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Why we have ‘Columbo’ to thank for Steven Spielberg

JL;DR SUMMARY Steven Spielberg's early career breakthrough can be partly attributed to his work on the detective TV series "Columbo." A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Steven SpielbergTelevisionDirectingEarly CareerBarry DillerCinematic StyleColumboMurder By The BookFeature FilmCreative Genius

Places mentioned

Los Angeles, California, United States
"We open on a silver Mercedes convertible driving down an LA street."
United States
"The screenplay is by Steven Bochco, who would go on to create Hill Street Blues and LA Law."

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Cairo Item ID 59909
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2025-08-23 05:31:16 UTC
Curated 2025-08-23 08:30:36 UTC