The deceptively unassuming figure of Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk), with his rumpled raincoat, cheap cigars, and seeming absentmindedness, might not call to mind the sprawling existentialist novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky. But Columbo’s ancestry can be traced all the way back to Porfiry Petrovich, the pesky, psychologically attuned investigator in Crime and Punishment.
Like that literary classic, the show that shares Columbo’s name functions as an inverted detective story, not so much a whodunit as a howcatchem. In each episode, we spend time with the murderer, soak up their milieu, and witness the commission of the crime. Only then does Columbo make his entrance onto the scene. From there, it’s an escalating battle of nerves between the dogged detective and the initially arrogant murderer.
While Rodion Raskolnikov, the tortured protagonist of Crime and Punishment, is an impoverished student who kills out of economic necessity...
Like that literary classic, the show that shares Columbo’s name functions as an inverted detective story, not so much a whodunit as a howcatchem. In each episode, we spend time with the murderer, soak up their milieu, and witness the commission of the crime. Only then does Columbo make his entrance onto the scene. From there, it’s an escalating battle of nerves between the dogged detective and the initially arrogant murderer.
While Rodion Raskolnikov, the tortured protagonist of Crime and Punishment, is an impoverished student who kills out of economic necessity...
- 12/7/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Peter S. Fischer, co-creator of “Murder, She Wrote,” died in a care facility in Pacific Grove, Calif. on Oct. 30. He was 88.
Fischer’s grandson Jake McElrath confirmed the news of his death.
Fischer was a writer, producer and novelist, known for penning over 40 scripts for “Murder, She Wrote.” He created the series alongside Richard Levinson and William Link. He also served as executive producer for several seasons. The hit murder-mystery crime show spanned 12 seasons, running from 1984-1992. Angela Lansbury starred as Jessica Fletcher, a widow who is both a mystery writer and amateur detective. She lives in the small coastal Maine town of Cabot Cove, where she frequently solves murders a step ahead of the police.
In a similar vein, Fischer also wrote 12 episodes of “Columbo,” the long-running crime drama about Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk), a homicide detective in Los Angeles. He additionally penned a season of “Ellery Queen,” another...
Fischer’s grandson Jake McElrath confirmed the news of his death.
Fischer was a writer, producer and novelist, known for penning over 40 scripts for “Murder, She Wrote.” He created the series alongside Richard Levinson and William Link. He also served as executive producer for several seasons. The hit murder-mystery crime show spanned 12 seasons, running from 1984-1992. Angela Lansbury starred as Jessica Fletcher, a widow who is both a mystery writer and amateur detective. She lives in the small coastal Maine town of Cabot Cove, where she frequently solves murders a step ahead of the police.
In a similar vein, Fischer also wrote 12 episodes of “Columbo,” the long-running crime drama about Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk), a homicide detective in Los Angeles. He additionally penned a season of “Ellery Queen,” another...
- 11/2/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Peter S. Fischer, co-creator of Murder, She Wrote and writer on dozens of crime series such as Columbo, Ellery Queen and Murder spinoff The Law and Harry McGraw, has died. Grandson Jake McElrath confirmed his passing to The Hollywood Reporter. Fischer was 88.
Peter S. Fischer is best known for co-creating the juggernaut Murder, She Wrote franchise with Richard Levinson and William Link. He wrote 264 episodes of the CBS series, including the pilot, which ran from 1984-1996. The lighthearted mystery drama landed in the Top 10 for eight of those seasons and the Top 15 for the first 11.
Fischer also created and wrote 15 episodes of spinoff The Law and Harry McGraw, starring Jerry Orbach. It spotlighted McGraw, a private investigator who appeared in three episodes of Murder, She Wrote. It ran for one season from 1987 to 1988.
The year after the Angela Lansbury-starring show ended, Fischer wrote a TV movie featuring the Jessica Fletcher...
Peter S. Fischer is best known for co-creating the juggernaut Murder, She Wrote franchise with Richard Levinson and William Link. He wrote 264 episodes of the CBS series, including the pilot, which ran from 1984-1996. The lighthearted mystery drama landed in the Top 10 for eight of those seasons and the Top 15 for the first 11.
Fischer also created and wrote 15 episodes of spinoff The Law and Harry McGraw, starring Jerry Orbach. It spotlighted McGraw, a private investigator who appeared in three episodes of Murder, She Wrote. It ran for one season from 1987 to 1988.
The year after the Angela Lansbury-starring show ended, Fischer wrote a TV movie featuring the Jessica Fletcher...
- 11/2/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
Peter S. Fischer, the prolific television writer behind “Murder, She Wrote” and “Columbo,” passed away on Monday, his grandson Jake McElrath told TheWrap. He was 88.
“We are very lucky to have so much of his work still accessible, like pieces of him left behind,” McElrath said in a statement to TheWrap. “He was an amazing presence to have in our lives, our Pa. We are all going to miss him.”
Fischer, who was nominated for three Emmy Awards across the duration of his career, is also known for his work on “Ellery Queen” and “The Eddie Capra Mysteries.” No further details about Fischer’s death are known at this time.
Born in 1935, Fischer’s longstanding career in Hollywood stretches back to writing 1971 TV movie “The Last Child,” before writing several TV episodes on “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law,” “Griff,” “Kojak” and “Baretta.”
The TV writer went...
“We are very lucky to have so much of his work still accessible, like pieces of him left behind,” McElrath said in a statement to TheWrap. “He was an amazing presence to have in our lives, our Pa. We are all going to miss him.”
Fischer, who was nominated for three Emmy Awards across the duration of his career, is also known for his work on “Ellery Queen” and “The Eddie Capra Mysteries.” No further details about Fischer’s death are known at this time.
Born in 1935, Fischer’s longstanding career in Hollywood stretches back to writing 1971 TV movie “The Last Child,” before writing several TV episodes on “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law,” “Griff,” “Kojak” and “Baretta.”
The TV writer went...
- 11/2/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Peter S. Fischer, the late-blooming TV writer and producer who co-created Murder, She Wrote after serving on such other crime-solving series as Columbo, Baretta and Ellery Queen, has died. He was 88.
Fischer died Monday at a care facility in Pacific Grove, California, his grandson Jake McElrath announced.
He became a prolific novelist after he exited Hollywood, writing murder mysteries, of course.
Fischer, who had worked with Columbo co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link on the iconic Peter Falk series as well as on the Jim Hutton-starring Ellery Queen, accompanied the pair to a meeting with CBS executives in 1984, he recalled in a 2011 interview.
“CBS wanted to do a murder mystery and they called Dick, who was our ringleader. He said, ‘Ok, I’ll bring the boys,'” Fischer said. “We went over there and pitched a premise called Blacke’s Magic, about a retired magician who solves mysteries. It became...
