TV Shows Like Columbo
If you like Columbo, here are 11 similar TV shows — each with its current AI renewal verdict, so you can see which are still going and which have been cancelled.
ABC · Crime · Columbo is ended
Columbo works because the mystery is never really the mystery. The killer is revealed in the opening minutes, usually calm and confident, often wealthy and well-connected, and completely convinced they have gotten away with it. What the show is actually about is watching a rumpled, cigar-chewing detective chip away at that confidence one deceptively casual question at a time. The pleasure is not in figuring out who did it but in watching how Columbo will do it, and that formula has proven surprisingly durable.
The best shows like Columbo
1. Agatha Christie's Poirot
Hercule Poirot, like Columbo, is frequently underestimated, and the show understands that this is a source of both humor and drama. Poirot's eccentricities are on full display, but behind them is the same meticulous, detail-driven mind that Columbo fans will immediately recognize. The settings are more glamorous and the cases more theatrical, but the core pleasure is identical: watching a seemingly mismatched detective outthink everyone in the room.
Stream on Hulu, Britbox Apple TV Channel , PBS, BritBox
Ended0%
2. Murder, She Wrote
Jessica Fletcher is an amateur rather than a professional, but she shares Columbo's gift for being dismissed and then quietly proving everyone wrong. The show has the same easy-going, non-threatening surface with real observational sharpness underneath, and it is built for the long haul with dozens of self-contained mysteries. If Columbo felt like visiting an old friend, Murder, She Wrote will feel the same way.
Stream on Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Ended0%
3. Vera
DCI Vera Stanhope is disheveled, stubborn, and consistently underestimated by the people around her, which should sound familiar. The show is darker and more emotionally spare than Columbo, set against the bleak and beautiful landscape of northeast England, but the detective at its center has that same quality of absorbing every detail while others are still catching up. Viewers who liked watching Columbo's suspects slowly realize their mistake will find the same satisfaction here.
Stream on Amazon Prime Video, Britbox Apple TV Channel , BritBox, BritBox Amazon Channel
Ended0%
4. Dragnet
Dragnet is a more stripped-down, documentary-style procedural than Columbo, but Sergeant Joe Friday is every bit as committed and methodical in his approach to police work. The show helped define what a dedicated, professional TV detective looks like, and fans of Columbo's Los Angeles setting will feel at home in the same city. It lacks the cat-and-mouse dynamic, but the pleasure of watching a serious detective take the job seriously is very much present.
Stream on fuboTV, Philo, Pure Flix, Best tv ever Amazon Channel
Ended0%
5. Hudson & Rex
Hudson and Rex is lighter than Columbo in almost every respect, but it has genuine warmth and a central character who is more appealing than the premise might suggest. The partnership between Detective Hudson and his German Shepherd Rex gives the show a running dynamic that is not unlike Columbo's habit of winning people over with his disarming manner. It is the most easygoing pick on this list, and the right choice for viewers who want something comforting rather than tense.
Stream on Philo, UP Faith & Family Apple TV Channel, UP Faith & Family Amazon Channel
Likely Renewed72%
More on shows like Columbo
The audience for Columbo tends to respond to character above all else. Lieutenant Columbo is not cool or slick. He forgets things, he talks too much, his coat looks like it was rescued from a dumpster, and suspects routinely mistake him for a nuisance. That gap between how he appears and how he actually thinks is what fans return for. It follows that the shows most likely to satisfy a Columbo fan share at least one of two qualities: a detective whose personality is itself the entertainment, or a mystery structure that is more about process and observation than about shock twists.
The recommendations here cover a good range of that territory. Agatha Christie's Poirot and Murder, She Wrote are the most direct relatives, both built around singular detective personalities who are underestimated and who solve cases through careful attention rather than brute force. Vera takes a different emotional tone, colder and more weathered, but DCI Vera Stanhope has that same quality of seeing more than anyone around her expects. Dragnet is the oldest entry on the list and the least similar in tone, but it shares the procedural commitment and the Los Angeles backdrop, and Sergeant Joe Friday is, in his own terse way, as distinctively drawn as Columbo. Hudson and Rex is the lightest of the group, a Canadian procedural with an obvious gimmick that it leans into cheerfully, and it captures something of Columbo's warmth even if it lacks his complexity.
None of these shows replicate the exact formula, and none of them try to. Poirot comes closest in spirit. Vera is the one for viewers who want something grittier. Murder, She Wrote is the comfort pick. What all of them share with Columbo is a detective you want to spend time with, which is ultimately the only thing that matters.
More shows like Columbo
Frequently asked
- What is the most popular show like Columbo?
- Agatha Christie's Poirot is the most popular show similar to Columbo in the IsItRenewed catalogue.
- Are shows like Columbo still on the air?
- Of the 11 shows similar to Columbo listed here, 0 currently carry a renewed verdict — the rest are cancelled, ended, or awaiting a decision.
- How does IsItRenewed pick shows like Columbo?
- The recommendations come from TMDB's similar-titles data, and each is shown with its current AI renewal verdict so you know which are still going.