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TV Detective News: A Sex Change for 'McCloud'

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Still, once you're an Angel, you're always an Angel, and that's a career choice.

Cheryl Ladd knew she was replacing a legend when she beat out Pfeiffer and countless others to take Farrah Fawcett-Majors' place in Charlie's detective agency. On her first day on the set, she reportedly wore a T-shirt that read, "Farrah Fawcett Minor." Columbo:

One mystery Lt. Columbo really did solve — the case of the missing raincoat. The disheveled detective's trademark attire is not in the Smithsonian along with Archie Bunker's living room chair, as some people say.

Actor Peter Falk says his character's famously rumpled outerwear, which he purchased in New York City, remains in his Beverly Hills closet. Fans point out that the LAPD detective actually had a few stand-in coats that came and went over the years. But, essentially, Columbo grew old with the same coat, until the show ended its run on NBC in 1978.

By the way, Columbo didn't have a first name, either. The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network TV claimed that he was Lt. Philip Columbo. This error was apparently picked up in an edition of Trivial Pursuit.

The Rockford Files:

Perhaps you heard the famous The Rockford Files theme playing in the Green Grove retirement home featured on The Sopranos. It's actually an homage from Sopranos creator David Chase, who made his bones in TV as a writer/producer on the James Garner detective series.

More than a handful of old fogies remember The Rockford Files. It was No. 1 in a TV Guide reader survey of the best TV detective show.

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