Also liked Vera Miles in the episode she starred in, "Lovely but Lethal".
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 ...
If you grew up in a communist country and only had a fleeting glance at western tv of the time…: you might.
Awesome story, no wonder he’s the Romanian David Hasselhoff.
It was a great show, I watched every episode, can't bare to watch it today, feel the same way about I Love Lucy. Don't know why I feel that way but I do.
That one I can still watch again, hilarious, still have a copy.
Loved all the shows with Patrick McGoohan, who was not well known in the US then but huge in the UK. His real life daughter also appeared.
Far from my favorite episode, but William Shatner as a radio talk show host, which I always figured was a veiled imitation of Rush.
Not a great movie but Falk was pretty good in “Vibes ( 1988 )”
Starred Cyndi Lauper and Jeff Goldblum. Used to be available on You Tube but not anymore.
Also liked Vera Miles in the episode she starred in, "Lovely but Lethal".
His wife was terrible to his children as he neared the end of his life, though. His daughter lobbies for state laws giving children rights to visit incapacitated parents and receive timely information about their health condition and living arrangements.
Thanks for settling that! They do bear some resemblence to one another. But not as much as I thought.
I like most of the episodes. Jack Cassidy was a great bad guy. The shows I remember most were:
1. Ruth Gordon plays a mystery writer who kills her niece’s widower because she believe he killed her niece.
2. Vera Miles owns a cosmetics company and she kills an employee and ex-boyfriend (Martin Sheen!) who has stolen a valuable anti-aging formula and is holding it for ransom.
3. Tyne Daley kills her husband and her husband’s bum nephew and takes over the husband’s pro football franchise.
4. Helen Shaver plans to kills Colombo and his wife because she blames Colombo for her husband’s death.
5. Matthew Rhys-Davis kills a blackmailer who is threatening his actress girlfriend (she killed an ex in self defense and the blackmailer witnessed it) and his new nightclub.
6. A trophy wife and her forensic investigator boyfriend (who works with Colombo) murder her husband’s business rival and try to frame the husband for the murder.
The writers should have come up with a guest starring role for Bette Davis. The imperious Bette sparring with the annoyingly persistent Colombo would have been great.
He can do a lot it seems, also off topic just came back from Romania, loved it, meet people and traveled around Bucharest and up north, and Romania (mostly bucharest) is more diverse than I realized, I look forward to going back in 2 weeks.
enjoy.
Probably best known from Schindler's List, as the architect who got shot for suggesting the foundation had to be torn down.
I’ve heard there are some nice Black Sea resorts in Romania.
What’s the first rule about Fight Club?!?
Lol! “Now, how did that happen? Did she do it herself on purpose?”
Is what the guests are asking.
I have all of them I think.
There were a lot of NBC mystery movie shows that didn’t go far that I’d like to see released. Fat chance.
Wondet why he didn’t mention William Shatner.
Uh Detective?
Patrick McGowan - I’m not a number...I’m a free man!
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