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

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series, initially based on the wife of Lieutenant Columbo, the title character from the television series ''

Columbo ''Columbo'' is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originall ...

''. 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 division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, 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 in '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and Red in ''Orange Is the New Black''. She first came to attention ...

as a news reporter 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 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 ended with a run of just 13 episodes. Neither

Peter Falk Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...

nor the character of Lieutenant Columbo ever appeared on 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 ''

''. Kate is a news reporter who solves crimes while raising her daughter.

Cast

as Kate Columbo / Kate Callahan *

Lili Haydn Lili Haydn is a Canadian-born violinist, film and TV composer, singer-songwriter, and former child-actress. She won a Grammy Award in 2019 for ''Opium Moon'' and was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics" in the ...

as Jenny Columbo / Jenny Callahan (Kate's daughter) * 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 is 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, and despite objections from ''Columbo'' creator-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 Univ ...

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, Pennsylvania ...

, 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. (Mulgrew was all of 12 when Peter Falk first appeared as Columbo and discussed his wife in the pilot film '' Prescription: Murder''.) The information NBC released about the show was unambiguous that Mrs. Columbo in the new series was the previously unseen wife frequently mentioned on ''Columbo''.

Retooling

The show received poor ratings, 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''. There was evidently some confusion over what the new title would be, since the first episode of season 2, "Ladies of the Afternoon," was listed in guides as an episode of ''Kate the Detective'' while ads called the show ''Kate Loves a Mystery''. The revamped series also introduced the character Sergeant Mike Varrick of the Valley Municipal Police Department, played by

. In this final 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. Lt. Columbo was previously shown to have the first name Frank in the 1971 ''Columbo'' episode "Dead Weight." None of the changes aided the show's ratings, however, and it was cancelled in December 1979. One last new episode, the thirteenth, aired in March 1980.

Episodes

Season 1 (1979)

Season 2 (1979–80)

Reception

expressed his disapproval of the spin-off, calling it a "bad idea" and "disgraceful". Richard Levinson later joked that if they made another episode of ''Columbo'' they would have Columbo say "There's a woman running around pretending to be my wife. She's changing things. She's a young girl. I wish my wife was like that. She's an impostor."

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 Television series by Universal Television American television spinoffs American detective television series Television shows set in Chicago Columbo NBC crime dramas