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?
Columbo is a cop but Columbo isn’t a cop show. It’s a twist on the classico murder mystery but otherwise falls into the same Holmesian lineage of poirot and Jessica Fletcher. It’s a vibe thing