Fischer died Monday at a care facility in Pacific Grove, California, his grandson Jake McElrath announced.
He became a prolific novelist after he exited Hollywood, writing murder mysteries, of course.
Fischer, who had worked with Columbo co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link on the iconic Peter Falk series as well as on the Jim Hutton-starring Ellery Queen, accompanied the pair to a meeting with CBS executives in 1984, he recalled in a 2011 interview.
“CBS wanted to do a murder mystery and they called Dick, who was our ringleader. He said, ‘Ok, I’ll bring the boys,'” Fischer said. “We went over there and pitched a premise called Blacke’s Magic, about a retired magician who solves mysteries. It became...
- 11/2/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NBCUniversal has reached a deal to resolve a long-running case over back profits it allegedly owes to the creators of Columbo.
The heirs of William Link and Richard Levinson have settled their lawsuit against the studio, according to a court notice filed Monday, averting a trial that was scheduled to start next month. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
University City Studios was sued by Foxcroft Productions and Fairmont Productions in 2017 in a lawsuit accusing it of shortchanging the Columbo creators on profits. Although Columbo has generated $600 million in gross revenue, the plaintiffs say the studio has only paid the loan-out companies $5 million because it deducted distribution fees.
The case has bounced around among a jury, multiple judges and a state appellate court. Jurors in 2019 found that Universal wasn’t entitled to deduct distribution fees in accounting to profit participants. A panel of accounting referees, tasked with analyzing income and expense statements,...
The heirs of William Link and Richard Levinson have settled their lawsuit against the studio, according to a court notice filed Monday, averting a trial that was scheduled to start next month. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
University City Studios was sued by Foxcroft Productions and Fairmont Productions in 2017 in a lawsuit accusing it of shortchanging the Columbo creators on profits. Although Columbo has generated $600 million in gross revenue, the plaintiffs say the studio has only paid the loan-out companies $5 million because it deducted distribution fees.
The case has bounced around among a jury, multiple judges and a state appellate court. Jurors in 2019 found that Universal wasn’t entitled to deduct distribution fees in accounting to profit participants. A panel of accounting referees, tasked with analyzing income and expense statements,...
- 9/26/2023
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Saturday marks 96 years since the great Peter Falk was born (9-16-27), which strikes us as a great reason to revisit a detective drama as timeless as it is entertaining. In the whole of television history, few actors have been as identified with a single character than was Falk with Lieutenant Columbo, the eccentric, rumpled, cigar-chomping, trench coat-clad, implausibly wily Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who always got his man. In the process, Falk and the producers revolutionized what a cop show could be. We’re wishing him a Happy Birthday, even though he left us on June 23, 2011.
It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys.
It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys.
- 9/14/2023
- by Ray Richmond and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Saturday marks 96 years since the great Peter Falk was born (9-16-27), which strikes us as a great reason to revisit a detective drama as timeless as it is entertaining. In the whole of television history, few actors have been as identified with a single character than was Falk with Lieutenant Columbo, the eccentric, rumpled, cigar-chomping, trench coat-clad, implausibly wily Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective who always got his man. In the process, Falk and the producers revolutionized what a cop show could be.
It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys..
SEE30 best TV detectives ranked
From the first official installment of “Columbo” – entitled “Murder by the Book...
It’s been more than a half-century since Falk began portraying the world’s favorite lieutenant as part of the rotating “NBC Mystery Movie” franchise on September 15, 1971. It would grow to become a global phenomenon originally across eight seasons (1971-78), then again sporadically from 1989 to 2003. The series itself would win 13 Emmys..
SEE30 best TV detectives ranked
From the first official installment of “Columbo” – entitled “Murder by the Book...
- 9/13/2023
- by Chris Beachum and Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
“Murder, She Wrote” is getting a movie reboot. Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo, the writing duo behind the Toronto International Film Festival hit “Dumb Money,” say they have written the script for the film, which will be produced through Amy Pascal’s Pascal Pictures for Universal.
“We have written a theatrical feature film version of Murder, She Wrote for Universal, and we’re really excited,” Schuker Blum told Collider over the weekend while promoting “Dumb Money” in Toronto.
The duo say the film is currently on hold and that they haven’t spoken with Pascal Pictures or Universal since the strike began. They joined the project before the strike began.
Originally running on CBS from 1984-1996, “Murder, She Wrote” starred Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a widowed mystery writer who applies her skill writing whodunnits to solving real life homicides. It was a top 10 ratings getter for most of...
“We have written a theatrical feature film version of Murder, She Wrote for Universal, and we’re really excited,” Schuker Blum told Collider over the weekend while promoting “Dumb Money” in Toronto.
The duo say the film is currently on hold and that they haven’t spoken with Pascal Pictures or Universal since the strike began. They joined the project before the strike began.
Originally running on CBS from 1984-1996, “Murder, She Wrote” starred Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, a widowed mystery writer who applies her skill writing whodunnits to solving real life homicides. It was a top 10 ratings getter for most of...
- 9/12/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
A “Murder, She Wrote” movie is in the works at Universal Pictures, with “Dumb Money” writers Lauren Schuker Blum and Rebecca Angelo and producer Amy Pascal attached, Variety has confirmed.
Blum and Angelo joined the project prior to the writers strike, and will not resume their work on the screenplay until the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a deal. The “Murder, She Wrote” film is among the writers’ next projects, Blum and Angelo’s representatives shared with Variety.
The original “Murder, She Wrote” series starred Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher, who solves murders that occur in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine. The crime drama series ran on CBS for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996. Lansbury scored an Emmy nomination for every season, but never won the award.
“Murder, She Wrote” was created by Peter S. Fischer,...
Blum and Angelo joined the project prior to the writers strike, and will not resume their work on the screenplay until the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have reached a deal. The “Murder, She Wrote” film is among the writers’ next projects, Blum and Angelo’s representatives shared with Variety.
The original “Murder, She Wrote” series starred Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher, who solves murders that occur in the fictional town of Cabot Cove, Maine. The crime drama series ran on CBS for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996. Lansbury scored an Emmy nomination for every season, but never won the award.
“Murder, She Wrote” was created by Peter S. Fischer,...
- 9/12/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Let’s put our cards on the table: Almost three years after Peacock launched, the Comcast-owned streamer finally has a legitimate potential breakout show in Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson’s Poker Face.
Debuting with four episodes Friday and then dropping the rest of its 10-episode first season weekly, the one-hour drama could prove the dramatic reset the sports-focused Peacock has needed since day one.
Part of that is clearly the combined star power and skills of the Russian Doll star and the Knives Out director, along with a wonderfully villainous Benjamin Bratt and an old-school awards-show phalanx of guest stars. True to the talent on both sides of the camera, Poker Face’s winning hand has a lot to do with how well-crafted and constructed it is.
