Columbo Day, Chesterton and Dostoevsky.

Is it wrong to celebrate Columbus Day by celebrating Columbo– the greatest TV detective ever? I know I’m a grumpy old guy, but who can dislike the rumpled detective who always had “just one more thing” to ask?

Did you know that the character was inspired by Porfiry Petrovich–the sly and witty detective in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment? Columbo’s disarming humility was inspired by Chesterton’s Father Brown character.

Peter Falk played the lazy eyed gumshoe for episodes all through the 70s and they’re eminently re-watchable especially if you want to feel nostalgic for 70s furniture, fashion and dated guest stars. BTW Falk lost an eye through disease when he was three and wore a glass eye–thus his sometimes odd appearance. He was of Hungarian Jewish descent and he is honored with a statue portraying Columbo and his basset hound in Budapest.