William Link Co- Creator of Columbo- RIP (2025)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/arts/television/william-link-dead.html

William Link began writing for television in 1959. Over the next five years, sometimes alone, and sometimes with Richard Levinson, he would script episodes for nearly two dozen different series, including the westerns “Johnny Ringo,” “The Rebel,” and “Black Saddle;” crime shows such as “Richard Diamond, Private Detective,” “Burke’s Law,” and “Honey West;” and dramas like “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” “Stoney Burke,” and “Dr. Kildare.”

Norman Felton who had previously co-produced “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” came up with the idea of a World War II espionage series to be produced by his Arena Productions through Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television for the CBS television network. He called upon William Link and Richard Levinson to create such a show.

“Jericho” was a series about a trio of agents: U.S. Army Captain “Franklin Shepphard” (Don Francks) was an expert in psychological warfare; Royal Navy Lieutenant “Nicholas Gage” (John Leyton) was an expert in demolitions; and French Air Force Lt. “Jean-Gaston Andre” (Marino Masé) was skilled in armaments. Each week, the three performed a mission behind enemy lines using their skills in espionage and sabotage.

CBS premiered the hour-long “Jericho” on Thursday, 15 September 1966 at 7:30 PM. On ABC, its competition was “Batman” and “F Troop”. “Batman”, in its second season, had already dropped out of the top 30 shows. “Jericho”’s real competition came from NBC’s “Daniel Boone,” which was the #25-rated series for the season. “Jericho” couldn’t get a foothold in the action audience since “Daniel Boone,” then in its third season, was already well-entrenched. “Jericho” was cancelled after 16 episodes.

The “Jericho” theme was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, although Goldsmith did not score the pilot episode "Upbeat And Underground" (Lalo Schifrin composed the music for the pilot and a theme which was never used). Goldsmith's theme came from his score for the second episode, "A Jug Of Wine, A Loaf Of Bread And Pow!" In June 2005, Film Score Monthly released an album of music from the series, twinned with the score John Williams composed for the unsold pilot “The Ghostbreaker” (also produced by Arena Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television).

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The first big successful television creation of William Link and Richard Levinson was “Mannix” (1967-1975), the private detective series starring Mike Connors. Rather than recount the lengthy run of that show here, I refer you to the career retrospective on Mike Connors.:

For your listening and viewing pleasure, here are the opening and closing titles for the first show, where Link and Levinson get their credit.

In 1968, Link and Levinson reworked the play into a script for the made-for-television film PRESCRIPTION: MURDER. The role of Lt. Columbo was offered to Lee J. Cobb, but he had to decline due to a scheduling conflict. Bing Crosby was also offered the role, but didn't accept it because he felt that it would interfere with his golfing. So, Peter Falk was cast. In the film, psychiatrist “Dr. Ray Flemming” (Gene Barry) uses a patient he is having an affair with to help him kill his wife, but his perfect alibi may come apart at the hands of a seemingly befuddled LAPD lieutenant. Although Peter Falk has top billing, he doesn't make his first appearance as Columbo until 30 minutes into the movie.

Directed by Richard Irving and scored by Dave Grusin, the film aired on NBC on 20 February 1968. At the time, this was designed as a one-off television movie. Peter Falk was more interested in pursuing feature film opportunities, so it would be another three years before he returned to the character.

The film aired on NBC on 22 October 1968, and went into theatrical distribution overseas in 1969. Oliver Nelson provided the unreleased score.

In this film, the law firm of Nichols, Darrell & Darrell (Burl Ives, Joseph Campanella, and James Farentino) defends the leader of a student protest movement (Rick Ely) charged with the murder of a campus policeman. The problem is that the student, and his supporters, may be more interested in making a statement about their grievances than about his acquittal. Hal Holbrook co-starred as “Chancellor Leonard Graham.”

Richard A. Colla directed the film, which aired on NBC on 11 March 1969. Pete Rugolo provided the unreleased score.

The film was nominated for 8 Emmy awards, winning three, including one for Patty Duke for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, and one to William Link and Richard Levinson for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama.

Less than a month after its television airing, MY SWEET CHARLIE was given a brief domestic theatrical release by Universal, opening in New York on 11 February 1970. It was also released overseas.

Richard Irving directed the film, which aired on NBC on 1 March 1971. Billy Goldenberg provided the unreleased score. He would go on to score six episodes of the subsequent series. The film was released theatrically overseas.

According to Richard Levinson, Columbo’s catchphrase "one more thing" was conceived when he and Link were writing the original play: "We had a scene that was too short, and we had already had Columbo make his exit. We were too lazy to retype the scene, so we had him come back and say, 'Oh, just one more thing.' It was never planned.”

The first season of “Columbo” began on Wednesday, 15 September 1971 at 8:30 PM. The show’s main competition came from CBS, in the form of the second half of “The Carol Burnett Show” (#24 in the ratings that season) and the hour-long “Medical Center” (#13 in the ratings). But “The NBC Mystery Movie” also proved popular, ending the season in the #14 spot. Seven “Columbo” episodes were produced for the season.

This 1971 episode was released as a theatrical feature overseas.