However, besides a beat-up Plymouth Barracuda, Rockford Files trailer home homages and all, the wider appeal of Poker Face is that...
Debuting with four episodes Friday and then dropping the rest of its 10-episode first season weekly, the one-hour drama could prove the dramatic reset the sports-focused Peacock has needed since day one.
Part of that is clearly the combined star power and skills of the Russian Doll star and the Knives Out director, along with a wonderfully villainous Benjamin Bratt and an old-school awards-show phalanx of guest stars. True to the talent on both sides of the camera, Poker Face’s winning hand has a lot to do with how well-crafted and constructed it is.
However, besides a beat-up Plymouth Barracuda, Rockford Files trailer home homages and all, the wider appeal of Poker Face is that...
- 1/25/2023
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
What role you remember first when you think of Angela Lansbury speaks to how old you are — with an extraordinary career spanning more than 80 years, Lansbury brought indelible performances to generations of filmgoers, stage fans, and TV watchers.
Perhaps your go-to is Jessica Fletcher, the TV sleuth she played from 1984-1996. Or maybe you get a shiver of delight thinking of her Broadway turns as the madcap Mame Dennis of “Mame” or the duplicitous Mrs. Lovett of “Sweeney Todd.” Some fans embrace her as the loving mother-turned-teapot in the animated “Beauty and the Beast” while others get a cold sweat recalling her ruthless mommy in the original “The Manchurian Candidate.”
There are no wrong answers here; for most of the 20th century and a decent chunk of the 21st, Angela Lansbury did it all — drama, comedy, musical, stage, screen, warm, terrifying — and she did it brilliantly.
Born in London in...
Perhaps your go-to is Jessica Fletcher, the TV sleuth she played from 1984-1996. Or maybe you get a shiver of delight thinking of her Broadway turns as the madcap Mame Dennis of “Mame” or the duplicitous Mrs. Lovett of “Sweeney Todd.” Some fans embrace her as the loving mother-turned-teapot in the animated “Beauty and the Beast” while others get a cold sweat recalling her ruthless mommy in the original “The Manchurian Candidate.”
There are no wrong answers here; for most of the 20th century and a decent chunk of the 21st, Angela Lansbury did it all — drama, comedy, musical, stage, screen, warm, terrifying — and she did it brilliantly.
Born in London in...
- 10/11/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
Angela Lansbury, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote, has died. She was 96.
Lansbury, who received an Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for each and every season of Murder, She Wrote — yet never won — died in her sleep at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. She was five days shy of her birthday.
Lansbury went 0-for-18 in career Emmy noms but did get some love from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who gave her an honorary Oscar in 2013 for her career as “an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema’s most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors.”
The London-born Lansbury, then 19, received a best supporting actress...
Angela Lansbury, the irrepressible three-time Oscar nominee and five-time Tony Award winner who solved 12 seasons’ worth of crimes as the novelist/amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on CBS’ Murder, She Wrote, has died. She was 96.
Lansbury, who received an Emmy nomination for best actress in a drama series for each and every season of Murder, She Wrote — yet never won — died in her sleep at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. She was five days shy of her birthday.
Lansbury went 0-for-18 in career Emmy noms but did get some love from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who gave her an honorary Oscar in 2013 for her career as “an entertainment icon who has created some of cinema’s most memorable characters, inspiring generations of actors.”
The London-born Lansbury, then 19, received a best supporting actress...
- 10/11/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"The Hunter" was not Steve McQueen's finest hour, but it was his final hour-and-a-half on screen, so it's not as forgettable as it might've been. Written by Ted Leighton and Peter Hyams (who was fired from the project prior to principal photography), the lunk-headed action film is based on the real-life exploits of skip tracer Ralph "Papa" Thorson. It's the kind of role McQueen could nail in his sleep, but, despite being ill (though not yet diagnosed) with the cancer that would claim his life in 1980, he's admirably engaged. The movie might stink, but he does the best he can with poorly written material.
TV-movie specialist Buzz Kulik (who made many a grown man cry with 1971's "Brian's Song") is the credited director, but McQueen reportedly called the shots on set. The film is essentially a stunt showcase, and, as such, delivers a few memorable smash-ups. There's a fun car-versus-combine confrontation in a cornfield,...
TV-movie specialist Buzz Kulik (who made many a grown man cry with 1971's "Brian's Song") is the credited director, but McQueen reportedly called the shots on set. The film is essentially a stunt showcase, and, as such, delivers a few memorable smash-ups. There's a fun car-versus-combine confrontation in a cornfield,...
- 9/12/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The “made for television movie” began in the 1960s. In fact, one of the most famous TV movies Don Siegel’s 1964 version of “The Killers” featuring Ronald Reagan in his last film role as a ruthless villain, ended up being released theatrically because it was considered too violent for television.
But the genre came of age in the 1970s.
Some of these movies that aired on the three broadcast networks were sheer shlock and others were pilots for prospective TV series. But it was also an embarrassment of riches. Who could forget the beloved 1971 ABC biopic “Brian’s Song,” starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, which was nominated for 11 Emmys and won five including outstanding single program (drama or comedy). The four-hankie weepie was so popular it was released theatrically.
Also briefly released theatrically was Steven Spielberg’s pulsating 1971 classic “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver which aired on ABC. Considered one...
But the genre came of age in the 1970s.
Some of these movies that aired on the three broadcast networks were sheer shlock and others were pilots for prospective TV series. But it was also an embarrassment of riches. Who could forget the beloved 1971 ABC biopic “Brian’s Song,” starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams, which was nominated for 11 Emmys and won five including outstanding single program (drama or comedy). The four-hankie weepie was so popular it was released theatrically.
Also briefly released theatrically was Steven Spielberg’s pulsating 1971 classic “Duel” starring Dennis Weaver which aired on ABC. Considered one...
- 8/15/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Over the course of this horrendous year, many of us have found comfort in watching iconic TV shows such as Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, but there's sad news to report today as it's been announced that William Link, the co-creator of those very shows, has died of congestive heart failure at the age of 87. Together with his longtime writing and producing partner Richard Levinson,…...
- 12/29/2020
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
William Link, the co-creator of classic TV series including “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote,” has died at the age of 87.
Link’s widow, Margery Nelson, told Deadline that her husband died of congestive heart failure on Sunday.
A prolific TV writer-producer throughout the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Link was best known for his collaborations with writing partner and longtime friend Richard Levinson.
Link and Levinson co-created dozens of shows together, including “Murder She Wrote,” “Columbo,” “Mannix,” “Jericho” and “Ellery Queen.” The duo also co-authored the books “Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television” and “Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-time Television.”
Steven Spielberg, who counts the pilot episode of “Columbo” as one of his first directing credits in Hollywood, remembered Link as a generous and patient mentor.
“Bill’s truly good nature always inspired me to do good work for a man who, along with Dick Levinson,...
