Columbo Explains the Seventies
A TV Cop's Pop Culture Journey, by Glenn Stewart
Columbo was an iconic piece of 1970s popular culture. Standing apart from the multitude of other TV investigators, the character shared the values and qualities of his Seventies audience, and the show reflected and intersected many of the social and cultural issues of the era. Looking back, what can those original episodes explain about class conflict, power struggles, feminism, race relations, sex, technology, media, psychology, politics and violence?
This seems a challenging task, as Columbo rarely addressed any of these issues in an obvious manner. But in Columbo Explains the Seventies, author Glenn Stewart gives the original 45 TV-movies and series episodes a thorough watch, and his unique observations tie our favorite TV cop to the decade in surprising and enlightening ways. Where does Columbo show a feminist streak, and when does Columbo resist it? What impact did the short-lived anti-violence Family Viewing Hour have on Columbo? Did the show accurately reflect Los Angeles’ racial representation? Did Columbo have a hidden progressive or right-leaning agenda? It was obviously a show about class conflict – or was it?
How, indeed, does Columbo explain the Seventies? The clues are waiting inside.
240 Pages * ISBN 978-1-937878-29-0
240 Pages * ISBN 978-1-937878-28-32
Kindle Ebook * ISBN 978-1-937878-30-6
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Author
Glenn Stewart
Glenn Stewart grew up watching a bit of television. He’s been in and out of media, most recently as a writer and contributor to the renowned Columbophile Blog. For the past 17 years he has been teaching History and English, as well as working in Education Assessment and writing Social Studies curriculum for the Massachusetts juvenile justice system. As an adjunct faculty at Westfield State University, he has been an instructor in “Issues in Media Industries.” This followed 25 years in the rock radio business, both on the air and as a station programmer from Albuquerque to Providence and other stops along the radio trail. Glenn received his B.A. in Political Science from Brown University in 1979 and his M. Ed from Westfield State University. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife Cyndi and dog Sheba, who is not a hound. His favorite pre-1980 TV rewatchables are Columbo, Mission: Impossible, Batman, The Prisoner, and The Twilight Zone.