At the 1972 Emmy Awards, William Link and Richard Levinson won for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama. They were also nominated for Outstanding Series – Drama and Outstanding New Series. They lost both awards to the producers for PBS’s ELIZABETH R.

For it’s second season (1972-73), the NBC brass wanted Columbo to have a sidekick. William Link and Richard Levinson conferred with Steven Bochco, who was writing the script for the season opener, and together they hatched the idea of giving Lieutenant Columbo a dog as a partner. Falk felt his character had enough gimmicks, between the raincoat, cigar, and Peugeot. But when he met the lethargic, drooling basset hound that had been plucked from a pound, Falk knew it was perfect for Columbo's dog.

This 1972 episode was released as a theatrical feature overseas.

The network moved “The NBC Mystery Movie” to Sundays at 8:30 PM, and added a fourth series, “Hec Ramsey” to the rotation. The series was renamed “The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie” because the network filled the old timeslot with all new shows, christening it the, “The NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie”. The new “Sunday Mystery Movie” battled with ABC’s “The F.B.I.” (#29), “The ABC Sunday Night Movie” (#23), and CBS’s “Barnaby Jones” (#25). It defeated them all, ranking as the fifth-highest-rated program on television for the season. Eight “Columbo” episodes were produced.

In its third season (1973-74), “The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie” bested “The ABC Sunday Night Movie” (#23), and CBS’s “Mannix” and “Barnaby Jones” (#17) by coming in at #14 for the season. Eight “Columbo” episodes were produced.

Season 4 (1974-75) saw the “ABC Sunday Movie” dropping out of the top 30 shows. But “The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie” (now with “Amy Prentiss” replacing “Hec Ramsey”) faced new, strong competition from CBS’s “Kojak” (#14 for the season) and a revitalized “Mannix” (#20). “Sunday Mystery Movie” fell to #22 in the ratings. Six episodes of “Columbo” were produced.

For its fifth season (1975-76), NBC moved “Sunday Mystery Movie” back half an hour to the 9 PM slot and lengthened the show from 90 minutes to two hours. In addition, the show “McCoy” replaced “Amy Prentiss” in the rotation. CBS matched the move by also moving “Kojak” back half an hour. Although “Kojak” slipped to the #20 slot in the ratings, “The ABC Sunday Night Movie” came back strong, ranking at #13 for the season. The combination knocked “Sunday Mystery Movie” out of the top 30 shows for the first time since its premiere. Six episodes of “Columbo” were produced.

Season six (1976-77) saw NBC reverse course, and moving “Sunday Mystery Movie” up an hour to the 8 PM slot. The series was cut back to its original 90-minute running time. “McCoy” was dropped and “Quincy, M.E.” was added to the lineup. (“Quincy” proved to be so popular, that after four episodes had aired, in mid-season it was spun off into a weekly one-hour show, and was replaced by “Lanigan’s Rabbi”.) “Kojak” slipped out of the top 30 shows, and CBS’s 8 PM offering, “The Sonny and Cher Show” was little competition. But “The Sunday Mystery Movie” faced new competition from ABC in the form of “The Six Million Dollar Man.” That show came in at #7 for the year, and along with an even stronger “ABC Night Sunday Movie” (#8), ensured that “The Sunday Mystery Movie” did not break back into the top 30 shows. Three episodes of “Columbo” were produced that season, which marked the end of “The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie,” which was cancelled.

However, that that didn’t mean that “Columbo” was cancelled. The series continued, with NBC airing episodes as specials from time to time. Five episodes were produced for the 1977-78 season, after which NBC cancelled the show.

But a decade later, “Columbo” was revived by ABC. Four new episodes were produced for the second half of the 1988-89 season and six for the 1989-90 season. Then, over the next 13 years (1990-2003) 14 more episodes were produced, roughly one per year. All told, not counting the two pilot films, 67 episodes of the series were produced from 1971 to 2003.

On 7 May 1992, during ABC’s run, they re-broadcast the original “Columbo” television movie, PRESCRIPTION: MURDER.

Lamont Johnson won a Directors Guild of America Award for the film, which aired on ABC on 1 November 1972. The film won a Golden Globe Award as “Best Movie Made for TV,” and was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, including two nominations for Link and Levinson for writing and producing. The pair lost the producing award to Roger Gimbel and George Schaefer for A WAR OF CHILDREN, and lost the writing award to Abby Mann for THE MARCUS-NELSON MURDERS. Link and Levinson did receive the Producer’s Guild of America Hall of Fame Award for Television Programs. The film’s unreleased score was by Gil Mellé.

Hal Mooney provided the unreleased score for the film, which aired on NBC on 13 March 1974. Link and Levinson received an Emmy Nomination for Best Writing in Drama – Adaptation. They lost the award to Tracy Keenan Wynn for THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MISS JANE PITTMAN.

The story of THE HINDENBURG takes place in 1937, among the passengers of the ill-fated German zeppelin making an Atlantic crossing from Germany to the U.S. Robert Wise directed this 1975 historical drama. David Shire's score was released on an MCA LP, which was re-issued on CD by Intrada in 2007. The film’s budget was estimated to be anywhere from $8 million to $15 million. The picture ended up as the 11th-highest grossing film at the U.S. box office, with a take of $45.8 million.