Link’s widow, Margery Nelson, told Deadline that her husband died of congestive heart failure on Sunday.
A prolific TV writer-producer throughout the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Link was best known for his collaborations with writing partner and longtime friend Richard Levinson.
Link and Levinson co-created dozens of shows together, including “Murder She Wrote,” “Columbo,” “Mannix,” “Jericho” and “Ellery Queen.” The duo also co-authored the books “Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime-Time Television” and “Off Camera: Conversations with the Makers of Prime-time Television.”
Steven Spielberg, who counts the pilot episode of “Columbo” as one of his first directing credits in Hollywood, remembered Link as a generous and patient mentor.
“Bill’s truly good nature always inspired me to do good work for a man who, along with Dick Levinson,...
- 12/29/2020
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
William Link, a writer and producer known for co-creating “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote,” died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles on Sunday, his niece confirmed to Variety. He was 87.
Over the course of Link’s decades-long television career, he became known for working alongside screenwriter and producer Richard Levinson. The duo collaborated on a number of projects, including both “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote.”
Steven Spielberg, who directed the first episode of “Columbo,” paid tribute to Link on Tuesday.
“Bill’s truly good nature always inspired me to do good work for a man who, along with Dick Levinson, was a huge part of what became my own personal film school on the Universal lot,” Spielberg said in a statement. “Bill was one of my favorite and most patient teachers and, more than anything, I learned so much from him about the true anatomy of a plot. I...
Over the course of Link’s decades-long television career, he became known for working alongside screenwriter and producer Richard Levinson. The duo collaborated on a number of projects, including both “Columbo” and “Murder, She Wrote.”
Steven Spielberg, who directed the first episode of “Columbo,” paid tribute to Link on Tuesday.
“Bill’s truly good nature always inspired me to do good work for a man who, along with Dick Levinson, was a huge part of what became my own personal film school on the Universal lot,” Spielberg said in a statement. “Bill was one of my favorite and most patient teachers and, more than anything, I learned so much from him about the true anatomy of a plot. I...
- 12/29/2020
- by Eli Countryman
- Variety Film + TV
Prolific television writer-producer William Link, co-creator of classic TV series including Columbo and Murder She Wrote among others, died Sunday, December 27 of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, his wife, Margery Nelson, told Deadline. He was 87.
Link was born in Elkins Park, Pa, a suburb of Philadelphia, on December 15, 1933.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Link was best known for his collaboration with the late Richard Levinson. The two – who first met at the age of 14 and began collaborating almost immediately on stories, radio scripts, and dramas – saw television’s potential to capture the current scene and contribute to the national discussion about such subjects as race relations, student unrest, and gun violence.
Co-created by Link and Levinson, Columbo, starring Peter Falk as LAPD homicide detective Columbo aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978. The character and show popularized the inverted detective story format, which begins by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator.
Link was born in Elkins Park, Pa, a suburb of Philadelphia, on December 15, 1933.
In a career spanning more than 60 years, Link was best known for his collaboration with the late Richard Levinson. The two – who first met at the age of 14 and began collaborating almost immediately on stories, radio scripts, and dramas – saw television’s potential to capture the current scene and contribute to the national discussion about such subjects as race relations, student unrest, and gun violence.
Co-created by Link and Levinson, Columbo, starring Peter Falk as LAPD homicide detective Columbo aired on NBC from 1971 to 1978. The character and show popularized the inverted detective story format, which begins by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator.
- 12/29/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
William Link, the co-creator of TV series Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, has died. The two-time Emmy winner died Sunday in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. He was 87.
Link and his writing and producing partner, Richard Levinson, collaborated on Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and several other series and television movies. The pair won two Emmys for writing — for the 1970 TV movie My Sweet Charlie and for Columbo in 1971. They were nominated nine other times, including a best drama series nod in 1985 as executive producers of Murder, She Wrote.
Link was born Dec. 15, 1933, in suburban Philadelphia and ...
Link and his writing and producing partner, Richard Levinson, collaborated on Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and several other series and television movies. The pair won two Emmys for writing — for the 1970 TV movie My Sweet Charlie and for Columbo in 1971. They were nominated nine other times, including a best drama series nod in 1985 as executive producers of Murder, She Wrote.
Link was born Dec. 15, 1933, in suburban Philadelphia and ...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
William Link, the co-creator of TV series Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, has died. The two-time Emmy winner died Sunday in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure. He was 87.
Link and his writing and producing partner, Richard Levinson, collaborated on Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and several other series and television movies. The pair won two Emmys for writing — for the 1970 TV movie My Sweet Charlie and for Columbo in 1971. They were nominated nine other times, including a best drama series nod in 1985 as executive producers of Murder, She Wrote.
Link was born Dec. 15, 1933, in suburban Philadelphia and ...
Link and his writing and producing partner, Richard Levinson, collaborated on Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote and several other series and television movies. The pair won two Emmys for writing — for the 1970 TV movie My Sweet Charlie and for Columbo in 1971. They were nominated nine other times, including a best drama series nod in 1985 as executive producers of Murder, She Wrote.
Link was born Dec. 15, 1933, in suburban Philadelphia and ...
- 12/29/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
On Nov. 8, Norman Lloyd will celebrate his 106th birthday, which is just one more accomplishment for a man whose nearly-100-year career is filled with amazing milestones. Lloyd worked as an actor, director and/or producer in theater, the early days of radio, film and TV. He wasn’t a household name, but he has always been well known and respected within the industry — not only for his work, but for the people he worked with. That list includes Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Elia Kazan, Jean Renoir, Robin Williams, Martin Scorsese, Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Cameron Diaz, Judd Apatow and Amy Schumer.
As his contemporary Karl Malden summed up in 2007, “He is the history of our industry.”
Lloyd was born Norman Perlmutter Nov. 8, 1914, in Jersey City, N.J. He took singing and dancing lessons and was a paid professional by the age of 9. He performed with...
As his contemporary Karl Malden summed up in 2007, “He is the history of our industry.”
Lloyd was born Norman Perlmutter Nov. 8, 1914, in Jersey City, N.J. He took singing and dancing lessons and was a paid professional by the age of 9. He performed with...
- 11/8/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
On Aug. 11, 1943, Variety carried a story beginning “Angela Lansbury, 17-year-old English girl, is the colony’s latest Cinderella.” The story said she had gone from an unknown to movie star in only four days.
Since then, Lansbury has forged a career that defies all logic. She received supporting-actress Oscar nominations twice in her first two years of work. At age 41, she became a musical-comedy star with “Mame.” She became a TV star with “Murder, She Wrote” at age 59, an age when most actresses can’t find work. In the show’s 12-year run, she was one of the TV industry’s most powerful women. Maybe her biggest accomplishment: Though powerful women were sometimes maligned, it was thought you needed to be heartless to survive in showbiz, Lansbury has created a 77-year career and nobody has a bad word to say about her.
