Here is a list of Columbo episodes, from the early pilots to both the NBC and ABC years. While many had a number of motives, we simplified choosing only one per episode. Hyperlinks to episode-specific articles are included.
| Pilots | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Prescription Murder | Divorce by murder | |
| 2 | Ransom for a Dead Man | Divorce by murder | 5 things missed
|
| Season 1 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Murder by the Book | Keeping the status quo | Jack Cassidy’s novels
|
| 2 | Death Lends a Hand | Keeping the status quo (Accident) | 5 terrible aftermaths |
| 3 | Dead Weight | Keeping the status quo | Recycling |
| 4 | Suitable for Framing | Inheritance | 5 things missed |
| 5 | Lady in Waiting | Revenge | |
| 6 | Short Fuse | Escaping blackmail | The ghost
|
| 7 | Blueprint for Murder | Keeping the status quo | 5 unfortunate aftermaths |
| Season 2 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Etude in Black | Escaping blackmail | 5 things missed Myrna Loy’s dress |
| 2 | The Greenhouse Jungle | Inheritance | |
| 3 | The Most Crucial Game | Keeping the status quo | 5 theories
|
| 4 | Dagger of the Mind | Keeping the status quo (Accident) | |
| 5 | Requiem for a Falling Star | Protecting a secret | |
| 6 | A Stitch in Crime | Protecting a secret | The vanishing clock |
| 7 | The Most Dangerous Match | Protecting a secret | 5 things missed |
| 8 | Double Shock | Inheritance | An analysis |
| Season 3 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Lovely But Lethal | Revenge | |
| 2 | Any Old Port in a Storm | Keeping the status quo | 5 things missed |
| 3 | Candidate for Crime | Keeping the status quo | 5 things missed |
| 4 | Double Exposure | Keeping the status quo | |
| 5 | Publish or Perish | Keeping the status quo | |
| Mind over Mayhem | Protecting a secret | 5 things missed | |
| 7 | Swan Song | Divorce by murder | The wake scene |
| 8 | A Friend in Deed | Divorce by murder | |
| Season 4 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | An Exercise in Fatality | Protecting a secret | Milo Janus, dictator |
| 2 | Negative Reaction | Divorce by murder | |
| 3 | By Dawn’s Early Light | Keeping the status quo | An analysis |
| 4 | Troubled Waters | Escaping blackmail | 5 terrible aftermaths |
| 5 | Playback | Escaping blackmail | 5 things missed |
| 6 | A Deadly State of Mind | Keeping the status quo | Dr. Collier’s confession |
| Season 5 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Forgotten Lady | Divorce by murder | 5 things missed |
| 2 | A Case of Immunity | The money in the safe | |
| 3 | Identity Crisis | Protecting a secret | |
| 4 | A Matter of Honor | Protecting a secret | |
| 5 | Now You See Him | Escaping blackmail | 5 things missed |
| 6 | Last Salute to the Commodore | Inheritance | |
| Season 6 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Fade in to Murder | Escaping blackmail | 5 unfortunate aftermaths |
| 2 | Old Fashioned Murder | Keeping the status quo | |
| 3 | The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case | Protecting a secret | 5 things missed |
| Season 7 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Try and Catch Me | Revenge | 5 things missed |
| 2 | Murder Under Glass | Keeping the status quo | Television chefs |
| 3 | Make Me a Perfect Murder | Revenge | 5 things missed |
| 4 | How to Dial a Murder | Revenge | |
| 5 | The Conspirators | Revenge | 5 terrible aftermaths
|
| Season 8 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Columbo Goes to the Guillotine | Revenge | Recycling |
| 2 | Murder, Smoke, and Shadows | Protecting a secret | |
| 3 | Sex and the Married Detective | Revenge | 5 things missed |
| 4 | Grand Deceptions | Protecting a secret | |
| Season 9 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Murder, A Self Portrait | Keeping the status quo | |
| 2 | Columbo Cries Wolf | Keeping the status quo | |
| 3 | Agenda for Murder | Escaping blackmail | |
| 4 | Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo | Revenge | |
| 5 | Uneasy Lies the Crown | Keeping the status quo | |
| 6 | Murder in Malibu | Revenge | |
| Season 10 | Title | Motive | |
| 1 | Columbo Goes to College | Keeping the status quo | Recycling Pt 1, Pt 2 |
| 2 | Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health | Escaping blackmail | |
| 3 | Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star | Divorce by murder | |
| 4 | Death Hits the Jackpot | Keeping the status quo | |
| 5 | No Time to Die | Not applicable | |
| 6 | A Bird in the Hand … | Divorce by murder | |
| 7 | It’s All in the Game | Revenge | |
| 8 | Butterfly in Shades of Grey | Keeping the status quo | |
| 9 | Undercover | ||
| 10 | Strange Bedfellows | ||
| 11 | A Trace of Murder | Keeping the status quo | An analysis |
| 12 | Ashes to Ashes | Protecting a secret | |
| 13 | Murder with Too Many Notes | Protecting a secret | Elevator goof |
| 14 | Columbo Likes the Nightlife | Keeping the status quo | 5 things missed |
The formula for Columbo is re-using the same motives. We’ve broken them down to a few.
Keeping the status quo: People don’t like change. They like their lives just the way they are. If they’re not a victim of extortion or blackmail and not hiding a dark, life-ruining secret, we assign this category. Sometimes, a deadly accident is covered up to not disturb the killer’s life goals. See “Any Old Port in the Storm”, “Old Fashioned Murder”, or “Columbo Likes the Nightlife”.
Protecting a secret: Sometimes the villain has a secret in jeopardy coming out in the open. They’re not necessary blackmailed, but warned ahead of time their lives will go under great change. Beyond keeping the status quo, they’re desperate leaving secrets hidden from the world. See “Mind over Mayhem” or “An Exercise in Fatality”.
Escaping blackmail: More severe than simply protecting a secret, the murderer is experiencing blackmail. Generally, the victim should have seen it coming and probably not liked and deserved their fate. See “Fade In To Murder” or “Now You See Him…”.
Divorce by murder: Here is a special category for married villains. While some use murder to escape blackmail, see “Swan Song”, what they really want to escape their spouse who is causing them grief. Many are just too lazy to file papers. See “Ransom for a Dead Man” or “Negative Reaction”.
Revenge: Other than season 7, wrath is a rarely used theme. Some may commit murder under wrath for a monetary gain, see “Try and Catch Me”. See “Columbo Goes to the Guillotine” or “Make Me a Perfect Murder”.
Inheritance: The motive is playing for the will. Often, it involves a little more than greed as relatives discover they’re written out and take out their vengeance. See “Suitable for Framing” or “The Greenhouse Jungle”.
Trying to find the screenplay online? (Links 404 over time)
http://www.springfieldspringfield.co.uk/episode_scripts.php?tv-show=columbo-1971