Columbo Sunday Mystery Movie Theme Song - Version 1

[cha5]

I always remember that man with the flashlight, something about that image and the Mancini score just stuck in my mind as a kid. I always thought the opening was a bit longer than a minute for some reason.

[excelsciors]

The main actors I recall as a kid on the Sundays mystery movie was: Peter Falk of course as Columbo. Also Richard Boon as Hec Ramsey, and Rock Hudson as officer McMillan and Dennis Weaver as Mcloud!!!! A great sunday nite show. Nothing now or recently can compare to this.

[TheNiteowll]

That brought back memories...Thanks for the upload.

[9secondsflat]

does anyone know who wrote the opening score?

[carlsgutekunst]

@9secondsflat Henry Mancini.

[darrenmiriam]

@Edwardgfan So True!

[deadlypalms]

Didn't realise this theme was the intro for LOTS of detective shows before I chopped it up into a remix - as a tribute to Columbo. RIP Peter Falk.

For any fans of the sunday night mystery theatre theme - ...watch?v=FvZQmEWehlw

[canon21100]

The only one I really liked was Columbo.

[gojira2006]

Yay - Quincy . . . !

[AICabal]

Rest in peace you absolute treasure of a man and thank you for those memorable characters over the years, most notebly Columbo which was and still is fantastic television. God will be there in person to greet you.

[rollomaughfling]

Note to OP: I don't think this is the Columbo theme, but Henry Mancini's theme for Sunday Mystery Movies, a collection of crime dramas. No biggie, as it's a great tune. I thought it was the "Mannix" theme most of my life ;)

[fullmoon7786]

AND ONE MORE THING !. .

May GOD Rest Peter Falk's Soul In Peace.

[Leelephant76]

RIP :(

[tallpaul521]

Remembering Peter Falk. When I watched the NBC Mystery Movie night..I always hoped it would be COLUMBO in the opening theme.

[sgsound12]

RIP dear Peter Falk...

[calchick82]

Thank you Peter for all the great memories you have given us!! Your character of Det. Columbo will live on for years and years to come...we love you!!!

[Paul70]

I haven't seen this since i was a kid(1970's)!!

R.I.P....Peter Falk and thanks for creating one of the most memorable T.V. characters in history.

[brill068]

One of the absolute best TV theme songs......and RIP Peter Falk!

[tessseract]

@Edwardgfan "...a bunch of idiots trying to out-stupid each other." LOL. Great one.

[solesirching73]

BREAKING NEWS: Peter Falk (Columbo) passed away Thursday (6/23/11) at his Beverly Hills home at age 83. He has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease since 2007.

[Zorn76]

I love this theme and cop / PI shows from the 1970's.

Columbo was always my favorite. After that, it was The Streets of San Francisco, Baretta, Rockford Files, Barnaby Jones & Charlie's Angels (a total guilty pleasure).

70's t.v., in general, was much more entertaining for me.

The writing today is definitely more complex and clever, but current shows lack the charm of those I watched as a kid.

And now..."Act I", lol

p.s. "The Naked Gun" movies were based on "Police Squad" t.v series-1982

[thunderstick455]

@Edwardgfan Yes I know just what you mean, todays shows are missing something. I just bought columbo season 1.

[whatanightmare1]

When I was little, I could do this with my voice...my mom sent me to vocal training after that, lol. Let's just say, I'm an alto with a whistle register :~)

[Milesco]

@whatanightmare1 And only dogs can hear you! :-D

[whatanightmare1]

@Milesco LOL.....I used to drive my mom insane with this. Makes me miss being a kid!

[3piper]

I have a tape of cop themes and mystery themes.This was one of them .I even asked my dad and he remembered it.Thank you for posting it,I finally got to see it.!!This would have been a good opening for a supernatural series ,the whistling reminds me of "X-Files"

[sgmson]

What would have made it complete...The short lived Lanigan's Rabbi.

[mistressofaminer]

Big budget CBS certainly could afford the big lineup of "heavies" Hudson,Falk Klugman,Young and Weaver. Definitely the last of the truly big name stars on one network.

