The series I refer to was 'The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" (later Nancy Drew was missing from the title and series itself). This show was on ABC in 1976-79 at the same night Columbo was on NBC. The two shows were both Universal TV shows and looked quite similar. Now here is a problem. In like the 1976-77 season Columbo had the overly-comical William Shatner episode. This ep woulkd have been fine except Columbo was such a powerful , highly mature and realistic drama that to turn it into more a sitcomy one was a letdown indeed (though sitcoms should definitely exist elsewhere). The overall tone of Columbo was possibly getting slightly more lightweight and teenager-friendly and it may indeed have been the similar/same night Hardy Boys series that caused this legendary saga to lose a little quality. (One of the Hardy Boys eps even had Nancy Drew running into a guy who looked and dressed like Peter Falk!)
PS It would have been far more memorable to have had Shatner do a serious ep of Columbo where he played the actor-killer and he has a sort-of breakdown when getting caught and see Falk's reaction.
Can't find a movie or TV show? Login to create it.
Want to rate or add this item to a list?
Not a member?
Reply by Benton12
on August 25, 2020 at 1:36 PM
It was all those things. Heck it had great realism and maturity and it was very strong in the way it made you feel. Some shows tried to do that but failed.But in the last two years it sort of became just another crime drama. The comedy bits of Falk's originally were not destructive.
Reply by Benton12
on August 25, 2020 at 1:47 PM
In fact Columbo's brief comic bits early on added to the realism. No reason for directors and writers to get carried away with them later but they did.