Binged the dvd set and just find season 8 and beyond not as enjoyable. I do love the episode columbo goes to college but other episodes seem to paint our lovable lieutenant as some goof. Maybe another binge weekend I will change my mind?

I don't know if another binge weekend will change your mind. It's common belief that the newest episodes are not as enjoyable as the oldest and that sometimes the charachter becomes a caricature of itself.
Nevertheless I think that there are some good (even very good) episodes among the newest.

I know that I'm in the minority here, however I find a lot of the later episodes entertaining. Outside of a few real blunders they were pretty good. However episodes like No Time to Die was6hu a waste of production money and time and effort. That episode in my opinion is the worst one of the whole series. Butterfly in Shades of Grey is not on my high up list either. It's hilarious though to see William Shatner with that stupid looking mustache.