Yeah the inversion of a whodunit sounds like it would be boring because you know at the start who the murderer is.
But in a regular whodunit they can’t really focus on the murderer since they’ll give away the game. And you can usually just figure it out anyway because there’s usually a character that has no reason to be there… unless they’re the murder. Then the reveal at the end it’s like, yup that character is the murderer.
The Columbo inversion of this allows for the focus to be on the murderer which is far more interesting. And usually the murderer is a smug rich asshole so watching him pester the shit out of him until he makes a mistake is very satisfying.
It also avoided the trap of getting into the personal life of Columbo. It’s just about catching the criminal, not soap opera bullshit. Sure he mentions he has a wife (and a cousin, and an uncle, etc) but you can’t really be sure if that’s all just made up by Columbo to hustle the murderer into giving something up.
Fun bit of trivia: What was Columbo’s first name? They never said. With HD TV you can make out a name on his ID, but they never said his first name throughout the show’s run. It was all about catching the murderer.
Stargate Universe got a raw deal. It was a really great extension of the overall Stargate mythos. Between SG1 and Atlantis, they’d basically gone as far as they could. The teams had defeated gods, both figurative and literal. They had limitless technology at their disposal and each new season became a slog to another deus ex machina.
SGU essentially reset the entire premise back to zero while keeping the overall accumulated canon in place AND it presented a much better conflict/goal than the typical “we must defeat these new powerful aliens before they destroy humanity”.
But it didn’t fit with the tone of the previous shows so a lot of the fans were turned off. Too much “drama”, not enough zat guns. Plus that was the time when SciFi rebranded to “SyFy” and started showing shit like WWE.
I would LOVE to see them do another season picking up right where they left off. It would absolutely fit within the established timeline.
That show was just bad. It haf amazing production and could have been so much better.
They needed to leave earth/sol alone. The constant connection to home base ruined the show.
Having the goa ould just show up and take over was so bad.
The show had a great set up they ruined by trying to include too much familiar elements.
And i say this as a huge fan of the stargate universe.
Granted i had very high hopes. Felt like the people who made Battlestar Galactica got moved to a stargate project and i was so dissapointed with the direction the show took
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I swear I rolled my eyes when my buddy said “they dont make shows like Columbo anymore” until I watched it.
Damn. They really dont.
I also cant imagine a columbo successor without Peter falk around, sad.
Yeah the inversion of a whodunit sounds like it would be boring because you know at the start who the murderer is.
But in a regular whodunit they can’t really focus on the murderer since they’ll give away the game. And you can usually just figure it out anyway because there’s usually a character that has no reason to be there… unless they’re the murder. Then the reveal at the end it’s like, yup that character is the murderer.
The Columbo inversion of this allows for the focus to be on the murderer which is far more interesting. And usually the murderer is a smug rich asshole so watching him pester the shit out of him until he makes a mistake is very satisfying.
It also avoided the trap of getting into the personal life of Columbo. It’s just about catching the criminal, not soap opera bullshit. Sure he mentions he has a wife (and a cousin, and an uncle, etc) but you can’t really be sure if that’s all just made up by Columbo to hustle the murderer into giving something up.
Fun bit of trivia: What was Columbo’s first name? They never said. With HD TV you can make out a name on his ID, but they never said his first name throughout the show’s run. It was all about catching the murderer.
Detective I think.
Funny you say that, when Peter Falk was asked, his answer was “Lieutenant.”
The closest you’ll get is Poker Face. It is a GIANT love letter to Columbo.
I really hope they do a second season.
Folks made a big fuss when it came out, so I’m hopeful. I loved it.
Stargate Universe got a raw deal. It was a really great extension of the overall Stargate mythos. Between SG1 and Atlantis, they’d basically gone as far as they could. The teams had defeated gods, both figurative and literal. They had limitless technology at their disposal and each new season became a slog to another deus ex machina.
SGU essentially reset the entire premise back to zero while keeping the overall accumulated canon in place AND it presented a much better conflict/goal than the typical “we must defeat these new powerful aliens before they destroy humanity”.
But it didn’t fit with the tone of the previous shows so a lot of the fans were turned off. Too much “drama”, not enough zat guns. Plus that was the time when SciFi rebranded to “SyFy” and started showing shit like WWE.
I would LOVE to see them do another season picking up right where they left off. It would absolutely fit within the established timeline.
That show was just bad. It haf amazing production and could have been so much better.
They needed to leave earth/sol alone. The constant connection to home base ruined the show.
Having the goa ould just show up and take over was so bad.
The show had a great set up they ruined by trying to include too much familiar elements.
And i say this as a huge fan of the stargate universe.
Granted i had very high hopes. Felt like the people who made Battlestar Galactica got moved to a stargate project and i was so dissapointed with the direction the show took
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Literally my favorite spinoff and I legit sloppy cried when they canceled it.
Yes, Columbo! I got hooked on it as a teen and recently rewatched the series and they are still great.