Columbo Episodes Here's a list of all the Columbo episodes from the old series. Beside the title is the date of first airing. Below that are the three main stars (besides Peter Falk, of course), and below that are comments or key words about the episodes. Pilots:   1. PRESCRIPTION: MURDER (Feb. 20, 1968)   Gene Barry, Katherine Justice, Nina Foch   This was a made-for-TV movie which was not originally supposed to be a pilot for a series. It aired three years before the first season of the show. Mistress pretends to be wife; stages fight on airplane. 2. RANSOM FOR A DEAD MAN (Mar. 1, 1971)   Lee Grant, Harold Gould, Patricia Mattick   The real pilot for the series, which began the following fall.   Lawyer shoots husband; makes it look like kidnapping. First Season (1971-72):   3. MURDER BY THE BOOK (Sept. 15, 1971)   Jack Cassidy, Martin Milner, Rosemary Forsyth   One partner of a mystery writing team kills the other. 4. DEATH LENDS A HAND (Oct. 6, 1971)   Robert Culp, Ray Milland, Patricia Crowley   P.I. tries to blackmail wife of client; fails, so kills her. 5. DEAD WEIGHT (Oct. 27, 1971)   Eddie Albert, Suzanne Pleshette, Kate Reid   Women in boat think they see a murder. 6. SUITABLE FOR FRAMING (Nov. 17, 1971)   Ross Martin, Kim Hunter, Don Ameche   Art collector killed by art critic. 7. LADY IN WAITING (Dec. 15, 1971)   Susan Clark, Richard Anderson, Leslie Nielsen   Sister waits for brother to come home through her bedroom   window. She plans to shoot him, then explain that she thought it   was a burglar. Her plans go awry when the brother has an extra   key. 8. SHORT FUSE (Jan. 19, 1972)   Roddy McDowall, Ida Lupino, James Gregory   Bomb in cigar box. 9. BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER (Feb 9, 1972)   Patrick O'Neal, Forrest Tucker, Janis Paige   Architect kills Texas tycoon. Second Season (1972-73):   10. ETUDE IN BLACK (Sept. 17, 1972)   John Cassavetes, Blythe Danner, Myrna Loy   Conductor kills pianist/mistress. 11. THE GREENHOUSE JUNGLE (Oct. 15, 1972)   Ray Milland, Bradford Dillman, Bob Dishy   Uncle and nephew fake kidnapping, then uncle kills nephew. 12. THE MOST CRUCIAL GAME (Nov. 5, 1972)   Robert Culp, Dean Stockwell, Valerie Harper   Football team manager. 13. DAGGER OF THE MIND (Nov. 26, 1972)   Richard Basehart, Honor Blackman, John Williams   Columbo in London. 14. REQUIEM FOR A FALLING STAR (Jan. 21, 1973)   Anne Baxter, Mel Ferrer, Kevin McCarthy   Former movie queen; automobile fire. 15. A STITCH IN CRIME (Feb. 11, 1973)   Leonard Nimoy, Will Geer, Anne Francis   Heart surgery. 16. THE MOST DANGEROUS MATCH (Mar. 4, 1973)   Laurence Harvey, Jack Kruschen, Lloyd Bochner   Chess players. 17. DOUBLE SHOCK (Mar. 25, 1973)   Martin Landau, Paul Stewart, Julie Newmar   Mixer in bathtub. Third Season (1973-74):   18. LOVELY BUT LETHAL (Sept. 23, 1973)   Vera Miles, Martin Sheen, Vincent Price   Cosmetics queen; microscope as murder weapon. 19. ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM (Oct. 7, 1973)   Donald Pleasance, Gary Conway, Julie Harris   Winemaker; apparent scuba accident. 20. CANDIDATE FOR CRIME (Nov. 4, 1973)   Jackie Cooper, Ken Swofford, Joanne Linville   Senate candidate kills campaign manager. 21. DOUBLE EXPOSURE (Dec. 16, 1973)   Robert Culp, Robert Middleton, Louise Latham   Subliminal messages. 