Sad to say, I have no recollection of my first viewing of "Columbo". Suffice to say, it was in the early 1970s when I was but a lad. I also recall it later being run on CBS late night Fridays and it was filled - no, not filled - FILLED with commericals. Most likely it was filled with edits too. Perhaps that wasn't on the CBS network though. It may simply have been the local CBS affiliate running it at that time. I do recall where I was when "Columbo" returned to TV on ABC in the late 1980s. I was in front of my television set!
I saw most of the episodes when I was in my late 20's, when they were orginally aired. It was a great way to end a Sunday night after watching the NFL's 2 games. Being single at the time, sometimes I would have other pursuits to entertain myself which caused me to miss an episode or two.