Lansbury, who turns 95 Friday, is best known for...
Since then, Lansbury has forged a career that defies all logic. She received supporting-actress Oscar nominations twice in her first two years of work. At age 41, she became a musical-comedy star with “Mame.” She became a TV star with “Murder, She Wrote” at age 59, an age when most actresses can’t find work. In the show’s 12-year run, she was one of the TV industry’s most powerful women. Maybe her biggest accomplishment: Though powerful women were sometimes maligned, it was thought you needed to be heartless to survive in showbiz, Lansbury has created a 77-year career and nobody has a bad word to say about her.
Lansbury, who turns 95 Friday, is best known for...
- 10/16/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
LGBT TV movies, series and specials are part of our cultural landscape. They are frequently awarded with Emmys, Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG Awards. But this acceptance was a long time coming. Here’s a look back at the landmark telefilms that paved the way.
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
Do you know the first TV movie that featured a gay character? No, it wasn’t 1972’s “That Certain Summer.”
It was a drama called “South” that was produced by England’s ITV and aired on that network on Nov. 24, 1959. Set in the Antebellum South, the drama revolved around a handsome Polish army lieutenant living in the South who is torn between his love for a plantation owner’s niece or a hunky blond officer. “South” was incredibly daring for its time, especially since it would be eight years before homosexuality was legalized in England and Wales with the passing of the Sexual Offences...
- 7/16/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Columbo’s circumstantial way of solving a TV crime now has a real-life judicial aspect too, it seems.
Just over a month after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge awarded $70.3 million in profit participation to the creators of the iconic Peter Falk-led detective series, the same judge today threw his own judgment out and ordered a new trial.
“Needless to say, we are pleased the Court agreed with our position on the pivotal contract issue and look forward to concluding what little remains of the case,” attorney Daniel Petrocelli said on behalf of NBCUniversal after its November 5 motion to have a new trial was granted. That pivotal contract issue was the definition of “photoplays,” which the paperwork did allow distributor Universal to deduct. Due to the multi-phase nature of the case, the definition wasn’t given to the jurors until after they had awarded the big bucks — a fatal...
Just over a month after a Los Angeles Superior Court judge awarded $70.3 million in profit participation to the creators of the iconic Peter Falk-led detective series, the same judge today threw his own judgment out and ordered a new trial.
“Needless to say, we are pleased the Court agreed with our position on the pivotal contract issue and look forward to concluding what little remains of the case,” attorney Daniel Petrocelli said on behalf of NBCUniversal after its November 5 motion to have a new trial was granted. That pivotal contract issue was the definition of “photoplays,” which the paperwork did allow distributor Universal to deduct. Due to the multi-phase nature of the case, the definition wasn’t given to the jurors until after they had awarded the big bucks — a fatal...
- 12/3/2019
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Universal won't have to write a $70.6 million damages check to the creators of Columbo as a Los Angeles judge has granted its motion for a new trial.
William Link and the heirs of Richard Levinson, through their corporate entities, in November 2017 sued Universal City Studios alleging they were shorted on profits from the 1970s detective series. A jury in March sided with the creators, finding Universal isn't allowed to a distribution fee from gross profits when it acts as distributor. On Oct. 31, a judgment of $70.6 million was entered against the company.
On Nov. 5,...
William Link and the heirs of Richard Levinson, through their corporate entities, in November 2017 sued Universal City Studios alleging they were shorted on profits from the 1970s detective series. A jury in March sided with the creators, finding Universal isn't allowed to a distribution fee from gross profits when it acts as distributor. On Oct. 31, a judgment of $70.6 million was entered against the company.
On Nov. 5,...
- 12/2/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Universal City Studios must pay nearly $70.7 million in back profits and interest to the creators of Columbo, as an L.A. judge on Thursday entered judgement following a three-phase trial.
William Link and heirs of Richard Levinson in November 2017 sued, through their corporate entities, claiming they weren't paid their share of profits from the '70s detective series until 45 years later, and, even then, they were shorted.
A jury earlier this year unanimously found that Universal is not allowed to a distribution fee from gross profits when it acts as distributor and that plaintiffs hadn't waited ...
William Link and heirs of Richard Levinson in November 2017 sued, through their corporate entities, claiming they weren't paid their share of profits from the '70s detective series until 45 years later, and, even then, they were shorted.
A jury earlier this year unanimously found that Universal is not allowed to a distribution fee from gross profits when it acts as distributor and that plaintiffs hadn't waited ...
- 11/1/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
A panel of accounting referees, tasked with figuring out what Universal City Studios owed to the creators of the 1970s detective series Columbo, have concluded the right amount is $76.95 million.
The lawsuit was brought by William Link and heirs of Richard Levinson, who waited 45 years before getting their first profit participation check despite Columbo reaping hundreds of millions in revenue from broadcast and home video distribution.
The case went to trial in March, and the jury's conclusion was that the plaintiffs hadn't waited too long to bring claims, and furthermore, that Universal wasn't entitled to deduct distribution ...
The lawsuit was brought by William Link and heirs of Richard Levinson, who waited 45 years before getting their first profit participation check despite Columbo reaping hundreds of millions in revenue from broadcast and home video distribution.
The case went to trial in March, and the jury's conclusion was that the plaintiffs hadn't waited too long to bring claims, and furthermore, that Universal wasn't entitled to deduct distribution ...
- 7/26/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Last week, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury got to hear a new Columbo mystery and came to the conclusion that Universal City Studios wasn't allowed to deduct $160 million in distribution fees for the 1970s detective series. The verdict amounts to a big initial win for series co-creator William Link and the heirs of co-creator Richard Levinson, who waited 45 years before getting their first profit participation check despite Columbo taking in more than $600 million in revenue during its life cycle.
Through loan-out companies, Link and Levinson's heirs are suing Universal with contract and fraud claims. The lawsuit is ...
Through loan-out companies, Link and Levinson's heirs are suing Universal with contract and fraud claims. The lawsuit is ...
- 3/11/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Long before he won 10 Emmys for three of the most iconic shows of all time, Steven Bochco, who died Sunday at 74 after a long battle with leukemia, received his first nomination for penning a 1971 episode of “Columbo” — and was “conned” into believing he would win.
Besides Bochco, “Murder by the Book,” the Season 1 premiere, boasted another burgeoning titan, Steven Spielberg, who directed it. The episode was up for Best Drama Writing in a three-nominee field against two other “Columbo” hours: “Suitable for Framing” by Jackson Gillis, and “Death Lends a Hand” by creators Richard Levinson and William Link. It was Levinson who kept reassuring Bochco that he would win, Bochco told the Archive of American Television in 2012.
