This was Television on January 30
2003: Columbo has one last thing
The special “Columbo Likes the Nightlife” marked the final appearance of Peter Falk’s beloved rumpled sleuth. Columbo did not have traditional seasons with a typical, fixed number of episodes, but rather aired as a series of movie-length episodes—69 of them altogether, spanning 35 years. After being broadcast steadily on NBC from 1971–78 (after a 1968 pilot movie), the series was revived on ABC in 1989, where it continued in sporadic installments. -A.D.
Today’s Birthdays: Brett Butler, graceful (55); Charles S. Dutton, trash collector (62); Dick Martin, sketch show host (d. 2008); David Opatoshu, character actor (d. 1996); Wilmer Valderrama, exchange student (33); David Wayne, character actor (d. 1995).
This Was Television 
6 Responses to “This was Television on January 30”
Not “David Wayne, Mad Hatter”?
Columbo was one of the best television crime dramas in Universal Television history and continues to build on the rich Peter Falkian legacy that is truly Falkian. Before Holmes & YoYo, before there was The Six Million Dollar Man, before there were House Calls, Magnum, P.I. and Quantum Leap and before there was Andy Barker, P.I., there was Columbo, a police lieutenant who cracked the toughest murder cases ever. Debuting in 1967 on the NBC Television Network, Columbo enjoyed a 35-year broadcast run on NBC and ABC, respectively.
Yeah, I agree. I didn’t mean David Wayne’s birthday should be the headline. Just that “Mad Hatter” would have been a cute tag for him in the list.
Oh, I figured. I just meant that, when it’s a name I don’t recognize, I usually scan the IMDB/Wikipedia listings to get a sense of their resume in order to write their sobriquet, and this time I missed that particular role. Good to know though! Love those Batman ’66 rogues.
Ha, awesome! I must’ve missed that in my scan of his IMDB page.
Where can I purchase Columbo DVD collections direct from Shout! Factory?