The last few years have seen a resurgence in appreciation for Columbo, and if you’re looking to catch up with Peter Falk’s charming detective, the most recent release collecting Columbo’s revival is on sale for only $42 (was $100) at Amazon. This is a limited-time deal with a fixed number of copies available, so it probably won’t be up grabs at this price for long. Unfortunately, the original seven-season arc is roughly twice the price right now ($82), but this is still a good opportunity to get Columbo: The Return for a great price.
Released on Blu-ray in late 2023, Columbo’s original seven-season run retailed for $150 when it was first announced, but these days it’s often available for $75-$85 (like now). Meanwhile, Columbo: The Return, which released on Blu-ray last July, carries a retail price of $100.
Columbo: The 1970s collection includes 43 episodes and two movies, while The Return box set contains the final 24 episodes. It’s worth noting that each episode of Columbo is at least 70 minutes and a bunch eclipse 90 minutes, which makes them feel more like movies than traditional TV episodes.
If you’re unfamiliar with Columbo, the classic mystery show had a simple premise. While most shows in that genre were focused on unraveling the clues to determine who had committed a murder, Columbo showed you how the deed was done before the detective even appeared. The real treat was watching Columbo piece the clues together, wear down the suspects with his gentle demeanor, and find a crucial piece of evidence to connect them to the murder. Always polite and relentless in his pursuit of justice, Columbo was a huge departure from the rule-breaking detectives seen on film and TV.
Columbo’s first run on TV ended in 1978 after seven seasons, but a little over a decade later, Peter Falk was chomping on cigars as the charming sleuth when the series returned in 1989 for a new 24-episode run. Older and wiser, these episodes were just as great, and included high production qualities, occasionally deviated from the usual Columbo formula, and saw him outwit really terrible people. Some of the standout episodes here see Columbo taking on arrogant magicians–not the first time!–a Hollywood movie director, and Williams Shatner as a homicidal radio DJ.
The Seasons 1-7 box set comes with an original series score and a booklet, although the audio commentary tracks for each episode which were initially announced for it were later canceled for unexplained reasons.