See In Memoriam 2018: Remember the stars we lost this year
“He kept saying to me, ‘You’re going to win. Yours is the best one. Yours is the best, you’re going to win,...
Besides Bochco, “Murder by the Book,” the Season 1 premiere, boasted another burgeoning titan, Steven Spielberg, who directed it. The episode was up for Best Drama Writing in a three-nominee field against two other “Columbo” hours: “Suitable for Framing” by Jackson Gillis, and “Death Lends a Hand” by creators Richard Levinson and William Link. It was Levinson who kept reassuring Bochco that he would win, Bochco told the Archive of American Television in 2012.
See In Memoriam 2018: Remember the stars we lost this year
“He kept saying to me, ‘You’re going to win. Yours is the best one. Yours is the best, you’re going to win,...
- 4/2/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
On March 31, 1973, NBC aired the political TV movie Savage, directed by an up-and-coming helmer: Steven Spielberg. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.
In Savage, Martin Landau is a television newsman who must decide whether to expose the marital indiscretion of a Supreme Court nominee. The script, by executive producers William Link and Richard Levinson, and writer Mark Rodgers, is a muddle that comes on like a bold, hard-hitting exposé of politics and the media, but ends up pulling more punches than a free-for-all in a hemophilia ward.
Will Geer plays a wealthy Bel-Air party-giver with a ...
In Savage, Martin Landau is a television newsman who must decide whether to expose the marital indiscretion of a Supreme Court nominee. The script, by executive producers William Link and Richard Levinson, and writer Mark Rodgers, is a muddle that comes on like a bold, hard-hitting exposé of politics and the media, but ends up pulling more punches than a free-for-all in a hemophilia ward.
Will Geer plays a wealthy Bel-Air party-giver with a ...
- 3/31/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
On March 31, 1973, NBC aired the political TV movie Savage, directed by an up-and-coming helmer: Steven Spielberg. The Hollywood Reporter's original review is below.
In Savage, Martin Landau is a television newsman who must decide whether to expose the marital indiscretion of a Supreme Court nominee. The script, by executive producers William Link and Richard Levinson, and writer Mark Rodgers, is a muddle that comes on like a bold, hard-hitting exposé of politics and the media, but ends up pulling more punches than a free-for-all in a hemophilia ward.
Will Geer plays a wealthy Bel-Air party-giver with a ...
In Savage, Martin Landau is a television newsman who must decide whether to expose the marital indiscretion of a Supreme Court nominee. The script, by executive producers William Link and Richard Levinson, and writer Mark Rodgers, is a muddle that comes on like a bold, hard-hitting exposé of politics and the media, but ends up pulling more punches than a free-for-all in a hemophilia ward.
Will Geer plays a wealthy Bel-Air party-giver with a ...
- 3/31/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mike Connors, who took a punch as well as anyone while playing the good-guy private detective on the long-running Saturday night action series Mannix for CBS, has died. He was 91.
A former basketball player for legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA, Connors died Thursday in Encino from leukemia, the actor's agent confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mannix, the last series from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s famed TV company Desilu Productions to air, ran for eight seasons from September 1967 until April 1975. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible), the...
A former basketball player for legendary coach John Wooden at UCLA, Connors died Thursday in Encino from leukemia, the actor's agent confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mannix, the last series from Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s famed TV company Desilu Productions to air, ran for eight seasons from September 1967 until April 1975. Created by Richard Levinson and William Link and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller (Mission: Impossible), the...
- 1/27/2017
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just one more thing. Forty-five years ago today, Columbo made its debut on NBC.Created by Richard Levinson and William Link, the famous detective series starred Peter Falk as Columbo, a bumbling and disheveled police detective who also possesses extreme intelligence when it comes to solving crimes. The show premiered on September 15th, 1971 and initially ran for seven seasons on NBC before being rebooted on ABC in 1989.Read More…...
- 9/16/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
A mad extortionist is blowing up rollercoaster rides. Put-upon George Segal must stop him because we all know that the time, the tide and roller coasters wait for no man. Producer Jennings Lang's by-the-numbers suspense thriller is light on suspense and thrills, but the cast is good and the screenplay at least partly intelligent. And hey -- it's got a teenage Helen Hunt! Rollercoaster Blu-ray Shout! Factory 1977 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / 19.99 Starring George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda, Helen Hunt, Harry Guardino, Susan Strasberg, Craig Wasson, Robert Quarry, Quinn Redeker, Dick Wesson, Gary Franklin, Steve Guttenberg. Cinematography David M. Walsh Original Music Lalo Schifrin Written by Richard Levinson, William Link, Tommy Cook Produced by Jennings Lang Directed by James Goldstone
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Jaws inspired plenty of rip-off movies about sharks, bears, killer whales and monster octopi threatening beaches. Since it wasn't safe to go back to the water,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Jaws inspired plenty of rip-off movies about sharks, bears, killer whales and monster octopi threatening beaches. Since it wasn't safe to go back to the water,...
- 6/18/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
There's a 97 percent chance your grandmother watched Murder, She Wrote. Columbo producers Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, and William Link's Miss Marple redux designed the 1984 drama, which premiered 30 years ago this week, to comfort CBS's aging crowds, taking the mystery-of-the-week format and turning a sweet, keen, 58-year-old widow into a hero. It worked wonders. Angela Lansbury's cardigan-wearing supersleuth Jessica Fletcher walloped competitors, remaining in the Nielsen top 20 for 11 of its 12 seasons. Murder, She Wrote defines a bygone era of television, when 22-episode seasons were made to order. There's nothing “great” about the show in the way that M.A.S.H., Seinfeld, and Breaking Bad were great. Even the countless CSIs and NCIS spinoffs tether weekly episodes together with more narrative coherency, character arcs, and dramatic realism than any two successive installments of Murder, She Wrote. It's a grandma show. But it's the best grandma show. And...
- 10/2/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Vulture
It is to be expected that the obituaries and commemorations for Peter Falk, who passed away last Thursday, would center on his four-time Emmy-winning starring role in the long-running series Columbo (the character was first introduced in a 1968 TV movie, it was turned into an NBC series running 1971-1977, then ABC revived the brand in 1989 for 24 TV movies, the last airing in 2003). His role as the perennially rumpled, misleadingly bumbling, “Ahhh, just one more thing…” homicide detective was not only his most famous and memorable character, but one which achieved that rarified altitude of “iconic.” Think Falk; think Columbo.
And as deserving as the tributes are, as laudatory as the valedictories have been, they still don’t do justice to the range and power Falk demonstrated throughout his career as an actor on both large and small screen.
Even the laurels thrown on his work in Columbo focus on the visible elements,...
And as deserving as the tributes are, as laudatory as the valedictories have been, they still don’t do justice to the range and power Falk demonstrated throughout his career as an actor on both large and small screen.
