Am i to believe that Lt. Columbo's infamously "anonymous" wife "Mrs. Columbo" (albeit,in her own series) was infact KATE MULGREW from voyager!!?
YOU CAN'T GET ME ON THE GRADE!!
Yes thats right she use to play Captain Kathyrn Janeway
shareNope! Peter Falk and the Columbo creaters opposed the creation of this obvious ripoff series. The idea that this was Columbo's wife didn't sit well with audiences, either, so the show got dismal ratings. So, they changed the name to Kate Columbo, then to Kate Loves a Mystery, when they even changed her last name to Callahan. I've heard there was a cut scene from a later episode of Columbo where he says something about there being imposters out there pretending to be the real Mrs. Columbo. The general opinion is that the name was only a coincidence and she was not the wife of the legendary detective.
The general opinion is that the name was only a coincidence and she was not the wife of the legendary detective.I just got the 3rd season DVD collection of Columbo, and there is a "Mrs. Columbo" episode included as a bonus. In the episode, Mulgrew tells Donald Pleasance's character that her husband is, "..an L.A. police lieutenant, homicide, in Central." share
I have some Mrs. Columbo episodes on tape. In the early episodes, she drives the infamous Columbo car, and cares for his basset hound. She is also made up to look older than her years (Mulgrew was in her twenties at the time). Later in the series, Kate's character is given a new identity as a divorced single mother. Maybe the producers were a bit coy about the premise, but once you see the show, there can be no doubt that she was originally written to be THE Mrs. Columbo. Actually, Mulgrew gives an impressive performance, even if the scripts weren't up to Columbo standards.
shareI just watched the first episode of Mrs. Columbo from my Columbo Season 3 set. I thought it was a very good episode. It did not hurt to have the great Donald Pleasance as the murderer. There is no doubt that she is the wife of the famous Columbo. I am sad to read that they changed her name later on in the year. KAte Mulgrew does a great job in the role, better than she did on Voyager. I am very glad I decided to watch this episode. I am trying the next episode from Columbo Season 4 right now. I hope Universal decides to put multiple episodes on Columbo Season 6 because Columbo only had 3 TV movies that year. I would like to eventually see all of the episodes released, especially the pilot tv movie with guest star Robert Culp. I have read that movie got very high ratings. The only thing that might hurt the following episodes are the guest stars. Columbo almost always had a famous person playing the killer. When I checked the episode guide for Mrs. Columbo, I only recognized the first two killers as famous people. It also might hurt Mrs. Columbo a little because they only have an hour to solve the crime. The 1 1/2 to 2hr slot worked well for Columbo.
shareI finally bought the Mrs. Columbo series off of ioffer. I just finished watching the first episode with Robert Culp as the guest star. The two hour pilot blew me away. The killer was creepy and the music added to the intense situations. Kate Mulgrew was incredible in the role of Mrs. Columbo. She was funny, vulnerable and smart and she loved her daughter. I loved Columbo and I would have to say this first episode was as good as the best Columbo's. I know the rest of the series is hour long episodes, so I hope the quality is as good. I am sad to see that they tried to change her character as the ratings fell. I liked how she would care for his dog and drive his car.
shareWTH were they THINKING making the wife of the great Columbo, just as good or BETTER than he is at solving crimes? It totally takes away from how great HE was supposed to be......what next: his kid turns out to be Sherlock Holmes?
Also, how are we supposed to believe that she is capable of this, when Columbo himself never mentioned how great a detective his wife was. He mentioned she had given him a couple ideas in some eps, but nothing like this stupid series tried to pull. Glad the fans didn't let them get away with it, either.
SORRY if the truth got in the way of your fantasy.....
His car is shown in some of the promotional shots for the show.
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Yes, I bought several of the episodes on ebay and found them to be quite enjoyable due to Mulgrew's charm.
shareThe evidence is all circumstantial for her being the wife of Los Angeles Police Lt. Phil (?) Columbo! This is TV nothing is impossible! We never even see a picture of him and thus we just don't know whose wife she really is! The car and dog and police references were all harassments not confirmations! On other points I like the show (full of that great late 70's look) but some people found it far fetched and annoying that working for this small paper she could solve mysteries of murder! She also seemed less sure at first who the killer was! Mulgrew is a good actress no doubt but I don't think she could really solve mystery murders in real life--its just in the scripts for her to do so! It looks forced that she can do this! Columbo starring Peter Falk never looked forced so it worked way better!
shareNow I know sometimes headlines are misleading but this Tv Guide in the link below make sit pretty clear what they were implying.
https://travsd.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/forgotten-shows-of-my-nonage-4 9-mrs-columbo/
I'm completely convinced she was supposed to be his wife but that doesn't mean that everyone liked the idea.
Rest in Peace Geoffrey Holder, you will be greatly missed.
I was actually around when the show aired. The original intent was definitely that she was supposed to be THE Mrs. Columbo. However, given the actress' age and the descriptions from the original show, it just didn't work. Fans of Columbo stayed away in droves because it just didn't fit the character described by Peter Falk.
As a somewhat more recent example, imagine if they created a series around Niles' wife Maris from Frasier. Then have them cast her as a twenty-something former model who runs Public Relations business. It more or less means they've chosen to use a character name as a ratings grab to rope in an initial audience. You better be really good, not just average, not to piss off fans of the original. See Trapper John, M.D. for a successful example.
Anyway, as time went on and they realized the Columbo connection was actually hurting the show, they gradually changed the title and the character's name/back story away from it. Given it was primarily a crime show with little to no home life shown, it was easy to do.
The evidence is all circumstantial for her being the wife of Los Angeles Police Lt. Columbo!
Yet his car is shown in some of the promotional photos.
Add a little time travel, and the Inspector is banging the Captain! ;)
...I wonder what he thought of Tuvok and Neelix?
I had an idea of a murder/mystery on the Voyager holodeck, with Capt. Janeway asking the computer to find somebody to help her solve the case. The computer comes up with Lt. Columbo, who immediately recognizes her as his wife! As the investigation continues, the computer reveals that Janeway is a descendant of the Columbos' daughter Jenny. Regrettably, I never got to submit the idea to Paramount, and there might have been a problem bringing the Columbo character to Voyager during the main series (1995-2001), or afterwards.
shareNow that the late great Peter Faulk has passed we could get Kate in to do a reboot of the show featuring Jenny as the star.
Dreams can come true!