7 ms·

Columbo is my and my wife's favorite series. There are many things that separate it from most. Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends

by hawski 5y ago

Columbo is my and my wife's favorite series. There are many things that separate it from most. Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger. I hate that. You can watch a single episode of Columbo and be satisfied. There are a few things mentioned from other episodes here and there, but overall nothing important. I also love how the lieutenant is above all kind. Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. I like the fact that they did not bend and show Mrs Columbo (I now that there was a separate show with that title). I'm sure, that it will get a reboot sometime in future. I just hope that it will not receive the same treatment as Star Trek with Discovery. I would appreciate i.e. Natasha Lyone to make it something different enough not to look like a cheap uncanny valley copy. But kindess and clear separation of episodes is a must.

lokedhs 5y ago
I agree. I have recently been watching a lot of Star Trek and Mission Impossible. Two shows where you can watch one episode and be done with it until the next time. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one getting really annoyed with the style with which most shows are made these days. I understand that there are good things about having a continuous storyline, and the last season of DS9 shows that it does work. But all shows don't have to be that way.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  The key is that your long-form stuff needs to take a back seat to a plot that starts and ends in with each episode. In my personal opinion, Stargate SG-1 is a master class in this. Shows these days are written for streaming, they are clearly meant to be binged a season at a time. You'll have 4 plots an episode and not a one of them starts and ends in the same one, with several episodes having resolution of anything at all. It's maddening. Like, there are memorable episodes of some shows, like SG-1's Ergo, that you can sit down and re-watch and enjoy yourself, but this made-for-streaming format just doesn't have that quality. What episode did that cool thing happen in? They all blur together.
  - throw0101a 5y ago
    The short-ish lived Veronica Mars was quite good a having both a season long story arc, but having self-contained mysteries as well. Some episodes leaning more one way or another, but there was usually some mix of both.
    - HideousKojima 5y ago
      The X-Files did a goodish job alternating between standalone episodes and overarching plot. Roughly 2/3rds of episodes were standalone monster of the week episodes, while every third episode or so was about the conspiracy to help aliens colonize Earth. Also occasionally stuff in the standalone episodes had effects in later episodes (for example Scully's dog is from a person who died in a standalone episode)
    - at_a_remove 5y ago
      Yes, that's one of the things that impressed me most about the show before it went off the rails. You had your season-long mystery, some multi-episode questions, and then your single episode mysteries. It also has one of the best father-daughter relationships I've seen on screen. I have noticed that quite a lot of how Veronica Mars "worked" got shifted over into iZombie.
  - db48x 5y ago
    SG–1 was good but B5 was better.
    - selimthegrim 5y ago
      Even with the deus ex machina aliens?
      - db48x 5y ago
        Which aliens did you think of as a Deus Ex Machina?
      - mixmastamyk 5y ago
dazc 5y ago
A murder detective show where you already know who did it and how should never work but somehow it does, perfectly.
- andi999 5y ago
  Yes. I think the real ingredience is that the culprit is rich and has a beautiful house and Colombo is the underdog bringing them down.
  - realce 5y ago
    It's totally the rich people going down.
  - altcognito 5y ago
    Not just rich but often “smart people”. They might be professors or scientists etc.
  - SCNP 5y ago
    I think my favorite aspect of the show is how there are still societal remnants of the fancy, Victorian era customs and Columbo uses breaking social norms to put people off-balance.
    - hellbannedguy 5y ago
      I loved his old car. I think it was a Volvo? The show reinforced what I believed at the time--money dosen't buy happiness, and don't judge people by how they look. Now--as an aging person--a bit of money would make life easier?
      - okoslaatoo 5y ago
        Peugeot 403 cabrio https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-was-rare-and-ratty-1959-peugeot-403-cabriolet https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-...
      - deleted 5y ago
Cybotron5000 5y ago
Oh, so they’re ‘rebooting’ it. I wish they would hire a writer with the imagination to do something completely new without all that baggage. …I agree - there’s darkness in Columbo, but it’s much subtler and is tempered by the kindness and charm of Columbo himself. I see why they do it, but the ‘just one more’ episode netflix-thing easily gets tiresome and ends up prolonging some plots/story arcs unnaturally and unsatisfactorily. The little of ‘Discovery’ I watched I felt no engagement with at all - the writing I thought was generic and boring and the characters seemed two-dimensional - but maybe I’m just behind the times: ‘Enterprise’ grew on me a few years down the line (though not the opening theme!)