexpected visit from his old friend Leonard Fischer. He is in possession of a film that weighs Alex down heavily. Apparently Bradley is responsible for the death of Fisher's sister. Bradley kills his friend so that the film does not get to the public.
48	3	Black Lady	Sex and the Married Detective	Apr 3, 1989	May 7, 1991	James Frawley	Jerry Ludwig	Lindsay Crouse
The successful book author and sex therapist Joan Allenby catches her lover David in bed with his secretary, but does not reveal himself. A few days later she lures him into his office and shoots him. Your alibi seems watertight.
49	4th	Deadly war games (alternatively: deception maneuvers)	Grand Deceptions	May 1, 1989	Apr 2, 1991	Sam Wanamaker	Sy Salkowitz	Robert Foxworth
Colonel Frank Braille is the chairman of a private military organization. The foundation's owner suspects him of embezzling funds and hires Sergeant Major Keegan to investigate the matter. Indeed, Keegan does find incriminating material, but Braille stabs him in cold blood. At the time of the crime, he apparently set up tin soldiers.

Season 9

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
50	1	Self-portrait of a murderer	Murder: A Self Portrait	Nov 25, 1989	4th June 1991	James Frawley	Robert Sherman	Patrick Bauchau
The successful painter Max Barsini lives with his wife, ex-wife and girlfriend. However, when his ex-wife announced that she was going to hire him for the psychologist Dr. Wants to leave Hammer, he'll kill her. At the time of the crime, at least it seems, he was working on a painting in front of witnesses.
51	2	Who laughs last ...	Columbo Cries Wolf	Jan. 20, 1990	Apr 16, 1991	Daryl Duke	William Read Woodfield	Ian Buchanan
Dian Hunter and Sean Brantley are the editors of a successful men's magazine. One day Dian announces that she wants to sell her shares. Shortly afterwards, under strange circumstances, she disappears. For Columbo, the culprit is soon clear; but when he tries to convict him, something unexpected happens.
52	3	Deadline for murder	Agenda for Murder	Feb 10, 1990	May 14, 1991	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Bloom	Patrick McGoohan
The prosecutor Oscar Finch is overtaken by his past; because many years ago he made evidence for the petty criminal Staplin disappear. Now Staplin threatens to publicize the incident. To put an end to the ghost, Finch kills the blackmailer and makes the scenario look like a suicide.
53	4th	Rest easy, Mrs. Columbo	Rest in peace, Mrs. Columbo	31 Mar 1990	Apr 24, 1991	Vincent McEveety	Peter S. Fischer	Helen Shaver
Columbo becomes embroiled in the plans of a woman who seeks revenge on the men she believes are responsible for her husband's death. After eliminating the first, she wants to turn to the second: Inspector Columbo. She wants to let him feel what it is like to lose a loved one and kill his wife. But the inspector becomes suspicious at an early stage.
54	5	Creeping poison	Uneasy Lies the Crown	Apr 28, 1990	May 28, 1991	Alan J. Levi	Steven Bochco	James Read
When the dentist Dr. Wesley Corman learns that his wife wants to divorce him, so he forges a plan: He places a poison in the crown of his wife's lover, which takes hours to get into the body. When he dies soon afterwards, Dr. Corman for putting his wife on suspicion of murder.
55	6th	Nobody dies twice	Murder in Malibu	May 14, 1990	May 21, 1991	Walter Grauman	Jackson Gillis	Andrew Stevens
The womanizer Wayne Jennings has a relationship with the successful writer Theresa Goren. When she announces in a television interview that she wants to marry Wayne, Theresa's sister interferes. She hired a private investigator and found out Wayne was unfaithful. Shortly thereafter, Theresa is found shot dead in her apartment. All the evidence suggests a robbery.

