The Lt. Columbo Forum

An area where fans from all over can ask each other questions and voice their own ideas and opinions on anything Columbo.

This Forum is fondly dedicated in memory of  "cassavetes45"  (Carleen Zink),
Columbo's greatest fan and a great friend to us all.
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The Lt. Columbo Forum
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Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

Never could even consider getting into this one. And Kate Mulgrew was not the right part at all. In my opinion, anything that was or is attempted as a spin off simply will never work. Not even sure why the network agreed to do it. I'm sure Peter didn't like the idea either.

Anyone else feel like this?

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

The network was run by Fred Silverman, and it was all his idea from the start, pushed through at his insistence. This was in his declining years, when he started doing things like "Supertrain" and "Hello Larry". Peter hated it and so did Levinson & Link, by all accounts I've seen.

Thanks to Kate Mulgrew (and producer Richard Allen Simmons, who did some good things on "Columbo"), I'd say it was really not so awful for what it was, a harmless bit of fluff. The resentment comes from it not being anywhere in the same league as "Columbo," combined with Kate being nobody's idea of Columbo's wife, so it comes off as basically a bad attempt to rip off the good "Columbo" name.

I especially hated that in the show's dying days they had the character get a divorce, implying by extension that Columbo's marriage failed, which I thought was a desecration. Not that a divorce means someone is bad or evil, but Columbo's marriage was not something to be trifled with just so some hacks could re-tool a failing spin-off.

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

Maybe this is saying the obvious, but if you try to ignore the COLUMBO connection (in spite of things like the Basset Hound), it can certainly be entertaining.

In fact, I may be the only one here who kind of likes the Donald Pleasence episode, instead of seeing it as such a bad flipside of Any Old Port In A Storm.

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

I agree. Could not get into it either. I'm sure it didn't last long.

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

The fact that they did that "divorce" bit before they decided to abandon the Columbo association and make her "Kate Callahan" is why I can't bring myself to watch any of those episodes. To me, that just was a sign of absolute broken trust that made even a bad idea worse than it could get.

I'll only say that the only thing that topped "Mrs. Columbo" for worst spin off idea ever was "Galactica 1980" when they brought back my favorite sci-fi show and turned it into something that I still have bad nightmares about all these years later!

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

Eric, I couldn't agree with you more. The whole divorce thing was ridiculous. It really put the punctuation mark on a bad idea right from the start.

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

Always seemed a bit odd they claimed Columbo was a tired format and people had enough, yet they invent Mrs Columbo! The viewer would I suppose always be attracted to the Mrs because of the success of Mr !! Bizarre!!

Re: Mrs. Columbo -- Biggest Spin Off Mistake Ever

I must disagree. True, the show never rose to the level of Columbo, but, really how many other shows from that time period did? I purchased the two season box set from France so I could reacquaint myself with this show. I know that Caviar With Everything and Murder is A Parlor Game were very entertaining. Caviar has some fun dialogue and some amazing interiors from that time period.