Lieutenant Columbo, played with average Joe charm and unshowy, easy-to-miss dexterity by Peter Falk, is more than meets the eye — to the bad guys, not us, because we know how things will turn out.

While not the first to do it, Columbo is the best-known example of the "howcatchem" mystery series, inspiring series like Elsbeth or Poker Face, where an eccentric character pieces together the clues ...

Who would have thought a homicide detective from the ‘70s would have had a cultural moment in the 2020s? And yet, that’s been the case for Lieutenant Columbo. Peter Falk’s trench-coat-wearing cop had ...