At the top of the month, we
spilled the beans about the official studio announcement for
Columbo - The Complete 1st Season. Even though we knew that the release consisted of 5 DVDs and 12 hours of material, Universal hadn't expressly stated what that material consisted of.
Now they've come clean with all the details, and to our delight they've made it crystal-clear that the pilot telefilms are included, along with the first season's 7 stories. Don't forget,
Columbo wasn't a normal kind of television show: it was part of a rotating group of shows (including
McMillan and Wife and
McCloud) that were all part of the "NBC Sunday Mystery Movie" umbrella, and
Columbo only appeared every 3 weeks or so. So each "season" of
Columbo only consisted of a handful of episodes! The good news? Each "episode" was either 90 minutes or 2 hours long!
On the first DVD release you'll find:
- "Prescription: Murder " (first pilot telefilm)
- "Ransom for a Dead Man" (second pilot telefilm)
- "Murder by the Book"
- "Death Lends a Hand"
- "Dead Weight"
- "Suitable for Framing"
- "Lady in Waiting"
- "Short Fuse"
- "Blueprint for Murder"
The first regular episode, "Murder by the Book," was among the earliest TV writing efforts by future television powerhouse Steven Bochco (who also had his pen in two other stories on this set), and was directed by none other than Steven Spielberg! This was not long after Spielberg had directed the second of two segments for Rod Serling's
Night Gallery series, and before he went on to direct
Duel, starring
McCloud's Dennis Weaver.
Guest stars you'll find in the compilation include Martin Milner, Robert Culp, Ray Milland, Eddie Albert, Suzanne Pleshette, Don Ameche, Vic Tayback, Susan Clark, Leslie Neilsen, Roddy McDowall, Ida Lupino, and more!
Sept. 7th is the release date for the befuddled detective, and he costs a mere $59.98 SRP. Finally, here's a bigger shot of the cover art than the one we had last time...and it's wearing a trench coat!
