On Being The Last Person To Discover Columbo

Plus: Megan Thee Stallion, The Emperor's New Groove, and What's Making Us Happy by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when Dave Chappelle [got a request satisfied](. It was the week when the Grammy nominations, as always, were part puzzling [and part encouraging](. And it was the week when One Day At A Time [got canceled again]( making it time to hope for it to be picked up elsewhere again. Let's get to it. Opening Argument: On Being The Last Person To Discover Columbo I’m not sure why I never really watched Columbo. I watched a lot of TV as a kid, and although I was too little when the original run happened in the early ‘70s, it certainly would have been kicking around, at least in reruns, probably. My brother-in-law is a fan, I think; I seem to remember he owned a bunch of it on DVD. I discovered it because I was watching Knives Out (as I often do) with the commentary from director Rian Johnson turned on. He compared the structure of the film to an episode of Columbo, in that you learn fairly early what happened, and then the rest is about how it’s going to get solved from there. And I remembered someone mentioning that Columbo was on the streaming service Peacock, from NBC Universal. My time had come! If you’ve never watched the show, it goes like this: Peter Falk plays Lieutenant Columbo of the LAPD, who works basically alone, solving exclusively murders committed by well-dressed, wealthy people. The episodes (which are actually TV movies) are structured such that you watch the entire murder unfold first. So, for instance, you see the murderer getting angry with the victim for some reason, you see how they do the killing, and you see how they try to cover it up. And you don’t usually see Columbo at any point during this part. You watch a whole act, up to the first commercial break, that’s just a murderer doing a murder. And then Columbo arrives. Unlike most television detectives, Columbo doesn’t hold his cards terribly close to the vest about the fact that the murderer is a suspect. He spends much of his time having short, quasi-casual conversations with the murderer where he suggests they might actually be the murderer, and then they say that’s ridiculous, and he says sure, sure, okay, and he leaves the house (or greenhouse, or office, or whatever). But then he pops up again later, and the murderer is like “Oh, Lieutenant Columbo, YOU AGAIN?” and Columbo says he just has one last loose end he needs to tie up, and they get into the whole thing all over again. And then at some point, he drops the hammer by revealing that he has a piece of evidence they can’t refute. And the murderer ruefully admits that they are beaten and generally goes off to jail willingly. The end! They’re great. They’re really great. Not only is Peter Falk a wonderful comic-dramatic lead, but they peppered this thing with a literal murderer’s row of murderers. Leonard Nimoy! Johnny Cash! Eddie Albert! Susan Clark, who played Webster’s mother on Webster! Jack Cassidy! Robert Culp (more than once)! People are constantly popping up in unexpected non-murderer supporting roles as well: Valerie Harper! Dean Stockwell! And that is not to even mention the clothes and the decor, which are legendary examples of ‘70s style at its most magical, from the shiny caftans to the gaudy prints to the extremely wide ties. It simply must be seen to be believed. I was surprised to find that this felt right to me at the moment, because Columbo is, after all, a police officer. I have largely turned away from police shows this year, trying to reckon with the effects of so-called “copaganda” that has been made for so many years in a way that glamorizes police and does not allow for any criticism of them. It helps a lot that Columbo only ever chases rich, gross, mean, powerful people. Often not just run-of-the-mill rich people, either. High-level military people, celebrities, prominent doctors, heads of shady companies. He is the underdog in every case he approaches, in a lot of ways, and the murderer always looks at him with nothing but contempt until the very moment when the trap is sprung and the credits roll. Take that, overstuffed rich jerk! It’s nice, in a moment of near-total isolation, to find a new thing that (1) you like and (2) there’s a lot of. There are nearly 100 of these stories on Peacock. I suspect that by New Year’s, I may well have watched practically all of them. --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- We Recommend: I loved the Twitter thread [from the United Farm Workers]( this week that showed off some of the hard, hard work (the sometimes dangerous work) that goes into bringing people their favorite Thanksgiving dishes. Am I above recommending a Photoshop-art piece that creates a perfect Christmas portrait of my own dog? I am not. [Here it is](. The very sad but very honest thoughts of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex were [published in The New York Times this week]( they are well worth your time. My review of it will be up on Saturday, but by the time you read this, you’ll be able to catch the HBO MAX series The Flight Attendant -- well, at least the first three episodes of it. I really liked it; give it a shot. You probably know that we were, and are, big fans and dear pals of Tobin Low and Kathy Tu and their wonderful podcast Nancy. Even though it’s canceled (for now?), I was so glad to see them [getting some well-deserved attention]( over at Transom, one of the best places to read about audio. What We Did This Week: [MTS image]( Rich Fury/Getty Images for Visible A quick note: Be aware that we’re off Thursday and Friday -- as we hope at least many of you are -- and that I’m writing this on Wednesday. So there may be a couple things that will be added where the links aren’t finalized yet, so just keep your eyes peeled! On Monday, [Stephen sat down with two of our favorites]( Kiana Fitzgerald and Taylor Crumpton, to talk about Megan Thee Stallion. On Tuesday, Jeffrey Masters and I t[ried hard to figure out]( what to make of the widely panned film adaptation of Hillbilly Elegy. On Wednesday, on a show that I think will live in whatever the opposite of infamy is -- win-famy? -- [Stephen, Glen and Aisha all gathered]( for a hard-hitting conversation about the extremely beloved The Emperor’s New Groove. And on Friday, [we brought you a visit]( from the great Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael and their show Louder Than A Riot. [I wrote about the Hulu holiday movie]( Happiest Season, which is an imperfect but delightful entry into the Christmas-romcom-family-warmth category that I never tire of. [Glen reviewed the film]( Uncle Frank, which he calls “achingly well-intentioned.” (A special thanks to Will Jarvis, who’s helping out with our production this week!) What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: - What's making Aisha happy: [The Pack, now streaming on Amazon Prime]( - What's making Glen happy: [Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice For Living Your Best Life, by Ali Wong]( - What's making Stephen happy: [Jenn Pelly's Pitchfork article "Meet Shameika Stepney, Inspiration to Fiona Apple on Fetch the Bolt Cutters"]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [pchh@npr.org](mailto:pchh@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! 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