[tomservo56954]

@mistressofaminer No, NBC...I read that Rock Hudson was getting $120K an episode in 1971.

[mistressofaminer]

As far as I'm concerned this is one of the catchiest and most beautiful made for television themes ever composed.It sounded very adventurous, intriguing and mysteriously beautiful. Must be around 1970, if i'm not mistaken.Had a huge crush on Susan St. James,with her dusky throated voice.This is truly a treasure form the good ol' days, thanks so much for posting, what a treat!

[smaqdad]

christ, i TOTALLY forgot quincy was part of the line up.... i guess thats because i kinda started a boycott when mcmillen dropped his wife... little did i know that rock hudson was more into columbo than his old lady, not like there's anythin wrong with that...hey, i was 7, i didn't even know what a boner was!

[bjroberts65]

This gave me CHILLS!!!

[albertojau]

i have 40 old, i remenber this movie i had 5 years

[mrceleb2006]

This was from the 1976-1977 TV season.

[Squeegie60]

How can I feel so old and so young at the same time? And when was Quincy part of the lineup?

[Teflon65]

I forgot that Quincy M.E. started as one of the rotating series, on the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie.

[angusthethird]

brings bittersweet memories to me...



[kduideo]

Is this opening on the dvd?

[obitobi100]

ha The Simpsons =)

[WikeddTung]

@obitobi100 dr. hibbert...as quincy, m.e. lolol

[wanderer711]

Oh man this takes me back......

[doctorcroc]

does anyone have the murder mystery suspence trailer with the lightning water effect with weird music its really bugging me?? any help appriciated cheers

[citywide44]

Wasn't there another show that was a part of this..."Heck Tate"??

[littlestuffedbull]

@citywide44 "Hec Ramsey" with Richard Boone was also at one time part of the NBC Sunday Night Mystery Movie. This opening is taken from the last couple years, when Susan St. James had left "McMillan and Wife" so they renamed the show just "McMillan." (It wasn't the same!) I loved these shows--my favorites were Columbo and McCloud. They don't make shows like this anymore--they wouldn't even devote 60 seconds to an opening theme today the way they do here!

[Peattie61]

@littlestuffedbull yea banacheck

[PupuTheClown]

I liked the earlier recording of this song better although this one did have some high points in the brass section.

[kungfuninja55]

it'd be so cool if our school band played this lol

[Poseidon0077]

Whoever the Producer was for that Opening, he was a Genius.

[tomservo56954]

@Poseidon0077 But let us again refute the urban myth...that was NOT Rock Hudson carrying the flashlight--it was a man who worked in Universal's prop department.

[curiousgemini25]

Love 70's theme music

[jameswoolsey]

There was another opening song that was used in the late 80's and/or early 90's. It was a totally synthesized tune, more along the lines of modern smooth jazz. I have since heard that tune on radio commercials but since there are no lyrics I can't pin down the song. Does anyone know the tune I'm talking about?

[The6000Sabre]

Columbo was the greatest show ever on television.

[rotes1968]

@The6000Sabre Yes you are right!!!!!

[neweast1]

what year did these series begin, mcclouds my favorite........

[staytunedfor]

I think Columbo first appeared in a tv movie in 1968 called Prescription: Murder. The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie ran from 1971-77. Columbo, McCloud and McMillan & Wife (later McMillan) were on for the entire run. Others in the rotation: Hec Ramsey (1973-4), Amy Prentiss (1974-5), McCoy (w/Tony Curtis, 1975-6) and Quincy, M.E. (1976). There was also a Wednesday Mystery Movie that included Banacek (w/George Preppard), The Snoop Sisters (w/Helen Hayes) and Madigan (w/Richard Widmark).

[Laceykat66]

You forgot "Cool Million."

It was part of the Wednesday group and featured a guy who would do job for a price (guess how much). He had a secretary who looked like Marge the manicurist and his OWN HOME COMPUTER!!!! (wow was he rich)

[Laceykat66]

The whole concept of several shows in one time slot began with "4 in 1" around 1968. A show would have a six week run the be replaced by the next show in the group. "Night Gallery" and I believe McCloud started this way. This lead to the Mystery Movie.

