Fabulous Films have released the Columbo – The 1970s Complete Collection Seasons 1- 7 on Blu-ray in the UK.
Peter Falk stars as the cigar chomping, trench coat wearing, police lieutenant Columbo in the series that set the standard for the murder mystery genre. This 20-disc Blu-ray set contains the first 7 seasons of this ground-breaking series, including the 2 original pilot TV movies, now restored and remastered by NBC Universal in 4K. Enjoy once again this classic series that won a staggering 13 primetime Emmys®!
The list of guest stars is endless (many of which appeared in more than one episode in more than one role) and includes Jack Cassidy, Vincent Price, Martin Sheen, Vera Miles, Vitto Scotti, Johnny Cash, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Vaughn, Janet Leigh, Ed Begley Jr. George Hamilton, Leonard Nimoy, Pat Morita, Leslie Nielsen, Patrick McGoohan, William Shatner and Falk’s second wife Shera Danese who played 6 roles in 6 different episodes.
In 2014 a bronze statue of Peter Falk as Columbo in his shabby raincoat was erected as part of a state-sponsored urban renewal project in Falk Miksa Street in Budapest. It was an urban myth that Falk was related to the journalist Miksa Falk who the street was named after. The famous raincoat came from Peter Falk’s own wardrobe, he had bought it for $15 in 1967, when he got caught in a New York City downpour.
A 24-year-old Steven Spielberg was director of the first episode of the series (four years before he became a household name directing Jaws). Titled ‘Murder by the Book’, the episode was filmed second (after ‘Death Lends a Hand’) but was bumped up to the premier slot at the last minute as it was so good.
Peter Falk won 4 Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Lieutenant Columbo in 1972, 1975, 1976 and 1990. Falk became the highest paid actor on television in this role – in the 1970s he was being paid $500,000 per episode.
Falk has a glass eye because he had a cancerous tumor removed from behind his right eye when he was 3 years old.
Oh, just one more thing…
In 1974 Columbo was so popular in Romania that when the series stopped airing twice a week due to the season ending, protests erupted. The Romanian government had a quota on how much American television could be viewed in the country and the Romanian people were convinced that the government was keeping episodes from them. Falk was asked by the Romanian government to record an announcement to assure the Romanian people that more episodes were on the way.
EXTRAS:
Includes the two feature length pilot movie 1968 “Prescription: Murder” and the 1971 Pilot “Ransom for a Dead Man”
