Customer Reviews
The episodes are syndication cuts - By: MarxBrother3, 02 May 2008 
Beginning with Season 2, Universal began releasing syndication cut episodes as "complete & uncut" episodes. In the United States backin the 70's the Columbo episodes typically were airedin a 90 minute format; later on it was 120 minutes. Of those 90 minutes, 8 minutes were taken out for commercials. In syndication, & additional 8 minutes were cut for commercials; hence 74 minutes. In some episodes, characters are introduced as having beenin the episode earlier...though you never see the initial introduction of the character. This gets worse with the later episodesin later sets that airedin 2 hour time slots. Be careful when you buy these. I contacted Universal & they refused to refund money. They also refused to admit that they had issued "cut & edited" episodes as "complete & uncut". I contacted the Federal officalsin the States that are supposed to protect consumers against this kind of rip off. Nothing was done. Universal was defended. Even though I offered absolute proof of "cut" episodes, I cold not get an audience to listen to me. Buyer beware!
GENIUS - By: A. Girvan, 12 Aug 2007 
I FIND WATCHING COLUMBO VERY RELAXING - you do not have to work out who the killer is?
the genius of columbo is the pattern of every episode-
have you worked out yet that the killer is always RICH.
Formulaic, but highly enjoyable - By: A. Butterfield, 26 Oct 2005 Despite being a short, scruffy detective who drives an ancient Peugeot, Columbo always winds up investigating the rich, famous & glamorous. Then he pretends to be dumb, & humbled by their greatness. This leads the murderers to give away more than they should, which is ultimately their undoing.
Formulaic yes, but boring? Never. Most of this is down to Peter Falk, of course, who is eminently watchable. The denouement is something we all look forward to: that delicious moment when the murderer realises he is hoist with his own petard, as it were. Falk never disappoints throughout this second series.
The first series, I'm sure, had more episodes, but never mind. This comesin the same attractive packaging, & the DVD transfer is very good indeed, though variable across the discs. Perhaps the source material wasn't perfectin each case. The very first episode struck me as being particularly gorgeous to look at. But at least one later on looks muddy & washed outin places. Overall though, no complaints. The sound is good too.
I'm a bit disappointed to find there are, once again, no special features at all.
But for fans of Columbo, & of the period, this is well worth getting.
Just one little thing.... - By: jw12, 28 Sep 2005 
8 great episodes (74 minutes each). The only little drawback was the introduction to each episode - which for some reason showed a montage of scenes from the episode you are about to see. I couldn't see the point of this - it was pointless & a bit irritating, I didn't want my anticipation spoiled. They were hard to by-pass as well - I had to settle for closing my eyes while they were on!
Peter Falk - Genius - By: Colin C, 15 Sep 2005 Season Two is when Columbo really starts to hit his stride. The opening season has its moments, but Lt Columbo isn't yet quite crumpled & disshevelled enough while his character is being developed. Now, his mannerisms are becoming more eccentric & therefore all the more watchable.
This series features (among others) John Cassavetes as the orchestra conductor, Martin Landau as the twins, Ray Milland as the greenhouse gardener & also Honor Blackmanin a bizarre episode setin London (where Columbo is on holiday!). It's odd (and entertaining) to see him out of his usual California settingsin that episode.
No extras, but 6 DVDs, ten hours of viewing & crisp picture quality make this an absolute must for Columbo fans, especially at this bargain price.
