10 Best Columbo Episodes

When Peter Falk agreed to play Lieutenant Columbo for Universal, one of his conditions was that he also be able to direct some of the show's episodes. The story goes that, during the first season, he started to become so discontented with not being given any episodes to direct that he threatened to quit the role.

Realising that they had a ratings success on their hands, Universal did not wish to risk giving creative control over to the show's star, nor did they want to lose him. Therefore, in order to satisfy Falk and to suit their own aims, they allocated him one of the most technical and complicated episodes of the entire series to direct.

Successful architect, Elliot Markham (Patrick O'Neal) has got his hooks into Jennifer Williamson (Pamela Austin), the young wife of stereotypical Texan magnate, Bo Williamson (Forrest Tucker). When Bo learns that Markham has talked his wife into building Williamson City with Bo's money, he flies into a rage, and Markham quickly bumps Bo off, making it appear that he has simply gone travelling instead. However, Bo's former wife, the forthright Goldie (Janis Paige) is not convinced and, as he looks into matters further, neither is Columbo. Both soon become very interested in the foundations of a new skyscraper that Markham is erecting in Century City, Los Angeles...

Blueprint For Murder must have been something of a logistical nightmare for Falk, as it required a lot of location filming, mainly in a real-life construction site. This meant that scenes needed to be shot quickly, efficiently, and accurately, as there would be no chance to do re-shoots once construction on the site had resumed. Universal's approach in putting Falk in his place may be considered to be either justified or quite unfair, depending on how you look at it.

Either way, it is hard to deny that it led to an outstanding episode, enlivened by great performances from both Forrest Tucker and Janis Paige. As the episode reaches its conclusion, Falk also brings great tension to a sequence in which Markham, transporting Bo's body in the trunk of his car to the construction site under the cover of night, gets a flat tire and is confronted by a traffic cop. It certainly is a shame that Falk did not direct any more entries in the series.

Patrick O'Neal later went on to have a rather thankless supporting role as a television station executive in one of the last of the original run of Columbo episodes, Make Me a Perfect Murder in 1978.