Even the laurels thrown on his work in Columbo focus on the visible elements,...
- 6/27/2011
- by Bill Mesce
- SoundOnSight
Updated through 6/26.
"Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in Columbo, which spanned 30 years in primetime television and established one of the most iconic characters in police work, has died. He was 83." Anthony McCartney for the AP: "Falk made his film debut in 1958 with Wind Across the Everglades and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in Murder, Inc. Among his other movies: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin and the Seven Hoods, The Great Race, Luv, Castle Keep, The Cheap Detective, The Brinks Job, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride. Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire, in which he played himself."
Last November,...
"Peter Falk, the stage and movie actor who became identified as the squinty, rumpled detective in Columbo, which spanned 30 years in primetime television and established one of the most iconic characters in police work, has died. He was 83." Anthony McCartney for the AP: "Falk made his film debut in 1958 with Wind Across the Everglades and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in Murder, Inc. Among his other movies: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Robin and the Seven Hoods, The Great Race, Luv, Castle Keep, The Cheap Detective, The Brinks Job, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride. Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence, directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire, in which he played himself."
Last November,...
- 6/26/2011
- MUBI
In The Kingdom Of The Blind …
Back in the seventies, my grandad used to love watching Columbo. He loved the way he missed nothing and always managed to get the suspect to tie themselves in knots. “He’s a clever one, that Columbo”, he told me. Of course, my grandad had never heard of Peter Falk. Columbo was real to him and, in a way, he was right to think so.
Typecasting is a common fear among TV actors – although, of course, it’s something they all secretly pray for – but there are few who have deserved it and embraced it as much as Falk. William Link and Richard Levinson may have created Columbo, but Falk owned him.
It was not inevitably so. Falk wasn’t even the first person to play him. The character first appeared in the person of one Bert Freed as part of a 1960 TV show called The Chevy Mystery Show,...
Back in the seventies, my grandad used to love watching Columbo. He loved the way he missed nothing and always managed to get the suspect to tie themselves in knots. “He’s a clever one, that Columbo”, he told me. Of course, my grandad had never heard of Peter Falk. Columbo was real to him and, in a way, he was right to think so.
Typecasting is a common fear among TV actors – although, of course, it’s something they all secretly pray for – but there are few who have deserved it and embraced it as much as Falk. William Link and Richard Levinson may have created Columbo, but Falk owned him.
It was not inevitably so. Falk wasn’t even the first person to play him. The character first appeared in the person of one Bert Freed as part of a 1960 TV show called The Chevy Mystery Show,...
- 6/25/2011
- by John Ashbrook
- Obsessed with Film
If there was one thing you could count on about Lt. Columbo, it was that he would never leave a room without immediately entering it again, to clear up "Just one more thing..." Which remembrance adds either sadness and poignancy or a typical note of Peter Falk-style humour to the news that he has departed the department for the last time. At the time of writing, no direct cause of death has been attributed to the demise of the Columbo actor in Los Angeles at the age of 83, but Falk had been battling Alzheimer's Disease for some years.
You can read in a lot of places a rote history of his career, the famous "For that money, I could get an actor with two eyes!" story, and accounts of the sad familial wrangling that put a small shadow on a shining career at the end. But I don't really want to rewrite that stuff,...
You can read in a lot of places a rote history of his career, the famous "For that money, I could get an actor with two eyes!" story, and accounts of the sad familial wrangling that put a small shadow on a shining career at the end. But I don't really want to rewrite that stuff,...
- 6/24/2011
- Shadowlocked
Fare such as Smallville's 'Labyrinth' episode and pretty much anything in either the UK or Us version of Life On Mars - even 'Life Is A Rock', the outrageous 'space finale' of ABC's 2008 remake of the original UK BBC series - is not admissable here. We knew that Smallville would continue after Labyrinth's attempts to persuade Clark that his Kryptonian heritage was invented, and since we knew ABC's Life On Mars was heading for the trash anyway, the final episode had no parameters left to respect. Also excluded are episodes of anthologies such as The Twilight Zone, which set out on a weekly basis to mess with our minds. And sorry, Lost definitely also falls into that category.
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
- 11/7/2010
- Shadowlocked
Fare such as Smallville's 'Labyrinth' episode and pretty much anything in either the UK or Us version of Life On Mars - even 'Life Is A Rock', the outrageous 'space finale' of ABC's 2008 remake of the original UK BBC series - is not admissable here. We knew that Smallville would continue after Labyrinth's attempts to persuade Clark that his Kryptonian heritage was invented, and since we knew ABC's Life On Mars was heading for the trash anyway, the final episode had no parameters left to respect. Also excluded are episodes of anthologies such as The Twilight Zone, which set out on a weekly basis to mess with our minds. And sorry, Lost definitely also falls into that category.
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
- 11/7/2010
- Shadowlocked
Fare such as Smallville's 'Labyrinth' episode and pretty much anything in either the UK or Us version of Life On Mars - even 'Life Is A Rock', the outrageous 'space finale' of ABC's 2008 remake of the original UK BBC series - is not admissable here. We knew that Smallville would continue after Labyrinth's attempts to persuade Clark that his Kryptonian heritage was invented, and since we knew ABC's Life On Mars was heading for the trash anyway, the final episode had no parameters left to respect. Also excluded are episodes of anthologies such as The Twilight Zone, which set out on a weekly basis to mess with our minds. And sorry, Lost definitely also falls into that category.
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
Here, instead, are the season episodes which 'got us' fair and square without committing canonical suicide...
This is chock-full of spoilers, so be warned...
10: The Prisoner - 'The Chimes Of Big...
- 11/7/2010
- Shadowlocked
NBC’s Ellery Queen Mysteries only lasted one season, but it remains a favorite among fans of TV detective shows in general, and fans of writer-producers Richard Levinson and William Link in particular. Following their success with Mannix and Columbo, Levinson and Link had the clout to pursue a series based on Ellery Queen, whose stories they had bonded over in junior high. “Ellery Queen” was the pseudonym of another mystery-loving pair, Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee, two cousins who stuck the name on novels, short stories, magazine anthologies, movies, radio dramas, and the protagonist of all the above. Their ...
- 10/20/2010
- avclub.com
On The Cinephilic Pleasures Of...Murder, She Wrote: Those among you who read my blog cloesly, and with any regularity, have by now discovered that My Lovely Wife and I are completely, well, gaga over Angela Lansbury. I think she's totes hot in Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and especially The Harvey Girls. And My Lovely Wife loves...Murder, She Wrote. That's right, the long-running (1984 to 1996!) TV series created by Richard Levinson and William Link, who were also the fathers of television crime fighters Columbo and Mannix, TV crime drama's fastest parallel-parker. And I'll tell you what: I love Murder, She Wrote, too, and if you have a problem with that you can say it to my face and I won't much care.
