Thanks for this interesting website and rankings. His series legacy will be explored in a future article. Of note, two out of those three episodes ( Last Salute and Too Many Notes) were directed by Patrick McGoohan – a perennial favourite guest star to countless Lieutenant lovers, but a man responsible for some calamitous Columbo crimes.

Much as I detest Last Salute to the Commodore, it was comprehensively outdone in the stink stakes by Murder With Too Many Notes and the utterly wretched daytime soap stylings of Murder in Malibu. The gulf in class between Columbo’s two televisual eras is most evident in the D and Z Lists, which are dominated by new episodes (11 out of the remaining 14 stories, and six out of the bottom seven). That gives largely positive rating to 13 out of Columbo’s 24 new episodes – a shade over 50% of them. If that makes for depressing reading, this dearth of top-tier episodes is somewhat off-set by my ranking eight more of the Lieutenant’s ABC outings on the still-watchable C List. To give you an at-a-glance- breakdown, I have just one new Columbo episode on my A List ( Columbo Goes to College) and a further four on my B List (albeit it none of them in the top 30). Malibu, rock bottom of the standings? I can’t imagine why…

Strange Bedfellows - Z List starts here.

Murder, A Self Portrait -D List starts here.

Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health.

Rest in Peace, Mrs Columbo -C List starts here.

An Exercise in Fatality -B List starts here.

Now all that’s left to do is dive in and see what ranks where in the Columbo pantheon of greatness…

Z List = Will only watch under extreme duress.D List = Lesser efforts with some redeeming features.C List = Would happily watch anytime they came on TV, but rarely select from DVD collection.B List = Outstanding entertainment with numerous magical moments.To aid in your understanding, I have categorised my categories in simple terms: – Even episodes on my C List still have plenty to recommend them, so if your favourites don’t correspond with mine, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I consider them woeful television. Episodes on the B List still represent outstanding viewing, and are adventures I’m happy to return to time and again. those I consider extremely-tolerably watchable), and whether the worst dross of Columbo’s ABC years plumb sufficient depths to deny the dreaded Last Salute to the Commodore the wooden spoon at the foot of the standings.Īnd lest viewers worry that I’m damning non-A List episodes with faint praise, it’s worth pointing out again that I consider my A List simply to be the best of the best. The greater level of interest for readers, I suspect, will lie in how many new episodes appear in total across my A-C lists (i.e. There will be no surprise entries there from the Lieutenant’s 1989-2003 catalog, although I can confirm the presence of at least one new Columbo in my overall A List.Ĭan the worst dross of Columbo’s ABC years deny the dreaded Last Salute to the Commodore the wooden spoon at the foot of the standings? My top 10 has been well established for years and officially chronicled on this site. Nevertheless, I’ve given it some serious thought and have managed to compile what I now consider my personal ultimate Columbo episode ranking.Īs many of you will know, the upper echelons of my Columbo favourites’ list is an immovable feast. Who sits where in the Columbo pantheons of greatness? Now that I’ve completed my reviews of all 69 Columbo adventures comes the really hard task: ranking every episode in order of preference.Ĭomparing the Lieutenant’s revival and classic era instalments is no straightforward task, so disparate they often are in tone and presentation.

Best columbo episodes of all time