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Oh my god, Discovery... Discovery is just written by toddlers or something. Like, I was willing to blame it on continuity baggage for the first 2 seasons, plus the first season of every Star Trek is lackluster so whatever. But in season 3 it looked like they'd finally hired a competent writer for a few episodes, Osyraa was suddenly a more nuanced character, the Federation was offered a path to its goals that meant they'd have to compromise their ideals, Burnam was becoming Han Solo [0], Tilly was being slotted into the leadership role her character is actually good at, etc. Then at the last second the toddlers took over again, Deus-ex Burnam'd[1] the ethical decisions, shoved Tilly back into a science role, put Suru on a bus, and put Han Solo in charge of a starship for some reason. What the hell!? [0] Which is what her character should be, clearly. She doesn't follow rules, she doesn't work well with others, can't lead worth a damn, and she readily compromises her ethics to achieve her goals. She's a terrible Star Fleet captain but she'd be a great chaotic-good rogue. [1] What the fuck is with Marry-Sue God-Queen Burnam anyway? She has like 95% of the screen time or something and her Picard speeches inspire nothing but contempt for the writers. Like, answer me this: There are regular characters on the bridge other than Tilly, Burnam, and Suru. What are their names? There's Detmer, who we kinda know about because she had that PTSD episode on screen, and I guess that one woman is a cliff diver or something, but I don't know her name. And dude in the back who got horribly murdered by Mud that one time? These aren't red shirts, why aren't we getting any character development for them? Alright, sorry, I went on a bit of a rant there. P.S. I'm hesitant to blame the actors for bad performances. I feel like there's a lot of bad direction and obviously terrible material to work with. P.P.S. I actually think the hack writers are are a pretty good fit for the mirror-universe stuff. It's still garbage writing, but it just sorta fits that place.
- LordN00b 5y ago
  Rant or not, I have to agree entirely. They literally tried to do a Die hard in Space episode... If you think of it as `Star Trek: Burnham and the continuing voyages of Discovery`, then it sort of makes sense. Doesn't make it any good though
- wombatpm 5y ago
  Turbo lift scenes in season 3. Is the ship a f’ing TARDIS now where it’s bigger on the inside?
stronglikedan 5y ago
> There are many things that separate it from most. Matlock is another great detective(?) show for self-contained episodes.
shantnutiwari 5y ago
>Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger. I hate that. Me too. And most of the cliffhangers are stupid, you know they were added in just to pad out the episodes. > Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. Yeah, I've stopped reading crime fiction (and watching crime drama) for exactly this reason: Every detective *has* to be rude/obnoxious, hate their life, be an alcoholic with marriage problems. And I'm like, why can't we have a mentally stable detective who solves crime because of duty, and not to excorcise their "inner demons" (or other such psychological BS reason usually given). For this reason, I love Columbo, Poirot and Midsomer murders: The detectives are honourable people, very polite and respectful, but polite doesnt mean they let people walk over them. It seems to me most crime writers cannot grasp the fact that one can be polite and ruthless (or relentless) at the same time.
- dharmab 5y ago
  I recommend watching Knives Out- Daniel Craig plays the kind of detective you want to see. (It helps that he is not the sole point of view character.)
  - mrlonglong 5y ago
    Recommendation seconded. Its hilarious and excellent!
- swhitf 5y ago
  The BBC drama The Missing and spin off Baptise have a calm and friendly lead detective. Not sure where you are but it you can get them in your country maybe give them a try.
- dubya 5y ago
  I recommend the Maigret novels by Georges Simenon. He is portrayed as a genuinely decent human being, and the stories are interesting.
- briefcomment 5y ago
  Along those lines, Tintin is the best role model I've ever had
mixmastamyk 5y ago
> every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger By chance I noticed if you watch from the midpoint of one episode to the next, there is no cliffhanger. ;-)
jbluepolarbear 5y ago
I haven’t watch Columbo since I was a kid, but I always thought Monk was the closest of the modern crime serials.
bloak 5y ago
I used to like The Bill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill), back when it had 30-minute episodes, each of which was in effect a self-contained little play using the same set of main characters. The episodes were written by different people, who were credited quite prominently at the start, so the quality of the writing varied, but in a way that made it more interesting. Unfortunately, more recently, that's not what the market wanted, apparently.
narag 5y ago
Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. Talking about darkness, I remember Burn Notice, a funny show where an ex-spy used his training to fix his neighbours' problems, much like A-Team. It was a nice light entertainment, but for some reason, the last season (or last two seasons, can't remember) turned so dark that it was really scary. I started watching it to have some chuckles and finished with a sour taste.
purplequark 5y ago
I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but 'Try and Catch Me' is my favorite episode (it has everything: the car, Dog, and IMHO, the best "villain"), and addresses the kindness: > Abigail Mitchell: I'm beginning to be very fond of you, Lieutenant. I think you're a very kind man. > Lt. Columbo: Don't count on that, Miss Mitchell. Don't count on it. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075866/quotes/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075866/quotes/