Last week we had tickets to go see Lansbury, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, in a Broadway production directed by Trevor Nunn.
Last week we had tickets to go see Lansbury, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, in a Broadway production directed by Trevor Nunn.
- 3/19/2010
- MUBI
Jerry Bruckheimer is expanding his presence at ABC with a new crime procedural.
On the heels of the premiere of Bruckheimer-produced ABC freshman drama "The Forgotten," the network has handed a pilot commitment to "Hopscotch," a high-concept police procedural from writer Chris Levinson.
Details about the project, from Bruckheimer TV and Warner Bros. TV, are sketchy, but it is said to tell the stories of homicide investigations over several nonconsecutive days, with each act of an episode chronicling a different day.
Levinson is executive producing "Hopscotch" with Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman. KristieAnne Reed is a co-exec producer.
Crime-series writing is in Levinson's blood: Her father, writer-producer Richard Levinson, and his partner, William Link, helped establish the mystery genre on TV by creating such classics as "Columbo" and "Murder, She Wrote."
Last season, the Wme-repped Chris Levinson penned another crime-drama project, "Lost & Found," which was picked up to pilot by NBC.
On the heels of the premiere of Bruckheimer-produced ABC freshman drama "The Forgotten," the network has handed a pilot commitment to "Hopscotch," a high-concept police procedural from writer Chris Levinson.
Details about the project, from Bruckheimer TV and Warner Bros. TV, are sketchy, but it is said to tell the stories of homicide investigations over several nonconsecutive days, with each act of an episode chronicling a different day.
Levinson is executive producing "Hopscotch" with Bruckheimer and Jonathan Littman. KristieAnne Reed is a co-exec producer.
Crime-series writing is in Levinson's blood: Her father, writer-producer Richard Levinson, and his partner, William Link, helped establish the mystery genre on TV by creating such classics as "Columbo" and "Murder, She Wrote."
Last season, the Wme-repped Chris Levinson penned another crime-drama project, "Lost & Found," which was picked up to pilot by NBC.
- 9/24/2009
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Starlog contributor and TV writer-producer Lee Goldberg’s latest Monk novel is now in mass market paperback: Mr. Monk Is Miserable (Obsidian, $7.99). This volume takes the compulsively clean hero to France and the foul sewers of Paris—and the title is a reference, actually, to Les Miserables. You can also find his previous book, Mr. Monk Goes To Germany (Obsidian, pb, $7.99), on shelves. The latest one, Mr. Monk And The Dirty Cop, debuts in hardcover this very week (Obsidian, $22.95). Back in San Francisco, the defective detective faces obsolescence as budget cuts force his layoff from cop consultancy. Goldberg is contracted to write at least two more Monk novels. The TV show itself returns on USA Network for its final season next month. See the website, www.leegoldberg.com
By the way, Lee’s younger brother Tod Goldberg is an acclaimed writer of more mainstream stuff. He didn’t contribute to...
By the way, Lee’s younger brother Tod Goldberg is an acclaimed writer of more mainstream stuff. He didn’t contribute to...
- 7/8/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (DAVID McDONNELL)
- Starlog
Columbo is one of television’s most beloved characters thank to the sophisticated writing of Richard Levinson and William Link in addition to the performance from Peter Falk. The rumpled detective appeared for seven seasons on the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie and then returned for a series of telefilms in the late 1980s.
All seven seasons were collected between 2004 and 2006 with the 1989 set of telefilms released in 2007.
Universal is finally releasing the 1990 set of telefilms on February 3 according to TV Shows on DVD. The set of six episodes will come on three discs and retail for $26.98. The titles for the record are:
• "Columbo Cries Wolf"
• "Agenda for Murder"
• "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"
• "Uneasy Lies the Crown"
• "Murder in Malibu"
• "Columbo Goes to College"
Guest performers include Deidre Hall (Days of our Lives), Ian Buchanan (The Bold and the Beautiful), Gigi Rice (The John Larroquette Show), Louis Zorich (Mad About You...
All seven seasons were collected between 2004 and 2006 with the 1989 set of telefilms released in 2007.
Universal is finally releasing the 1990 set of telefilms on February 3 according to TV Shows on DVD. The set of six episodes will come on three discs and retail for $26.98. The titles for the record are:
• "Columbo Cries Wolf"
• "Agenda for Murder"
• "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo"
• "Uneasy Lies the Crown"
• "Murder in Malibu"
• "Columbo Goes to College"
Guest performers include Deidre Hall (Days of our Lives), Ian Buchanan (The Bold and the Beautiful), Gigi Rice (The John Larroquette Show), Louis Zorich (Mad About You...
- 11/2/2008
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
It is a project that has lived up to its name: "Lost and Found."
A year and a half ago, Chris Levinson penned the one-hour script for NBC. The network's old regime passed on it, and the project was lost in the shuffle until it recently was resurrected and ordered as a cast-contingent pilot.
"Lost and Found," from Wolf Films and Universal Media Studios, centers on Tessa, a quirky, offbeat female Lapd detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment to the basement to work on John Doe and Jane Doe cases.
"There are exposed pipes, it's grimy and dingy and can't be further from the glossy 'CSI' shows," Levinson said.
She originally was approached with the idea for a crime drama about cases involving unidentified victims by Wolf Films' Nena Rodrigue.
Levinson, at the time a co-exec producer on Wolf's "Law & Order," said she was not interested in developing a procedural for a marketplace saturated by the genre.
But then she found a way to crack the idea by adding a twisted sense of humor and making the show an homage to the 1980s crime series that influenced her as a kid and to her dad, TV writer-producer Richard Levinson.
Endeavor-repped Chris Levinson is exec producing "Lost and Found" with Wolf, Rodrigue and Peter Jankowski.
A year and a half ago, Chris Levinson penned the one-hour script for NBC. The network's old regime passed on it, and the project was lost in the shuffle until it recently was resurrected and ordered as a cast-contingent pilot.
"Lost and Found," from Wolf Films and Universal Media Studios, centers on Tessa, a quirky, offbeat female Lapd detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment to the basement to work on John Doe and Jane Doe cases.
"There are exposed pipes, it's grimy and dingy and can't be further from the glossy 'CSI' shows," Levinson said.
She originally was approached with the idea for a crime drama about cases involving unidentified victims by Wolf Films' Nena Rodrigue.
Levinson, at the time a co-exec producer on Wolf's "Law & Order," said she was not interested in developing a procedural for a marketplace saturated by the genre.
But then she found a way to crack the idea by adding a twisted sense of humor and making the show an homage to the 1980s crime series that influenced her as a kid and to her dad, TV writer-producer Richard Levinson.
Endeavor-repped Chris Levinson is exec producing "Lost and Found" with Wolf, Rodrigue and Peter Jankowski.
- 8/1/2008
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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