In the film, several large amusement parks are being terrorized by an anonymous bomber (Timothy Bottoms), who’s already destroyed one rollercoaster, killing dozens in the process. To prevent further deaths, he’s demanding the owners of these parks pay him $1 million in cash. “Harry Calder” (George Segal), an employee of the Dept. of Safety, was the man who, two months earlier, inspected that coaster, and he’s determined to bring this murderer to justice. Harry advises the park owners to call in the F.B.I., which assigns special agent “Hoyt” (Richard Widmark) to the case.

ROLLERCOASTER was Universal’s third film made with Sensurround® sound, a multi-track system using extra theater speakers. It was the first film in which real location sound effects were recorded in Sensurround. A separate Sensurround sound crew was on hand throughout location filming, recording on prototype equipment designed for extremely low and high frequencies to give the film a dramatically realistic multiple-perspective sound.

In another first, Lalo Schifrin’s musical score was also recorded in Sensurround. Schifrin conducted an 88-piece symphony orchestra for ROLLERCOASTER. Along with the film’s dramatic score and amusement park background music, Schifrin had to create Sensurround musical effects. Schifrin’s score was released on an MCA LP, which was re-issued on CD by MCA in Japan in 1997 and by Universal Music in Japan in 2013. Schifrin slightly expanded the release for his own Aleph label in 2001.

The $9 million production made it into the top 30 films of the year at the domestic box office, with a $27.3 million gross.

Link and Levinson put an in-joke into the film by having the play in which Gil Weston is appearing be Prescription: Murder. Robert Day directed the film, which aired on CBS on 17 February 1979, star Hal Holbrook's 54th birthday. Dick DeBenedictis provided the unreleased score. William Link and Richard Levinson received an Edgar Allan Poe Award for “Best Television Feature or Miniseries.”

William Link and Richard Levinson wrote the screenplay for the made-for-television mystery. David Greene directed the film, which aired on CBS on 26 May 1982. Billy Goldenberg provided the unreleased score.

Link and Levinson rewrote the screenplay into a stage play entitled Killing Jessica, for the London West End Stage in 1986. It premiered on 19 November, and was attended by HRH The Queen Mother and HRH The Princess Margaret (Mother and Sister of HM The Queen). The play starred Patrick McNee and was directed by Brian Forbes.

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In GUILTY CONSCIENCE. “Arthur Jamison” (Anthony Hopkins) is a brilliant and successful criminal defense attorney. There's just one problem. His wife “Louise” (Blythe Danner) has decided to file for divorce and is planning to milk him for all he is worth. Since Arthur doesn't want that, he needs to figure out a way to kill her. But, being the attorney he is, he knows that he'd be the first suspect. While he plots various ways to bring about her demise, his mistress “Jackie Wills” (Swoosie Kurtz) shows up unexpectedly. Now what will Arthur do?

William Link and Richard Levinson wrote this crime drama, which was directed by David Greene. The film aired on CBS on 2 April 1985. Billy Goldenberg provided the unreleased score. Link and Levinson received their third Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television Feature or Miniseries.

William Link and Richard Levinson wrote the screenplay for the film, based upon a play by Robert Thomas. David Greene directed the film, which aired on CBS on 4 May 1986. Kenneth Wannberg's score has not had a release.

The key plot point of the story, that it was the non-smoker who came down with cancer, didn't really happen. In real-life, Richard Levinson was the smoker. Directed by Glenn Jordan, the film aired on ABC on 15 April 1991. David Shire provided the unreleased score

James Woods and John Lithgow in THE BOYS

In 1994, working with David Black, Link wrote the screenplay for his last television film, THE COSBY MYSTERIES. In the film, after hitting the lottery and taking a bullet all in the same day, NYPD criminalist “Guy Hanks” (Bill Cosby) retires from the force. He isn't gone long before his ex-partner asks for Guy's expertise in the case of a murdered corporate executive. Retirement proves no match for the thrill of the chase, and soon Guy is in the thick of a case where his main suspects keep falling victim to the killer. William Link made a cameo appearance in the film as Guy Hanks' music teacher.

Directed by Jerry London, the crime-comedy aired on NBC on 31 January 1994. This was to have been the first in a series of "Cosby Mysteries" TV movies. But instead of producing more movies, NBC decided to turn it into a series. Link developed the series at Cosby's request, as Cosby wanted to make an intelligent, character-driven mystery series that did not rely on graphic violence.

NBC premiered the hour-long series on Wednesday, 21 September 1994, at 8 PM. While ABC and CBS programmed little-remembered sitcoms in the timeslot, the show’s biggest competition was “Beverly Hills 90210” on Fox.

The show’s premiere ranked 54th among the season's network prime time series. Executive producer William Link criticized NBC for not effectively advertising the show before its premiere launch. NBC Entertainment president Warren Littlefield blamed Bill Cosby for not using his personal fame to promote the show. At the beginning of 1995, William Link and David Black were dropped from the production team by NBC. But the show’s fate was already sealed, and it was cancelled after 18 episodes.