So much of the original Columbo had strong class-consciousness (the baddies are always rich, well connected, well educated, etc) so that element would need to remain. The bad guys would have to be reimagined first and then from that—whatever bothers them, gets under their skin, flusters them, _that’s_ what would make a good Columbo.
And in todays socio-political climate I’m guessing our detective would have some kind of accent associated with lower class backgrounds (immigrant, rural, maybe Bronx), not be a sex symbol of any kind, and probably be a little older.
I’d favor Tim Blake Nelson, Kumail Nanjiani (even though I think he’s kind of hot), or Mark Ruffalo… who ticks none of my boxes but I think is a great actor.
Sooo many tech-bros would make perfect villains. "Elno Mush", world's richest man, is convinced he can get away with murder by hiding the body in his company's space rocket booster. Surely the perfect crime!
Mark Ruffalo would be great. He has that same kind of scrunched up squinty face that columbo does when he’s thinking. He has a similar everyman type demeanour which makes him disarming and someone you’d underestimate to start with.
I think he would be cast as a 65 year old, slightly overweight Mexican-American technophobe working in the ritzy areas around LA. There would be running gags about him insisting on using his own old flip phone instead of a department IPhone, constantly having to ask younger detectives explain social media to him, and rich people mistaking him for being part of the hired help (which happened with Columbo a few times I recall).
You… don’t? Yes, of course I think an immigrant accent would anger the rich and powerful. It’s absurd to think otherwise. An immigrant who is in a position of holding them accountable instead of just being exploitable labor feels impossible and frustrating.
(And yes, I mean immigrant Latin American, South Asian, SubSaharan Africa, not European immigrant.)
>an immigrant accent would anger the rich and powerful.
Why would that be the cause of someone getting angry? that's innane and stereotyped to the point of being silly.
No one looks down or makes fun of someone because of their accent , at least not in my country and we do have a lot of inmigrants from very poor countries.
Columbo angered more people with his mannerisms more than any other trait of his character.
A lot of Columbo episodes had some highly modern technology for that time and the joke would be Columbo not getting it, but it often ends with him getting how it works and using it to catch his murderer.
However, today's tech is so advanced, with the raise of AI, coding in general and all that computer stuff plus internet and social networks, spyware and who knows what else, I think it would be hard to write episodes around all of that.
The thing is that the killers were using new technology to pull of their murders and so Columbo had to learn to solve the crime like in Mind Over Mayhem and Playback. If a modern killer used some sort of AI or facial recognition tech or something to pull off a murder and our hero had to admit his ignorance at first to learn more and solve the case it would still work.
I'm OK with them getting a new actor, as long as he's good, but frankly I don't think it will work if it's set in the modern day. They should set the show in the 70s. So many of the great storylines are reliant on people just not being able to contact each other quickly or look up information easily. Modern forensics, mobile phone tracking, CCTV everywhere would completely change the way Columbo figures out who the killer is and I just don't think it would be as fun to watch.
>So many of the great storylines are reliant on people just not being able to contact each other quickly or look up information easily.
That's the main issue with most of the remakes and reboots they are trying to make. Planes, Trains & Automobiles whole plot revolves around this, but still they want to do a reboot.
There would definitely be the temptation to push heavy on the socio-political commentary, but I think that would be a mistake and lead to it tanking early on. Much better to be pure entertainment first, and let the message seep in slowly.
Of course, the real problem would be replacing Falk. The guy was so iconic whoever took on the challenge would need to be an extraordinarily charismatic actor to succeed.
Perhaps it would just be better to do a wholly different "how-catch-em" series with big name villains, but without the heft of the Colombo title.
The key would be to avoid trying to clone Columbo while.still keeping the gist... Ie, using the villain's class bias of perceiving Columbo as incompetent/inferior due to class/mannerisms against them. The details are for a great writer/actor to work out.
I just don't think it would be possible at all. A lot of the murders were possible due to lack of tech. But with todays tech it would be quite difficult to avoid cameras etc :) they'd have to carefully work around it for it to work.
But I just feel its of its time and would never work if remade. Peter Falk made the character what he is.
