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Romania asked Peter Falk to help prevent an uprising after the country ran out of Columbo episodes The actor delivered a speech to the Romanian people to assure them that a new season was on the way
avclub ^

Posted on 06/15/2021 11:08:16 AM PDT by mylife

Over the past year of hibernation, many viewers have rediscovered the joy of watching Columbo. The landmark 1970s TV mystery series starred Peter Falk in his multiple-Emmy-winning role as a raincoat-wearing, cigar-smoking detective who always had just one more question. The show was also popular in the time of its original airing, where it rotated on the NBC Mystery Movie schedule and featured an array of dazzling murderous guest stars like Janet Leigh, Leonard Nimoy, and John Cassavetes.

Columbo’s reach even stretched to other countries: The people of Romania, for example, were huge fans. So much so that in 1974, when the Columbo episodes for that season ran out, the populace protested, and the Romanian government reached out to Falk himself to try to stem the uprising. This week, Twitter user John Frankensteiner dug up a 1989 Chicago Tribune article relaying the incident. Many on Reddit have called bullshit—but Falk told the story himself in his memoir Just One More Thing, and also during a 1995 David Letterman appearance.

The confusion, as Falk explains, came from the fact that the Romanian government had a quota on how much American television could be viewed in the country. With Columbo averaging less than 10 shows per season, the people of Romania were convinced that the government was keeping more episodes from them, stoking fears of a massive protest. So the U.S. State Department invited Falk to a meeting in a New York hotel room with a representative from Romania.

(Excerpt) Read more at avclub.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History; Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: peterfalk
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To: Magnum44; mylife

I couldn’t say one way or another until Chuck Norris weighs in...


21 posted on 06/15/2021 11:24:21 AM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: mylife
The subtitle of this story could be - should be:

Communism Sucks So Hard That the Absence of a Mediocre 70s TV Show Can Throw a Country into Civil Unrest

22 posted on 06/15/2021 11:27:28 AM PDT by ScubaDiver (Reddit refugee.)
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To: mylife

Yes...beat me in a Fight Club fight!


23 posted on 06/15/2021 11:28:03 AM PDT by gr8eman (I keep telling these idiots I see, that they know even less than the idiots on TV)
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To: mylife
My favorite story about Peter Falk:

When he was 3 years old, his preschool teacher noticed he cocked his head in an unusual way whenever he looked at something, so she recommended he see a doctor. Young Peter received a diagnosis of retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer that must be treated quickly because it develops rapidly. Within two days, his tumor was removed along with his right eye. He used a prosthetic eye for the rest of his life--always to his advantage.

In his autobiography, Falk recounted how, as a teenager, he used his glass eye to get laughs. Once while playing baseball in high school, Falk was called out at third base. "It was a bad call," Falk said. "I was clearly safe. I knew it and everybody in the stands knew it. They sat so close to the field, they could see and hear everything. In front of everyone, I whipped out my eye and handed it to the umpire: 'You'll do better with this one.' Talk about getting a laugh. I got a roar. Even the guys on the other team were rolling in the grass."

Later, Falk used his signature squint as part of nearly every eccentric character he played, including Columbo, the quirky detective who was always seen wearing a rumpled raincoat and smoking stumpy cigars.

24 posted on 06/15/2021 11:30:27 AM PDT by fidelis (Defeatism and despair are like poison to men's souls. If you can't be positive, at least be quiet.)
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To: dfwgator

Serpentine! LOL


25 posted on 06/15/2021 11:31:54 AM PDT by Quilla
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To: Larry Lucido

Is that a screen shot from Seinfeld? And is that Jan Hooks on the left? If it is, I can’t readily find any references that say that she was!


26 posted on 06/15/2021 11:32:52 AM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: dfwgator
I remember in the Communist-era in Poland, they would deliberately show Kojak on Sundays to discourage church attendance.

I know a woman who grew up during China's cultural revolution. They would show East German and Polish propaganda films, showing peasants pelting evil capitalist politicians with eggs and rotten fruit.

She said - it made us jealous. We hadn't seen an egg or a tomato in 6 months, and here they are throwing them at people.

27 posted on 06/15/2021 11:33:57 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: fidelis

excellent


28 posted on 06/15/2021 11:44:20 AM PDT by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: dfwgator

Arkin and Colombo at their best.......superbly underplaying each catastrophic scene as if “hey, it could happen.”

The duo’s uniquely original styles were put to good use......I loved the way Colombo called Arkin, “Shelly,” using a distinctive speech defect.


29 posted on 06/15/2021 11:44:21 AM PDT by Liz (Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use. )
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To: mylife

Awesome story!


30 posted on 06/15/2021 11:46:56 AM PDT by Pajamajan ( PRAY FOR OUR NATION. I will never be a peaceful slave in a new Socialist America.)
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To: mylife

There are 8 seasons on IMDB and the other 10 on Tubi.

Binged on about 10 so far.

I like the ones where Falk’s real life wife plays in an episode. I think there are a out 8 or 9.

Columbo trivia... what was his first name?


31 posted on 06/15/2021 11:48:39 AM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: Liz

Love Colombo. Watched every one, more than once.


32 posted on 06/15/2021 11:51:09 AM PDT by just me (God bless President Trump and the USA)
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To: BradyLS

Yes, and no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gymnast

The actess is Elina Löwensohn.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elina_L%C3%B6wensohn

Good try, though.


33 posted on 06/15/2021 11:51:37 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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When I started life in Jakarta in the mid 80s, There was only one tv station (state owned)

The few western tv shows they had included the A-team and Little House on the prairie.

VERY popular

34 posted on 06/15/2021 11:55:44 AM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat (.)
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To: mylife
"Serpentine, Sheldon...serpentine!"


35 posted on 06/15/2021 11:59:16 AM PDT by newfreep (“Leftism, under all of its brand names, is a severe, violent & evil mental disorder.”)
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To: mylife
My favorite, How To Dial A Murder


36 posted on 06/15/2021 12:00:07 PM PDT by Salamander (Salamander has barbaric tendencies.../Gundog)
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To: mylife
Peter Falk is awesome and the 1970's In Laws is one of the most perfectly comedic movies ever made. I watch it regularly and it never gets old.

"Have you thought about joining the CIA? The benefits are terrific.

"The trick is not to get killed.

That's really the key to the benefits program."

37 posted on 06/15/2021 12:03:52 PM PDT by edwinland
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To: mylife
For those not old enough to remember, Peter Falk (Columbo) was a massive superstar back in the 1970s. Bigger than Elvis even.

Every woman wanted to have sex with him and every man wanted to be him.

Lot of people in sunny Los Angeles went around wearing beige raincoats because that was the thing to do.

My mother used to let me stay up late to watch Columbo. It was a phenomenon not likely to be repeated.

38 posted on 06/15/2021 12:04:22 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (Give me a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer)
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To: mylife

The one episode that was good was where his real life wife plays a sex therapist. Towards the end of Columbo questioning her at her office, she asks him: “Detective, hows your sex life at home?”, and you can see both of them trying very hard to stay in role and not start cracking up.


39 posted on 06/15/2021 12:07:51 PM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: mylife

Loved that show when I was a kid. Hardly remember it now. I should look it up sometime.


40 posted on 06/15/2021 12:09:47 PM PDT by Kommodor (Solzhenitsyn was an optimist...)
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