The idea of different stars in one setting (like Name of the Game) goes back to the 1950s with a show called "Wire Service." Each week one of the reporters was featured.

[tomservo56954]

@Laceykat66 Yes...FOUR-IN-ONE aired in the 1970-71 season, and the other two installments were THE PSYCHIATRIST and SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. That same year, NBC and Universal converted THE VIRGINIAN into the rotating series THE MEN OF SHILOH, where one of the three leads of the original show was the focus of an episode. I'm not a Western fan, so I don't know know if it was like NAME OF THE GAME (which did debut in 1968), where the other two didn't appear at all.

[Laceykat66]

@tomservo56954 AND the fourth show was Night Gallery and the third was McCloud and for some reason I thought they were in 1968, not 1970, which you correctly stated. Not sure about why The Virginian or Shiloh are mentioned, unless Shiloh focused on one actor per episode like Name of the Game, or, as originally stated, Wire Service.

[tomservo56954]

@Laceykat66 I mentioned those other shows because I consider them part of the throughline that leads to MYSTERY MOVIE. At the very least it is the same network and studio doing all those programs.

[javamuuz]

looking for this song for years, the music was haunting

[foppa123]

why does it say just McMillan?

[faridperez]

Maybe She found out that He was Gay and got a divorce suit filed !!

[vinylrecord68]

Susan St. James left the show and the producers practically killed off her character.

[rugged66]

Because in the later years,Susan Saint James ,wanted out of the show and had her die in a plane crash.

[garyifny]

This theme song always freaked me out as a kid.

[foppa123]

me too; I have the new dvd's/old vhs tapes that exclude the song.

[floooky1]

@garyifny It freaked me out because I was ordered off to bed.

[tunolta]

La canción ya la había conseguido hace algunos años, pero el video no lo había vuelto a ver desde los 70... ese hombre de la linterna, me trae muchísimos recuerdos de una época feliz.... Aqui en España tambien daban esta serie con esta cabecera y las aventuras del Comisario McMillan y esposa, Mc Cloud, Colombo..... Aquello era televisión de calidad y no lo de ahora. (o será que me hago mayor)

[jetex600]

best song ever

[mrceleb2006]

This is from the 1976-1977 season, as I can tell.

[Purecen]

I remember my parents watching this and I was thinking, "So this is what adults do." They watch mature programming! The guy walking toward the screen with the flashlight freaked me out at the time -I was 12!

[ATSFMike]

I always associated this theme with "Columbo" , even though this series was made up of three or four different series. Also, I liked Gil Melle's version of the Columbo Theme Music from the first season . They used it as the "bumper" music during the episode as well Loved Gil's work and that saxophone. That version of Columbo's Theme gave the show some "class" that fit Peter Falk's character. Mike in Fresno, Ca.

[sarnow76]

Totally Agree on that one.

[midknightryder13]

I had completely forgotten that "Quincy" had started out as one of the features on the Mystery Movie. If memory serves, wasn't that the ONLY one that proved popular enough to make it into its own weekly series? (Actually, 'Columbo' could have done it too, but I seem to recall that Peter Falk didn't want to DO it as a weekly series, he liked the movie format better.)

[tomservo56954]

@midknightryder13 I don't know the how and why of QUINCY becoming a weekly series, but Peter Falk wasn't willing to commit to the grind of a 20-something episode season--NBC and Universal wanted that after the success of the PRESCRIPTION:MURDER made for TV movie in 1968 (and to his dying day, Gene Barry would remind you HE was its top-billed star). See part 2

[tomservo56954]

@midknightryder13 (Part 2) Falk wanted to do other things, as well. In fact, he did the first season (1971) of MYSTERY MOVIE episodes after originating the lead role in Neil Simon's play THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE on Broadway.

[74fleetwood]

This brings back memories. I remember hearing this before Columbo came on and how much he enjoyed the show. Funny how something like this can affect someone.