I finally got my fiance to start watching Columbo with me. We have done about 10 episodes so far.

One thing that bothers her and I suppose I never really paid much attention to it because I'd love the show so much, has to do with how often Columbo puts himself in danger.

He usually confronts the murderer alone. He turns his back on the murderer. He presents the murder with major evidence against him while not wearing a gun or a bullet proof vest. Or carrying handcuffs. And he usually does not have any back up with him. The bad guy could destroy the evidence easily, or he could use everything that Columbo told him to build a perfect alibi. Our favorite Lieutenant could have been knocked off many times.

I noticed that in "Swan Song" where Columbo meets Tommy Brown on the mountain and Tommy asks Columbo if he isn't afraid to drive a murder back to town?

In "Murder Under Glass," Columbo is alone with Paul Gerard. All those kitchen tools Paul could have used to hurt Columbo.

Butterfly in Shades of Gray. Fielding has a shotgun in his trunk when he and Columbo are alone on the mountain.

Not only that, but Columbo's plan to catch Paul Gerard with a poisoned glass of wine was risky. Suppose Gerard didn't want to take the chance of missing and poisoned all the wine.

"Columbo Goes To The Guillotine": now that was committing to his theory of the criminal's plan.

OMG Ted that was the ultimate chance by Columbo. I often wonder before he had E. Blake put the collar on him if he had not taken out the blade thus making both sides of the collar safe. But left the stickers on there anyway. I would never put my head on the chopping block just a catch a killer if I was a police lieutenant.

Just driving that car is risky enough. I suppose he could use his wife's once in a while but her car is "nothing special, just for transportation"