Columbo's one of those TV series that, although you initially disregard it, becomes much better with each passing watch.
Peter Falk's wry sense of humour and personality just oozes out of the screen. It's no wonder that it lasted for so many series and became a cult hit with many generations.
There's been talk of a modern-day reboot and although it hasn't reached any real stage of development or seriousness, it's got quite a few people backing it.
Gary Whitta, who's currently working on the Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One, has been quite vocal about his support for it. Unfortunately, the rights belong to NBC and they're not that interested.
"We had an initial conversation with NBC and they basically shut us down," Whitta explained in a recent interview.
Josh Trank, who worked with Whitta on Rogue One, is reportedly a huge Columbo fan and tweeted about his support for the potential reboot as well.
Some day, I promise you all, @garywhitta and I will make Columbo, hopefully with the great @MarkRuffalo �
— Josh Trank (@joshuatrank) July 13, 2015
Not only that, Duncan Jones of Moon / Source Code / the upcoming Warcraft movie chimed in, expressing support for Ruffalo.
@joshuatrank @garywhitta @MarkRuffalo Ruffalo or bust!
— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) July 13, 2015
Ruffalo himself is behind the project as well so there's plenty of support all round.
@garywhitta LOL. I have been working on it!
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) July 15, 2014
Simply put, we think this needs to happen. There's plenty of support, Columbo's still popular AND you've got one of the biggest screenwriters working in Hollywood mixed with an A-lister.
What's more, Whitta's plan for Columbo is to release it as a miniseries for VOD. "You'd put it on Netflix, HBO, whatever... you wouldn’t do 22 episodes, because, again, the original Columbo was never that."
Smart move, we think. It's got potential. The fear, of course, is that NBC takes this goodwill and turns into a crap remake, much like Hawai'i-Five-O.
What do you think? Can you see Ruffalo as Columbo? Let us know in the comments!
Via Twitter