Columbo: Paying Attention 24/7

by David Martin-Jones

Overview

Columbo is fifty years old. A global smash in the 1970s, it is now a cult TV favourite. What is the reason for this enduring popularity? In this fascinating exploration of a television classic, David Martin-Jones argues that Columbo reveals how our current globalized world – of 24/7 capital, invasive surveillance and online labour – emerged in the late 20th century. Exploring everything from the influences on Falk’s iconic acting style to the show’s depiction of Los Angeles, Martin-Jones illuminates how our attention is channelled, via technologies like television and computers, to influence how we perform, learn, police and locate ourselves in today’s world. Columbo emerged alongside shows like Kojak and The Rockford Files, but re-viewing the series today reveals how contemporary television hits – from Elementary to The Purge – continue to shape how and why we pay attention 24/7.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474479790
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

David Martin-Jones is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Glasgow

Table of Contents

IllustrationsAcknowledgements

Introduction: Fifty Years of Columbo

1. Blueprint for Murder

2. Pay Strict Attention

3. Performing: Falk Acts/Columbo Pays Attention

4. Learning: Columbo vs Modernity

5. Policing: Not Class, History

6. Locating: Bare Life in L.A.

Conclusion: Paying Attention 24/7

BibliographyIndex

What People are Saying About This

Stephen Fry

Any writer who understands that Columbo is a cultural phenomenon and creative achievement well worth investigating, celebrating, scrutinising, analysing and enlarging upon gets my vote. With Columbo there was always just one more question, and David Martin-Jones asks those questions and comes up with some revealing and fascinating answers. A wonderful contribution to Columbo lore and wider cultural history.

Editorial Reviews

Martin-Jones … uses a range of approaches to illuminate his take on Columbo and its significance for television history, both then and now. What he demonstrates, in the process, is just how much the attentive reading of a popular television crime drama can tell us about what matters to its producers and its audience at a particular　moment in time – and indeed across the intervening years, as only a long running　programme like Columbo can. In the end, this is a wide-ranging and exemplary study of a television series that well deserves another look for what it can tell us about television and history.

Screen - Sue Turnball

In this fascinating book on a widely popular detective series, David Martin-Jones explores television as an attention seeking medium. Focusing on Columbo’s unique style of investigation, Martin-Jones shows how the program captivates viewers with murder stories that re-enact the crimes of class conflict, urban strife, policing, and technological surveillance in neoliberal times. A riveting read!

Lynn B Spigel

Martin-Jones’ book made me rethink my teenage love affair with Columbo as not some starry-eyed crush but rather a budding "attention" to the details of crime and social injustice during the dawn of the Reagan-Thatcher revolution.

Jane Shattuc

Featuring commentary on how Columbo is able to remain fixated on his cases 24/7; how he is able to overcome unfamiliarity with cutting-edge gadgetry to “upgrade” his knowledge and pay attention even more effectively; and his role as an anti-establishment figure who is, atypically for the 70s’ era in particular, in tune with the social tensions of the day, the book even features a foreword by Columbo superfan Stephen Fry! [...] if the reader takes a leaf from the Lieutenant’s own book and pays full attention, there’s much to stimulate their thinking.

The Columbophile Blog

This is probably far more enjoyable an academic work than it has a right to be ... The positioning of the book is what is going to be of interest moving forward as it is potentially a crossover between academia and popular interests ... Fans of Columbo will be attracted to the idea of a solid addition to the lore surrounding the show ... Other readers familiar with Martin-Jones' previous outputs on film will know that he is a fine writer with an agile mind that questions and probes topics and subjects and manages to convey complex theoretical issues with aplomb and a clarity that can sometimes be lacking in such tomes.

Media Education Journal - John Ritchie

There’s something for everyone, from the enthusiastic fan to the more scholarly inclined.

Everything Zoomer - Nathalie Atkinson

Crime is … as we learn from David Martin-Jones’ fascinating and original work on Columbo, the signature role of Peter Falk, also a narrative of social change and critique. Behind Columbo’s seemingly absent-minded, but in reality, constantly very attentive figure lies a deeper meaning. … [T]he theory behind the analysis, the explanation for why this story, spanning three decades, has fascinated audiences, is that the way we are watched and have watched others, is reflected in the show. It spans a cold war era, a liberal era and an era of increased digital surveillance and communication. Columbo is a stand in for all the attentive laborers of the world. … David Martin-Jones’ analysis of the Columbo character and narrative is original　and rich in sociological and philosophical perspectives.

Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television - Ib Bondebjerg

Martin-Jones has written a captivating and dense book on television, modernity, neoliberalism, and philosophy. … Columbo: Paying Attention 24/7 is not merely an investigation but also an intervention that Martin-Jones believes necessary because (film-)philosophical and television studies approaches should be connected more often than they are now. … Columbo: Paying Attention 24/7 is therefore a must-read not only for those interested in attention in neoliberal society, but also for those who want to explore the philosophical potency of television as a medium.

Film-Philosophy - Timna Rauch

The book is a valuable contribution that guides experts towards various areas of television studies and the philosophy of communication [...] the author’s comparative analysis of different TV series and movies makes it a unique study in communication studies that historians of culture could also use.

The Journal of Popular Culture - Guldeniz Kibris

Any writer who understands that Columbo is a cultural phenomenon and creative achievement well worth investigating, celebrating, scrutinising, analysing and enlarging upon gets my vote. With Columbo there was always just one more question, and David Martin-Jones asks those questions and comes up with some revealing and fascinating answers. A wonderful contribution to Columbo lore and wider cultural history.

Stephen Fry

Columbo: Paying Attention 24/7 is peppered with insightful facts and original analyses. The aesthetic and ideological comparisons drawn between other Cop Dramas of the same era means anyone with a critical interest in the development of American detective series will need this book as an essential point of reference. Additionally, the regular comparisons made with contemporary popular series including shows as leftfield as Game of Thrones in what Martin-Jones terms "flash forwards" will prove a useful tool when demonstrating to undergraduates how Columbo continues to maintain a strong presence in popular culture. … [It] offers something sufficiently original, significant and rigorous to all readers with varying levels of interest in the series. "Oh, and one more thing", Chapter One’s analyses of Columbo’s unique relationship with its fans is a hidden treat.

Alphaville - Ben Lamb