22. PUBLISH OR PERISH (Jan. 18, 1974)   Jack Cassidy, Mickey Spillane, Mariette Hartley   Publisher kills author. 23. MIND OVER MAYHEM (Feb. 10, 1974)   Jose Ferrer, Lew Ayres, Robert Walker   One professor kills another to protect son's reputation. Robot. 24. SWAN SONG (Mar. 3, 1974)   Johnny Cash, Ida Lupino, William McKinney   Country singer makes plane crash with wife in it. 25. A FRIEND IN DEED (May 5, 1974)   Richard Kiley, Michael McGuire, Rosemary Murphy   Police Commisioner and neighbor give each other alibis for   their respective murders. Fourth Season (1974-75):   26. AN EXERCISE IN FATALITY (Sept. 15, 1974)   Robert Conrad, Philip Bruns, Pat Harrington   Physical fitness expert. 27. NEGATIVE REACTION (Oct. 6, 1974)   Dick Van Dyke, Antoinette Bower, Don Gordon   Photographer makes wife appear to be victim of kidnapping. 28. BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT (Oct. 27, 1974)   Patrick McGoohan, Tom Simcox, Mark Wheeler   Commandant of military academy makes cannon explode when fired ceremoniously. McGoohan won Emmy for this performance. 29. TROUBLED WATERS (Feb. 9, 1975)   Robert Vaughn, Patrick MacNee, Bernard Fox   Murder on a cruise ship. 30. PLAYBACK (Mar. 2, 1975)   Oskar Werner, Martha Scott, Gena Rowlands   Electronics genius; closed-circuit TV. 31. A DEADLY STATE OF MIND (Apr. 27, 1975)   George Hamilton, Lesley Ann Warren, Stephen Elliott   Hypnotist. Fifth Season (1975-76):   32. FORGOTTEN LADY (Sept. 14, 1975)   Janet Leigh, Sam Jaffe, John Payne   Onetime screen queen watches old movie in her house; film breaks. 33. A CASE OF IMMUNITY (Oct. 12, 1975)   Hector Elizondo, Sal Mineo, Barry Robins   Murder in an Arab diplomatic legation. 34. IDENTITY CRISIS (Nov. 2, 1975)   Patrick McGoohan, Leslie Nielsen, Otis Young   One CIA spy kills another one. 35. A MATTER OF HONOR (Feb. 1, 1976)   Ricardo Montalban, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., A. Martinez   Bullfighting in Mexico. 36. NOW YOU SEE HIM (Feb. 29, 1976)   Jack Cassidy, Bob Dishy, Robert Loggia   Magician; water tank trick. 37. LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE (May 2, 1976)   Robert Vaughn, Fred Draper, Diane Baker   Son-in-law kills naval architect. Sixth Season (1976-77):   (Due to various circumstances there were only three episodes this   season.) 38. FADE IN TO MURDER (Oct. 10, 1976)   William Shatner, Lola Albright, Alan Manson   Television detective kills show's producer. 39. OLD-FASHIONED MURDER (Nov. 28, 1976)   Joyce Van Patten, Celeste Holm, Jeannie Berlin   Museum of medieval artifacts and art. 40. THE BYE-BYE SKY HIGH I.Q. MURDER CASE (May 22, 1977)   Theodore Bikel, Samantha Eggar, Sorrell Booke   Murder at a club for geniuses; phonograph. Seventh Season (1977-78):   41. TRY AND CATCH ME (Nov. 21, 1977)   Ruth Gordon, Mariette Hartley, G.D. Spradlin   Mystery writer locks victim in vault. 42. MURDER UNDER GLASS (Jan. 30, 1978)   Louis Jourdan, Shera Danese, Richard Dysart   Food critic kills restaurant owner. 43. MAKE ME A PERFECT MURDER (Feb. 28, 1978)   Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill, Patrick O'Neal   Assistant network programmer murders her boss. 44. HOW TO DIAL A MURDER (Apr. 15, 1978)   Nicol Williamson, Tricia O'Neil, Kim Cattrall   Dogs kill victim. 45. THE CONSPIRATORS (May 13, 1978)   Clive Revill, Jeanette Nolan, Bernard Behrens   Irish terrorists; gun smuggling.