History Awesome / Columbo

--> Mrs. Williams, you have no conscience and that's your weakness. Did it ever occur to you [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules that there are very few people who would take money]] [[EverybodyHasStandards to forget about a murder?]] It didn't, did it? I knew it wouldn't.

--> You want to know the irony of all this? That ''is'' my idea: the only really good one I ever had. I must have told it to Jim about five years ago. ''[Chuckles, then sneers]'' Whoever thought that idiot would write it down?

--> "Hello. This is Lieutenant Columbo: ''homicide.'' It's very important that I talk to you. You can call me at the main precinct. The number there is: you can look that up."

--->'''Columbo''': This. (holds up the invitation) Is this. (points to the screen) This is what you presented at the art show the night of the murder. The problem is it was on the desk immediately after the shooting. ''How did it get to the art gallery?'' By your own testimony you took it there. But in order to get it, you ''practically had to step over the body.''

-->'''Dr. Collier:''' "I presume you have no proof?"
-->'''Columbo:''' (looking him steadily in the eye) "Not yet."
-->'''Collier:''' "Well, you will let me know when you do?"
-->'''Columbo:''' "You'll be the first to know."

** The end of ''Playback'' has Columbo discovering a simple but utterly conclusive clue the fact that the murderer's invitation to the art gallery he went to that night to provide his alibi is visible on the tape of his mother-in-law being shot and laying it out forcefully before the killer:

** To add to the scene's brilliance, when the camera stops on Santini's face you can see that he recognizes the lock. It makes Columbo's follow-up line of "I knew you could do it" much more Machiavellian.

** The Killer does get his own [=MoA=]. He actually managed to '''''trick Columbo''''', some thing [[Recap/ColumboS00E01 bona fide]] [[Recap/ColumboS03E06 geniuses]] [[Recap/ColumboS06E03 haven't]] been able to manage.

* In "A Butterfly in Shades of Grey" has Victoria demonstrate [[EverybodyHasStandards such a strong sense of right]] that she leaves her foster father after he dirties a senator's good name with dishonest facts. Bear in mind that she's normally blind to Chase's ego. But seeing his true nature is what prompts her to pack her bags and go with the publisher to New York. Chase tries desperately to keep her by saying there's uncertainty having her book published in New York by her lonesome, but before she departs, Victoria bravely declares that she'll take her chances.

* Any of the four episodes with Patrick [=McGoohan=] as the guest villain. Pure classics, and [=McGoohan=] won two Emmys for his guest roles. (He also directed five episodes and wrote the scripts for two.)

* The real killer in ''Murder in Malibu'' is caught due to their mistake of dressing the victim with the panties on backwards. Seeing the victim's sister yell in grief how much she hates them and getting closure is so satisfying, even if they'll be in turmoil for a while over their loss.

* When Columbo confronts the murderer's accomplice in "Prescription: Murder,"[[note]]Columbo's first appearance with Peter Falk in the role[[/note]] he drops all pretense and accurately describes the role she's played in her lover's plot, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness even screaming at her an attempt to force her to confess.]] It can honestly be a little discomforting, especially for viewers more familiar with the Lieutenant's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn more docile nature in the main series.]]

* When Columbo confronts the murderer's accomplice in "Prescription: Murder,"[[note]]Columbo's first appearance with Peter Falk in the role[[/note]] he drops all pretense and accurate describes the role she's played in her lover's plot, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness even screaming at her an attempt to force her to confess.]] It can honestly be a little discomforting, especially for viewers more familiar with the Lieutenant's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn more docile nature in the main series.]]

* The ending of ''Suitable for Framing,'' where the greedy art critic murders his uncle for his valuable paintings, then tries to frame the uncle's ex-wife for the crime by planting the paintings at her house. When they'e discovered, Columbo orders fingerprint testing. The murder smugly assures him that it wouldn't matter, since he'd frequently handled the paintings anyway. But Columbo clarifies that [[ExactWords they're not looking for the murderer's prints]]; they're looking for ''[[WhamLine Columbo's]]''. See, earlier in the episode, Columbo had met the murderer while he was carrying the stolen paintings in a case and casually reached in, professing interest in seeing them before the murderer stopped him. The murderer then furiously and desperately accuses the detective of planting the evidence just now, prompting Columbo to pull his hands out of his pocket, [[WhamShot revealing that he's wearing gloves]]. The look on the art critic's face is priceless.

* Columbo's deductive flourishes -- as revealed to his target at the end -- sometimes approach this. As do the occasional brief scenes in which he drops the fawning and tells the perp exactly what he thinks of him.
* Every episode when he says "Just one more thing..." -- that is, until the later seasons where most bad guys are wise to his act.