‘Just several more things’: The greatest stories never told…?

David Koenig was responsible for Shooting Columbo, a brilliant rundown of the classic series. Now he’s back with a look at undeveloped ideas for episodes that were never made. For the most part, they sound relatively promising. There are some that probably deserved to be binned. Movie director Brian De Palma (pre-fame) came up with a pitch - the best of the lot - but Peter Falk, who played Columbo, didn’t like it, and it consequently bit the dust. (He feared he’d be upstaged by the killer, who was based on Truman Capote). Ditto a planned last-ever episode, partly driven by Patrick McGoohan, a Columbo villain on more than one occasion, and a Falk pal. Falk pushed for his own wife Shera (another series regular) to get the part as the villain. The studio bosses objected - and the project sank. The episode never saw the light of day. Koenig summarises each pitch, and the narration by Jason Culp - son of Columbo legend Robert Culp, my favourite villain - is spot-on. It would be interesting to hear these developed into audiobook dramatisations, or novellas. Koenig himself suggests they could form the basis of a reboot, given rising interest in the show which ran intermittently for more than 30 years. Maybe - though one wonders who could replace the extraordinary Falk as the rumpled sleuth... Either way, fans will lap this up. Listen now!

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