In later episodes of Kojak he too was promoted to captain and the format never really worked in my opinion. Columbo, Kojak, Cannon and Harry O all had "street cred" and knew every trick in the book down on the streets. I always thought Telly Savalas was a particularly gritty and believable character. Incidentally did anyone ever see the episode title "The Condemned"? The very first scene was the twin towers - an omen or what???

Sevalis could have made a great murder suspect. It would be the equivalent to Good Guy versus bad guy. Sort of like William Shatner. The good guy in one TV story and the bad guy in a couple of Columbo episodes

Well he had already played the baddie as Blofeld in James Bond (1960's). But his very best performances were always in Kojak, he was very gritty and I'm sure he went off script on loads of occassions to lend extra credibility to the role. To be honest I'm not sure that he would have made a good murder suspect in Columbo. Or perhaps yes... the only one that ever got away with it! (Not including Forgotten Lady of course!).