Is it because he’s always nailing smug weirdo rich fuckbags? Is it the peter falk hard carry? Is it because despite being canonically a cop he does anything but act like a cop?
Is everything downstream of columbo an attempt to erase his legacy as the hound of wealthy sociopaths?
Is Columbo a demigod?
Another great character thing is that he loves his wife. Like, this shouldn’t be a huge thing, but look at every. single. cop. show. it’s wife hate and marital strife. Look at basically every comedic thing a boomer or gen xer ever touched, it’s a load bearing amount of “hate my wife” jokes.
Columbo out here just, clearly adoring his spouse and it’s just… i dunno i love it.
He’s completely wholesome, but a chameleon gremlin with the prescience of like, Paul Atreides and a disposition to ruining the untouchable class.
He fears his invisible wife’s power and her vast stores of relative-proferred knowledge. He knows better than to displease the Wife.