by hawski 5y ago

lokedhs 5y ago

I agree. I have recently been watching a lot of Star Trek and Mission Impossible. Two shows where you can watch one episode and be done with it until the next time. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one getting really annoyed with the style with which most shows are made these days. I understand that there are good things about having a continuous storyline, and the last season of DS9 shows that it does work. But all shows don't have to be that way.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
The key is that your long-form stuff needs to take a back seat to a plot that starts and ends in with each episode. In my personal opinion, Stargate SG-1 is a master class in this. Shows these days are written for streaming, they are clearly meant to be binged a season at a time. You'll have 4 plots an episode and not a one of them starts and ends in the same one, with several episodes having resolution of anything at all. It's maddening. Like, there are memorable episodes of some shows, like SG-1's Ergo, that you can sit down and re-watch and enjoy yourself, but this made-for-streaming format just doesn't have that quality. What episode did that cool thing happen in? They all blur together.
- throw0101a 5y ago
  The short-ish lived Veronica Mars was quite good a having both a season long story arc, but having self-contained mysteries as well. Some episodes leaning more one way or another, but there was usually some mix of both.
  - HideousKojima 5y ago
    The X-Files did a goodish job alternating between standalone episodes and overarching plot. Roughly 2/3rds of episodes were standalone monster of the week episodes, while every third episode or so was about the conspiracy to help aliens colonize Earth. Also occasionally stuff in the standalone episodes had effects in later episodes (for example Scully's dog is from a person who died in a standalone episode)
  - at_a_remove 5y ago
    Yes, that's one of the things that impressed me most about the show before it went off the rails. You had your season-long mystery, some multi-episode questions, and then your single episode mysteries. It also has one of the best father-daughter relationships I've seen on screen. I have noticed that quite a lot of how Veronica Mars "worked" got shifted over into iZombie.
- db48x 5y ago
  SG–1 was good but B5 was better.
  - selimthegrim 5y ago
    Even with the deus ex machina aliens?
    - db48x 5y ago
      Which aliens did you think of as a Deus Ex Machina?
    - mixmastamyk 5y ago

dazc 5y ago

A murder detective show where you already know who did it and how should never work but somehow it does, perfectly.

andi999 5y ago
Yes. I think the real ingredience is that the culprit is rich and has a beautiful house and Colombo is the underdog bringing them down.
- realce 5y ago
  It's totally the rich people going down.
- altcognito 5y ago
  Not just rich but often “smart people”. They might be professors or scientists etc.
- SCNP 5y ago
  I think my favorite aspect of the show is how there are still societal remnants of the fancy, Victorian era customs and Columbo uses breaking social norms to put people off-balance.
  - hellbannedguy 5y ago
    I loved his old car. I think it was a Volvo? The show reinforced what I believed at the time--money dosen't buy happiness, and don't judge people by how they look. Now--as an aging person--a bit of money would make life easier?
    - okoslaatoo 5y ago
      Peugeot 403 cabrio https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-was-rare-and-ratty-1959-peugeot-403-cabriolet https://www.cartalk.com/blogs/jim-motavalli/columbos-car-it-...
    - deleted 5y ago

Cybotron5000 5y ago

Oh, so they’re ‘rebooting’ it. I wish they would hire a writer with the imagination to do something completely new without all that baggage. …I agree - there’s darkness in Columbo, but it’s much subtler and is tempered by the kindness and charm of Columbo himself. I see why they do it, but the ‘just one more’ episode netflix-thing easily gets tiresome and ends up prolonging some plots/story arcs unnaturally and unsatisfactorily. The little of ‘Discovery’ I watched I felt no engagement with at all - the writing I thought was generic and boring and the characters seemed two-dimensional - but maybe I’m just behind the times: ‘Enterprise’ grew on me a few years down the line (though not the opening theme!)