Season 10

No. ( total )	No. ( St. )	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (D)	Director	script	Killer played by
56	1	Lucifer's disciple	Columbo Goes to College	Dec 9, 1990	May 5th 1992	EW Swackhamer	Jeffrey Bloom Idea: Jeffrey Bloom & Frederick King Keller	Stephen Caffrey , Gary Hershberger
The two students Justin Rowe and Cooper Redman are convicted by their professor of having obtained the solutions for the upcoming exam. In order to avoid the consequences of their deed, they prepare a firearm with a remote control and shoot the man at the push of a button. Inspector Columbo is currently on campus as a guest speaker and is investigating.
57	2	The first and the last murder	Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health	Feb 20, 1991	Apr 28, 1992	Daryl Duke	Sonia Wolf, Patricia Ford & April Raynell	George Hamilton
Wade Anders, the presenter of a successful television show, is blackmailed: At a young age, he worked in a porn film. The blackmailer wants to force Wade to hand over his show to him - otherwise he will publish the film. To prevent this, Anders prepares a cigarette with high-dose nicotine and replaces the pack at an unobserved moment.
58	3	Deadly love	Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star	Apr 29, 1991	May 12, 1992	Alan J. Levi	William Read Woodfield	Dabney Coleman
The successful star lawyer Hugh Creighton learns that his young partner, a former rock singer, is cheating on him. When he puts her penniless in front of the door, she blackmails him with old corruption stories, which is why he murders her and makes her lover appear as a murderer. It's not easy for Columbo because the lawyer has a watertight alibi.
59	4th	Deadly jackpot	Death hits the jackpot	Dec 15, 1991	Oct 26, 1992	Vincent McEveety	Jeffrey Bloom	Rip Torn
The unsuccessful photographer Freddy Brower and his wife Nancy want to get a divorce. Even before the divorce, he learns that he has won the lottery jackpot worth over $ 30 million. He now has to find a solution to hide this profit from his still-wife until the divorce is complete, because otherwise he would have to share the money with her. He asks his favorite uncle Leon Lamarr for help, who is supposed to pretend to be a winner and keep the money for him. But Leon desperately needs money himself, kills Freddy and takes the profit.
60	5	Blood wedding	No time to die	15th Mar 1992	1st Mar 1993	Alan J. Levi	Robert van Scoyok, novel based on: Ed McBain	(no murder) Daniel McDonald as kidnapper
On their wedding night, Columbo's nephew's wife disappears. As a guest at the wedding party, he is now investigating for kidnapping.
61	6th	A sparrow in hand	A bird in the hand	Nov 22, 1992	17 Sep 1993	Vincent McEveety	Jackson Gillis	Tyne Daly
Gambler Harold wants to kill his rich uncle to use his inheritance to pay off his gambling debts. But it is run over by a car beforehand. Nevertheless, Columbo is investigating Harold.
62	7th	The dead man in the electric blanket	It's all in the game	Oct 31, 1993	29 Mar 1994	Vincent McEveety	Peter Falk	Faye Dunaway
High society lady Lauren Staton and her daughter Lisa Martin plan to kill their mutual lover Nick Franco as his double play and carefree life deeply hurt both of them. Lauren shoots him in his apartment, using an electric blanket to postpone the supposed time of death. Lisa then stays in the apartment and fires a shot when Lauren approaches the caretaker under a pretext. Lisa escapes through the patio door, making it look like a robbery. Lauren flirts violently with Columbo to distract him, but his network of circumstantial evidence grows thicker and points to Lisa. This is one of two episodes in which Columbo helps a murderer avoid punishment (alongside A Forgotten Lady ); it is the only episode written by Falk. Dunaway won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series . In no other episode is Columbo so personally involved with the suspected murderer.
63	8th	Death shots on the answering machine	Butterfly in Shades of Gray	Jan. 10, 1994	Apr 8, 1994	Dennis Dugan	Peter S. Fischer	William Shatner
Because he is increasingly dividing him and his daughter, radio host Fielding Chase wants to kill reporter Jerry Winters. He asks the victim to call him at a certain time, Fielding's answering machine records the conversation, who is actually at the victim's house, and shoots him while talking to him on the phone. Now he can report the allegedly overheard murder.
64	9	Two corpses and Columbo in the leather jacket (alternatively: undercover)	Undercover	May 2, 1994	Jan. 10, 1995	Vincent McEveety	Gerry Day, based on : Ed McBain	Ed Begley Junior
A petty criminal surprises a burglar in his apartment, and both are killed in a fight. Columbo only finds a piece of a photo as a clue. Other dubious figures will soon be interested in this. Columbo goes undercover for his investigation.
65	10	Strange bedfellows (alternatively: strange bedfellows) (alternatively: murder among brothers)	Strange Bedfellows	May 8, 1995	Sep 2 1995	Vincent McEveety	Lawrence Vail	George Wendt
Stud owner Graham McVeigh shoots his gambling-addicted brother to save the family heritage. He wants to make it appear that his believer was the killer, so he uses his phone to do the crime. Later he also shoots him on the pretext that he wanted to collect his brother's debts. However, the victim belongs to the mafia, which now has an interest of its own in finding the killer in front of Columbo.
66	11	No trace is certain	A Trace of Murder	May 15, 1997	Sep 15 1997	Vincent McEveety	Charles Kipps	David Rasche
Kathleen Calvert and her lover Patrick want Kathleen's rich husband's money. That's why they want to accuse the millionaire with murder. Since Patrick works in forensics, he knows how to get false evidence from Columbo.
67	12	The ash puzzle	Ashes to Ashes	Oct 8, 1998	Sep 2 1999	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Hatcher	Patrick McGoohan
The celebrity undertaker Eric Prince once used jewelry from a corpse to be buried and sold information about dead celebrities to a reporter. She threatens to report to him and ends up in Eric's crematorium.
68	13	Murder by measure	Murder With Too Many Notes	March 12 2001	Aug 3, 2002	Patrick McGoohan	Jeffrey Cava & Patrick McGoohan, idea: Jeffrey Cava	Billy Connolly
Findlay Crawford is a successful conductor and composer for film productions. When Crawford's assistant threatens to tell the public that the Oscar-winning music was actually his, Crawford kills him and fakes suicide.
69	14th	The last party	Columbo Likes the Nightlife	Jan. 30, 2003	Sep 7 2004	Jeffrey Reiner	Michael Alaimo	Jennifer Sky , Matthew Rhys
When Vanessa Farrow kills her ex-husband Tony Galper in an argument, she asks her friend Justin Price for help. He helps her cover up the murder. But suddenly a caller answers who has photographed the murder. Price kills this one too, making it look like a suicide.

Web links

• Episode list in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• List of episodes at Fernsehserien.de
• List of episodes at Columbo-Homepage.de
• List of episodes at IColumbo.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the new HD master, the title is given as a memorial for eternity .