48 Years Later, NBC's Timeless 45-Episode Crime Drama Is Streaming Free On Tubi

Published Oct 18, 2026, 3:45 PM EDT Cher Thompson is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, where she covers everything from explosive reality TV moments to cast interviews about the twists and turns of scripted dramas. With a background in creative writing, marketing, and teaching, Cher knows how to spot both the storytelling genius and the guilty pleasures in pop culture. Her work blends wit with insight, making readers feel like they’re chatting with a friend who just happens to know way too much about TV. The best crime dramas don't always need elaborate conspiracies, sprawling casts, or season-long mysteries to offer compelling, captivating stories, which was proven by NBC's timeless 45-episode series, which is streaming for free on Tubi. TV's most enduring detective stories have relied on carefully constructed mysteries, but there have always been crime dramas that struggled to connect the dots between their lead, their case, and the other elements of the series. Whether it's because of a lack of focus or an inability to string all the details together cohesively, some detective dramas have a tougher time making an impact on viewers. Columbo, which starred Peter Falk as the titular Lieutenant Columbo, was never a series that had trouble landing the plane. Debuting as a TV movie in late 1971, Columbo was a character who captured the hearts of audiences throughout the 70s and 80s. As a homicide detective, Columbo was a distinctive character who had a look, cadence, and specificity to him that allowed audiences to buy in before a mystery had even been presented. His hyper-observant nature and no-nonsense style, mixed with Falk's interesting performance and the ever-present trench coat the character wore created a truly unique phenomenon. With Tubi, a free streaming service that often pulls in surprising titles for its catalog, bringing Columbo to a completely new audience, modern viewers will have the chance to experience Falk's Columbo from a whole new perspective. As one of the most interesting TV detectives of all time, Columbo should be next on every mystery fan's watch list. Every Episode Of Columbo Is Available For Free On Tubi (Including The ABC Revival) While Columbo has been available on other streaming platforms in the past, Tubi making the entire series available is exciting for a few reasons. As Tubi is a free streaming platform, there's no subscription required to be able to watch the shows in its catalog. Tubi's Columbo collection is organized a bit differently than the show has been on other platforms, which is another distinction. Organizing the episodes into 16 different seasons, Tubi's season numbers don't correspond with the way the original show was formatted, especially because it hopped networks from NBC to ABC at one point in its run. Columbo's run was a strange one, especially for the era. Rather than having a concurrent run of episodes from season to season, the show jumped around and featured TV movies in lieu of episodes at some points. The NBC-era series ran in a specific way, but when the show was revived much later on ABC, Columbo came back to the small screen as the same character with the same branding, despite it being a fairly different era. Tubi's organization of the catalog, including the ABC episodes, makes Columbo easier to explore for viewers who are new to the classic character. Why Columbo Is Still Worth Watching Today MovieStillsDB As one of the most distinctive characters of a generation, Columbo is worth the watch whether viewers are interested in mystery TV or not. With an unconventional setup for the time, where the series shows the viewer who the killer is at the top of the episode, Columbo was able to tap into a different side of investigative TV. Rather than solving the crime to a resolution point without knowing the actual facts of what happened, Columbo chose to give the viewers a wealth of knowledge and then take the ride alongside Columbo to dig through the evidence and learn. Columbo's personality, as well as his outward presentation, is another huge reason to tune into the series long after its end. While Columbo is a skilled investigator who knows what he's doing, his appearance is disheveled in a specific way, and his behavior never truly feels like it aligns with his skillset. The opposite of feeling cool, calm, and collected, watching Columbo work his way through a mystery is not only intriguing, but fun from a character perspective. Being able to watch the classic series in its entirety on Tubi should unlock Columbo for a whole new range of viewers. Release Date 1971 - 2003-00-00 Creator(s) Richard Levinson, William Link