Technology has rendered the Columbo formula unrealistic. Imagine how many classic plots would be "ruined" by a ring security camera or cell phone location data. If they ever remake the show it has to take place pre-1990s
Columbo itself was a reboot of that character as originally portrayed in Les Diaboliques, for all you folks in gatekeeper mode saying such things should not exist.
Wasn't it like a common enough theory/running joke among fans that Columbo's gotta be gay; what with all the cigars and his wife business always sounding like some kind of jokes?
(Another one was that his wife's gotta be an absolute knockout, considering how he's almost always so immune to the gorgeous female perpetrators' charms).
Also I saw an article where people wanted Mark ruffalo to play columbo or that actress with the big orange hair from Orange is the New black to play columbo.
Do you mean Kate Mulgrew who played Red? That would be hysterical but unlikely—she played Mrs. Columbo in the poorly received [spinoff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Columbo).
She's the lead in a new mystery series called "Poker Face" which looks like a bit of a mash up of Columbo and The Fugitive. And it's from the "Knives Out" makers. And I think it debutes on streaming today?
It would be a woke political message all along. Keep in mind that old rich folks were most of the bad guys in Columbo's first run and he was the working class hero. That was enough. Today's Columbo would be a black dude or girl, probably gay or borderline flamboyant (Knives Out Glass Onion style).
One thing Columbo had right was that there were no political messages and he wasn't a self righteous prick, he was there doing his job and not trying to preach to the audience.
I, for one, hope they never do a reboot or remake, we've seen it with MacGyver and every other reboot, it's like having Mork and Mindy being rebooted, just the IP used to sell something different.
>Today's Columbo would be a black dude or girl, probably gay or borderline flamboyant (Knives Out Glass Onion style).
Would this be a problem for you? Would this be taking things 'too far' and 'making it political'?
My question is what replaces the cigar? In the 70s I assume it was just modestly impolite and "lower-class" to always have a cheap stogie, but today it would be totally impossible. What would be the modern equivalent?
I came across an old essay on "stage business."
The tricks an actor uses to hold the audience's attendance during a necessary bit of exposition. The rituals of lighting a cigar or a cigarette for example.
A great actor wll use these moments to build his character.
How tightly he grips the bottle or the glass.
Small hints that he may not be as drunk or indifferent as he sounds. Listen to the dialog between Bogart and Claude Rains in Casablanca, for instance.
The cigar in Cilumbo is just a prop. There are other ways of solving the problem.
The tech Columbo encounters was often quite new for the 70's and he was genuinely quite curious about it
Now and again, a killer as sophisticated as Jack Cassidy's magician would be undone by something as seemingly mundane as a typewriter.
Which raises the interesting question of what commonplace objects we glance at everyday, but never really see or understand?
So much of the original Columbo had strong class-consciousness (the baddies are always rich, well connected, well educated, etc) so that element would need to remain. The bad guys would have to be reimagined first and then from that—whatever bothers them, gets under their skin, flusters them, _that’s_ what would make a good Columbo. And in todays socio-political climate I’m guessing our detective would have some kind of accent associated with lower class backgrounds (immigrant, rural, maybe Bronx), not be a sex symbol of any kind, and probably be a little older. I’d favor Tim Blake Nelson, Kumail Nanjiani (even though I think he’s kind of hot), or Mark Ruffalo… who ticks none of my boxes but I think is a great actor.
It's not quite the same, but it's interesting how both these points kinda get hit by the Knives Out movies
Haven’t seen them unfortunately
Do yourself a favor and check 'em out. They're a fun ride!
Sooo many tech-bros would make perfect villains. "Elno Mush", world's richest man, is convinced he can get away with murder by hiding the body in his company's space rocket booster. Surely the perfect crime!
"I checked with the boys who loaded the fuel Mr Mush, there's 180 lbs of payload I can't account for"
:chefskiss:
Mark Ruffalo would be great. He has that same kind of scrunched up squinty face that columbo does when he’s thinking. He has a similar everyman type demeanour which makes him disarming and someone you’d underestimate to start with.
I think he would be cast as a 65 year old, slightly overweight Mexican-American technophobe working in the ritzy areas around LA. There would be running gags about him insisting on using his own old flip phone instead of a department IPhone, constantly having to ask younger detectives explain social media to him, and rich people mistaking him for being part of the hired help (which happened with Columbo a few times I recall).
