How A Susan Saint James '70s TV Movie Gave Peter Falk's Columbo Its Big Break

Susan Saint James, who died on October 26, 2026 at the age of 80, warmed the hearts of Americans on shows like "The Name of the Game" and "Kate & Allie." What you may not know is that she's also tangentially connected to one of TV's smartest detectives. Beginning in 1971, James co-starred in the TV show "McMillan & Wife" alongside Hollywood icon Rock Hudson, only it wasn't exactly a typical television series. According to "Rock Hudson: Friend of Mine" by Tom Clark, NBC pitched "McMillan & Wife" to Hudson as a weekly series, but he was skeptical that a show with so many episodes could maintain its quality. Instead, he pitched a rather novel idea.

Hudson agreed to film "McMillan & Wife" once a month, which meant it functioned more like a series of TV movies than an episodic television show. NBC initially balked at this idea, until they came up with a concept known as "the wheel." With this model, several different shows would rotate in the same time slot, all under a single title. "NBC Mystery Movie" was the name they came up with, and the next step was to find some shows to alternate with "McMillan & Wife." One of those shows was "Columbo" starring the late, great Peter Falk.

Peter Falk's Columbo was first introduced in a 1968 TV movie, followed by a second one in 1971. As such, the folks at NBC figured audiences would watch a "Columbo" TV series because they were already familiar with the character, and they were right. "Columbo" became a bona fide hit for NBC, and it remains much more popular than "McMillan & Wife," as well as the other show in the initial "NBC Mystery Movie" time slot, "McCloud." (In 1972, the Western series "Hec Ramsey" also joined the lineup.)

The very first episode of "Columbo" to air under the "NBC Mystery Movie" banner, titled "Murder by the Book," was directed by none other than Steven Spielberg. In the end, 43 episodes of "Columbo" aired on NBC across seven seasons, all because of Hudson's aversion to weekly TV. ABC later brought the show back for three additional seasons. Matthew Rhys of "The Americans" and "Widow's Bay" starred in the final episode of "Columbo" in 2003. It follows the titular detective as he delves into the rave scene in Los Angeles following the death of a reporter.