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago

Oh my god, Discovery... Discovery is just written by toddlers or something. Like, I was willing to blame it on continuity baggage for the first 2 seasons, plus the first season of every Star Trek is lackluster so whatever. But in season 3 it looked like they'd finally hired a competent writer for a few episodes, Osyraa was suddenly a more nuanced character, the Federation was offered a path to its goals that meant they'd have to compromise their ideals, Burnam was becoming Han Solo [0], Tilly was being slotted into the leadership role her character is actually good at, etc. Then at the last second the toddlers took over again, Deus-ex Burnam'd[1] the ethical decisions, shoved Tilly back into a science role, put Suru on a bus, and put Han Solo in charge of a starship for some reason. What the hell!? [0] Which is what her character should be, clearly. She doesn't follow rules, she doesn't work well with others, can't lead worth a damn, and she readily compromises her ethics to achieve her goals. She's a terrible Star Fleet captain but she'd be a great chaotic-good rogue. [1] What the fuck is with Marry-Sue God-Queen Burnam anyway? She has like 95% of the screen time or something and her Picard speeches inspire nothing but contempt for the writers. Like, answer me this: There are regular characters on the bridge other than Tilly, Burnam, and Suru. What are their names? There's Detmer, who we kinda know about because she had that PTSD episode on screen, and I guess that one woman is a cliff diver or something, but I don't know her name. And dude in the back who got horribly murdered by Mud that one time? These aren't red shirts, why aren't we getting any character development for them? Alright, sorry, I went on a bit of a rant there. P.S. I'm hesitant to blame the actors for bad performances. I feel like there's a lot of bad direction and obviously terrible material to work with. P.P.S. I actually think the hack writers are are a pretty good fit for the mirror-universe stuff. It's still garbage writing, but it just sorta fits that place.

LordN00b 5y ago
Rant or not, I have to agree entirely. They literally tried to do a Die hard in Space episode... If you think of it as `Star Trek: Burnham and the continuing voyages of Discovery`, then it sort of makes sense. Doesn't make it any good though
wombatpm 5y ago
Turbo lift scenes in season 3. Is the ship a f’ing TARDIS now where it’s bigger on the inside?

stronglikedan 5y ago

> There are many things that separate it from most. Matlock is another great detective(?) show for self-contained episodes.

shantnutiwari 5y ago

>Nowadays there is a big focus on series where every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger. I hate that. Me too. And most of the cliffhangers are stupid, you know they were added in just to pad out the episodes. > Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. Yeah, I've stopped reading crime fiction (and watching crime drama) for exactly this reason: Every detective *has* to be rude/obnoxious, hate their life, be an alcoholic with marriage problems. And I'm like, why can't we have a mentally stable detective who solves crime because of duty, and not to excorcise their "inner demons" (or other such psychological BS reason usually given). For this reason, I love Columbo, Poirot and Midsomer murders: The detectives are honourable people, very polite and respectful, but polite doesnt mean they let people walk over them. It seems to me most crime writers cannot grasp the fact that one can be polite and ruthless (or relentless) at the same time.

dharmab 5y ago
I recommend watching Knives Out- Daniel Craig plays the kind of detective you want to see. (It helps that he is not the sole point of view character.)
- mrlonglong 5y ago
  Recommendation seconded. Its hilarious and excellent!
swhitf 5y ago
The BBC drama The Missing and spin off Baptise have a calm and friendly lead detective. Not sure where you are but it you can get them in your country maybe give them a try.
dubya 5y ago
I recommend the Maigret novels by Georges Simenon. He is portrayed as a genuinely decent human being, and the stories are interesting.
briefcomment 5y ago
Along those lines, Tintin is the best role model I've ever had

mixmastamyk 5y ago

> every episode ends with an addictive cliffhanger By chance I noticed if you watch from the midpoint of one episode to the next, there is no cliffhanger. ;-)

jbluepolarbear 5y ago

I haven’t watch Columbo since I was a kid, but I always thought Monk was the closest of the modern crime serials.

bloak 5y ago

I used to like The Bill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bill), back when it had 30-minute episodes, each of which was in effect a self-contained little play using the same set of main characters. The episodes were written by different people, who were credited quite prominently at the start, so the quality of the writing varied, but in a way that made it more interesting. Unfortunately, more recently, that's not what the market wanted, apparently.

narag 5y ago

Lately everything has to be dark and quirkiness is used to explain how someone is directly rude. Talking about darkness, I remember Burn Notice, a funny show where an ex-spy used his training to fix his neighbours' problems, much like A-Team. It was a nice light entertainment, but for some reason, the last season (or last two seasons, can't remember) turned so dark that it was really scary. I started watching it to have some chuckles and finished with a sour taste.

purplequark 5y ago

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but 'Try and Catch Me' is my favorite episode (it has everything: the car, Dog, and IMHO, the best "villain"), and addresses the kindness: > Abigail Mitchell: I'm beginning to be very fond of you, Lieutenant. I think you're a very kind man. > Lt. Columbo: Don't count on that, Miss Mitchell. Don't count on it. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075866/quotes/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075866/quotes/