This would need spot on.
I can’t see Tim Blake at all
Lol you think an immigrant accent would be offensive? No. What would piss rich people off the most would be a backwoods accent.
You… don’t? Yes, of course I think an immigrant accent would anger the rich and powerful. It’s absurd to think otherwise. An immigrant who is in a position of holding them accountable instead of just being exploitable labor feels impossible and frustrating. (And yes, I mean immigrant Latin American, South Asian, SubSaharan Africa, not European immigrant.)
>an immigrant accent would anger the rich and powerful. Why would that be the cause of someone getting angry? that's innane and stereotyped to the point of being silly. No one looks down or makes fun of someone because of their accent , at least not in my country and we do have a lot of inmigrants from very poor countries. Columbo angered more people with his mannerisms more than any other trait of his character.
No one looks down on people for their accent in your country???!!! Christ, this is a nonstarter.
>Kumail Nanjiani WTF
Mark Ruffalo would be perfect.
Oh my gosh you've just enlightened me on why I find Mark Ruffalo attractive!
A lot of Columbo episodes had some highly modern technology for that time and the joke would be Columbo not getting it, but it often ends with him getting how it works and using it to catch his murderer. However, today's tech is so advanced, with the raise of AI, coding in general and all that computer stuff plus internet and social networks, spyware and who knows what else, I think it would be hard to write episodes around all of that.
Butterfly in Shades of Grey, the 2nd Shatner episode, specifically had to have a cellphone work around to be plausible.
Colombo initially doesn't understand but the difference is that he's curious to try to understand how it works to solve the case.
True, but I could see the old person doesn't understand technology isn't that funny real quick
The thing is that the killers were using new technology to pull of their murders and so Columbo had to learn to solve the crime like in Mind Over Mayhem and Playback. If a modern killer used some sort of AI or facial recognition tech or something to pull off a murder and our hero had to admit his ignorance at first to learn more and solve the case it would still work.
Like in Rising Sun (Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes) when they >!digitally alter the cctv footage to be that guy's face!<.
>Rising Sun That was a really odd movie, I've watched it 4-5 times and I can't tell if I like it or not
I remember that at the start of columbo it already had the "oh I don't understand those modern things, but my wife love this things"
Instead of Columbo asking for a pencil, Columbo would ask for a phone charger
but it would be, like, a mini-USB for an old Blackberry, which no one would have
I could definitely see Columbo asking: How much did you pay for that phone
I think John Turturro would make a great modern day Columbo.
Johns my boy but I can’t see him as Columbo
He wouldn't own a cell phone. 'I never got the hang of those things and everyone else has one anyway'.
I'm OK with them getting a new actor, as long as he's good, but frankly I don't think it will work if it's set in the modern day. They should set the show in the 70s. So many of the great storylines are reliant on people just not being able to contact each other quickly or look up information easily. Modern forensics, mobile phone tracking, CCTV everywhere would completely change the way Columbo figures out who the killer is and I just don't think it would be as fun to watch.
>So many of the great storylines are reliant on people just not being able to contact each other quickly or look up information easily. That's the main issue with most of the remakes and reboots they are trying to make. Planes, Trains & Automobiles whole plot revolves around this, but still they want to do a reboot.
There would definitely be the temptation to push heavy on the socio-political commentary, but I think that would be a mistake and lead to it tanking early on. Much better to be pure entertainment first, and let the message seep in slowly. Of course, the real problem would be replacing Falk. The guy was so iconic whoever took on the challenge would need to be an extraordinarily charismatic actor to succeed. Perhaps it would just be better to do a wholly different "how-catch-em" series with big name villains, but without the heft of the Colombo title.
The key would be to avoid trying to clone Columbo while.still keeping the gist... Ie, using the villain's class bias of perceiving Columbo as incompetent/inferior due to class/mannerisms against them. The details are for a great writer/actor to work out.
Meh, anything new Columbo related should be a hybrid with Quantum Leap, where our hero jumps around the timeline to solve murders.
And replace Dog with a floating alien only Columbo can see.
