''Mrs. Columbo'' (1979–1980), later called ''Kate Columbo'', ''Kate the Detective'', and ''Kate Loves a Mystery'', is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

television series, initially based on the wife of Lieutenant Columbo, the title character from the television series '' Columbo''. It was created and produced by Richard Alan Simmons and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a prede ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and stars

Kate Mulgrew Katherine Kiernan Maria Mulgrew (born April 29, 1955) is an American actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Captain Kathryn Janeway on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red on ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...

as a

news reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

helping to solve crimes while raising her daughter. The series debuted in February 1979 as a spin-off to the mystery crime drama series ''Columbo'', focusing on Lieutenant Columbo's wife, who is never given a

first name First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

in the original ''Columbo'' series but was named Kate in this series. After poor ratings and reception from both audiences and the original producers of ''Columbo'', both the series and the eponymous character herself were renamed in an attempt to change direction, but this did not help ratings and the series was ultimately canceled in March 1980 after 13 episodes had aired. Neither Peter Falk nor the character of Lieutenant Columbo ever appeared on the show; moreover, Falk never endorsed the show.

Series overview

Kate Columbo (later renamed Kate Callahan after an off-screen divorce) is the wife of Lieutenant Columbo, the title character from the television series '' Columbo''. Kate is a

who solves crimes while raising her daughter.

Cast

as Kate Columbo / Kate Callahan * Lili Haydn as Jenny Columbo / Jenny Callahan * Henry Jones as Josh Alden *

Don Stroud Donald Lee Stroud (born September 1, 1943) is an American actor, musician, and surfer. Stroud has appeared in over 100 films and 200 television shows. Early years Stroud was the son of vaudeville actor Clarence Stroud (of "The Stroud Twins" team ...

as Sergeant Mike Varrick

Production

Development

Shortly after the ''Columbo'' series ended its original run on

in 1978, despite objections from ''Columbo'' producers

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the Unive ...

and

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

, NBC executive

Fred Silverman Fred Silverman (September 13, 1937 – January 30, 2020) was an American television executive and producer. He worked as an executive at all of the Big Three television networks, and was responsible for bringing to television such programs as '' ...

went forward in producing ''Mrs. Columbo'' as a spin-off to the original series. Levinson and Link further objected to Silverman's insistence on casting someone young to play the part;

was only 24 years old when the show made its debut. The information NBC released about the show was unambiguous about the fact that Mrs. Columbo in the new series was in fact the previously unseen wife frequently mentioned on ''Columbo.''

Retooling

The show received poor ratings, however, and as part of efforts to revamp it, the linkage between this Kate Columbo and the Mrs. Columbo of the original television series was reduced. The name of the character was changed to Kate Callahan after an off-screen divorce, and the series was renamed ''Kate the Detective'' at the beginning of the second season, followed by ''Kate Loves a Mystery''. In this ultimate incarnation, the producers completed their retreat from the show's original premise, and Kate Callahan was then regarded as being a completely different character from Mrs. Columbo of ''Columbo'', Kate's ex-husband now named Philip. None of the changes aided the new show's ratings, however, and it was pulled from the air in 1980, after 13 episodes.

Episodes

Season 1: 1979

Season 2: 1979–80

Reception

Peter Falk expressed his disapproval of the spin-off, calling it a "bad idea" and "disgraceful". When ''Columbo'' returned to the air in 1989 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, it was further established that Lt. Columbo and his wife were still happily married, and the existence of the series ''Mrs. Columbo'' was effectively ignored.

Home media

The ''Mrs. Columbo'' episode "A Riddle for Puppets" was included as a bonus feature in the Region 1 DVD release of the fourth season of ''Columbo'', released in August 2005. The episode "Murder Is a Parlor Game" was included in the third season of ''Columbo''. The episode "Caviar with Everything" was included in the fifth season of ''Columbo''. Both seasons of ''Mrs. Columbo'' were released as a 5-disc set called ''Madame Columbo - Saisons 1 & 2'' in France on October 22, 2014, by Universal and Elephant Films.

References

External links

* {{Columbo 1979 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1970s American mystery television series 1980s American mystery television series 1970s American crime drama television series 1980s American crime drama television series NBC original programming Television series by Universal Television American television spin-offs American detective television series Television shows set in Chicago Columbo