Columbo - The Complete Fourth Season

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Columbo: The Complete Fourth Season')

directed by Bernard L. Kowalski (2), Alf Kjellin, Harvey Hart (2), and Ben Gazzara
USA 1974 - 75

The Kino Blu-ray set (Columbo - Seasons 1 - 7) is compared / reviewed HERE

In the detective series that inspired them all, acclaimed actor Peter Falk returns in his four-time Emmy-winning role as the wry and ruffled police lieutenant in Columbo Season Four.

Season 4 of Columbo proves again the strength of the writing and the wonderful character acting of Peter Falk. The substantial cast support including far too many to name (I have attempted to include screen shots of most of them below, ex. Gena Rowlands, Robert Conrad, Dick van Dyke, Oskar Werner, Patrick McGoohan, George Hamilton, Robert Vaughn etc.)

Falk's enduring portrayal of slovenly Detective Lieutenant Columbo, would rise to become one of the most beloved and appealing characters in network television history. With the pattern of success aptly initiated by the first 3 seasons, the series simply continued to fine-tune and produce some of the best television of the 70's. This remains intelligent and well-acted - and in comparison to today's sensational broadcast TV, filled with realty and further mind-rotting trash, Columbo represents part of the golden-age that I fear we will never see again. out of

Gary W. Tooze

Television Premiere: February 20th, 1968 - USA and Canada

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Universal (3 single sided discs) - Region 1- NTSC

DVD Box Cover

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DVDBeaver strongly recommends all the Universal Columbo Boxsets:

Season 1	Season 2	Season 3	Season 4	Season 5	Season 6-7	Mystery Movie Collection	Movie Collection 1989

Distribution	Universal - Region 1- NTSC
Runtime	Each episode is around 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 13 minutes each = about 9 hours of "Columbo" - the Bonus of Mrs. Columbo was about 46 minutes long.
Video	1:33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.82 mb/s (sample) NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)
Subtitles	English (close captioned), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: UMVD Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • 'Mrs. Columbo' episode • 6 Episode Indices • 6 Episode Summary DVD Release Date: March 14th, 2006 3 transparent slim Keepcases inside VHS sized case Chapters: 4 in each episode X 7 = 28 in total

Comments:

The Kino Blu-ray set (Columbo - Seasons 1 - 7) is compared / reviewed HERE

Unfortunately this is disappointing in that it appears that Season 4 had only 6 episodes (as opposed to 8). Like the previous 3 Boxsets (Season 1,2 and 3) this is devoid of extras (interviews etc.) but season 4, like season 3, also includes a kind of 'bonus' with the short-lived 'Mrs. Columbo' experiment (Mrs. Kate Columbo - Kate Mulgrew - follows in her husbands footsteps... as a reporter.). Like Season 1 + 2, these are on one side of 3 single-sided dual layered DVDs. Only English subtitles are offered as an option.

Image quality may be slightly ahead of the first two releases, but on a par with the 3rd season - quite sharp with one of the episodes ('Troubled Waters') being a little darker than the rest. Overall it is some of the best TV on DVD transfer quality that I have seen. All episodes are very clean and progressively transferred, but the bonus (Mrs. Columbo) shows some damage and weakness. The DVD contains strong episodes - just not enough of them. I enjoy these for repeat viewing every year or so - they never seem to lose appeal in my eyes. I am a big fan but think the price should have been a bit more reasonable considering only 6 Columbo episodes are included in the package.out of