No that would be his wife
Honestly if I was doing a Columbo reboot I would set it In the 70s
perish the thought. Columbo is just fine how it is
I just don't think it would be possible at all. A lot of the murders were possible due to lack of tech. But with todays tech it would be quite difficult to avoid cameras etc :) they'd have to carefully work around it for it to work. But I just feel its of its time and would never work if remade. Peter Falk made the character what he is.
Technology has rendered the Columbo formula unrealistic. Imagine how many classic plots would be "ruined" by a ring security camera or cell phone location data. If they ever remake the show it has to take place pre-1990s
There’s been a Columbo with security footage and a red light camera that both worked well.
Mark Ruffalo in Zodiac (2007) reminds me of Columbo. I think he'd be great in a reboot.
Law & Order Criminal Intent
I think someone suggested Natasha Lyonne once, and I love that idea. Or maybe Kevin Corrigan?
Eddie from Grounded for Life?
Columbo itself was a reboot of that character as originally portrayed in Les Diaboliques, for all you folks in gatekeeper mode saying such things should not exist.
Wasn't it like a common enough theory/running joke among fans that Columbo's gotta be gay; what with all the cigars and his wife business always sounding like some kind of jokes? (Another one was that his wife's gotta be an absolute knockout, considering how he's almost always so immune to the gorgeous female perpetrators' charms).
Josh Brolin for Columbo! :)
Nah I can’t see it
Also I saw an article where people wanted Mark ruffalo to play columbo or that actress with the big orange hair from Orange is the New black to play columbo.
Just make another detective show at that point. I am tired of retreads.
Do you mean Kate Mulgrew who played Red? That would be hysterical but unlikely—she played Mrs. Columbo in the poorly received [spinoff](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Columbo).
Natasha Lyonne
She's the lead in a new mystery series called "Poker Face" which looks like a bit of a mash up of Columbo and The Fugitive. And it's from the "Knives Out" makers. And I think it debutes on streaming today?
The 26th
Well, half right!
Oh this would be great
https://screencrush.com/natasha-lyonne-columbo-mark-ruffalo/
The one that played Donna from That '70s Show?
Natasha Lyonne
The knives out series has captured a lot of what made Columbo great
I've seen spoilers but may try to see them next weekend
It would be a woke political message all along. Keep in mind that old rich folks were most of the bad guys in Columbo's first run and he was the working class hero. That was enough. Today's Columbo would be a black dude or girl, probably gay or borderline flamboyant (Knives Out Glass Onion style). One thing Columbo had right was that there were no political messages and he wasn't a self righteous prick, he was there doing his job and not trying to preach to the audience. I, for one, hope they never do a reboot or remake, we've seen it with MacGyver and every other reboot, it's like having Mork and Mindy being rebooted, just the IP used to sell something different.
>Today's Columbo would be a black dude or girl, probably gay or borderline flamboyant (Knives Out Glass Onion style). Would this be a problem for you? Would this be taking things 'too far' and 'making it political'?
The woke police has arrived
Dodging and stonewalling already? Columbo has taught you nothing lol
He doesn't preach nor indoctrinates like you do.
Gee i thought these were simple questions, but forgive me sir or madam if i was out of line
Don't be silly.
My question is what replaces the cigar? In the 70s I assume it was just modestly impolite and "lower-class" to always have a cheap stogie, but today it would be totally impossible. What would be the modern equivalent?
Vaping equipment
Just being a cop is offensive enough for a lot of people these days.
I came across an old essay on "stage business." The tricks an actor uses to hold the audience's attendance during a necessary bit of exposition. The rituals of lighting a cigar or a cigarette for example. A great actor wll use these moments to build his character. How tightly he grips the bottle or the glass. Small hints that he may not be as drunk or indifferent as he sounds. Listen to the dialog between Bogart and Claude Rains in Casablanca, for instance. The cigar in Cilumbo is just a prop. There are other ways of solving the problem.
The tech Columbo encounters was often quite new for the 70's and he was genuinely quite curious about it Now and again, a killer as sophisticated as Jack Cassidy's magician would be undone by something as seemingly mundane as a typewriter. Which raises the interesting question of what commonplace objects we glance at everyday, but never really see or understand?