Since I’m on a Columbo kick, consider his first regular appearance in Episode 1, “Murder by the Book.” When Steven Spielberg (yup) directed this episode in 1971, he created one of television’s most brilliant character introductions, one that established the template for the entire series.
The lieutenant appears behind a recently widowed character at a drinking fountain, almost out of thin air, and is soft-spoken and down-to-earth: “I’m just another cop.” He’s a little rumpled and awkward, too, and he escorts the other character home, where he cooks for her in her own kitchen. What a cutie.
We recently checked out Brandon McNulty‘s video on strong character introductions, so let’s pull his best tips and apply them.
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Establish an Emotional Connection
You have about 30 seconds to make your audience care, so choose your weapon wisely. Make us feel sympathy by showing vulnerability—a character dealing with loss or facing impossible odds. Build empathy by revealing relatable motivations. Show us the special skills your character has.
Columbo immediately creates empathy by helping someone instead of interrogating them. He’s the only cop who treats the grieving widow with genuine kindness, which makes us relate to his humanity.
Create Immediate Intrigue
We don’t need to know everything about a character right away. Peeling away layers and learning more is part of what makes a story compelling. Your introduction can raise more questions than it answers.
With Columbo, we wonder at his motivations. We might ask how and why he flies under the radar on the police force. Is this guy actually sharper than he appears, or is he really just bumbling around? I couldn’t believe the first time I watched this episode that he was actually cooking for a victim. It was unlike anything I’d seen before.
Drop Viewers Into Their World
Skip any heavy backstory or exposition and show us who a character is right now. A surgeon should be performing surgery, not talking about med school, for instance. Trust your audience to pick up context clues. Showing them in action will be more exciting, anyway.
Columbo is a detective through and through, always questioning, noticing small details, and popping up at crime scenes. The show is actually totally focused on his work life, and we never see him at home (so much that his wife is mentioned, but never seen).
Build in Conflict
Static characters kill momentum. Your character needs to want something in their very first scene, and something needs to stand in their way. Internal conflict works just as well.
For Columbo, the conflict is baked in. He’s always on the trail of a murderer. His messy, self-deprecating manner often contrasts with the suspect, who is confident they’re about to get away.
Consider Style
How a character moves through the world tells us who they are. Their clothing choices, speech patterns, and presence all communicate that to an audience. But you obviously don’t want to overwrite a character. It’s about being economical and picking the details that have the most impact.
For instance, you could describe Columbo in one line: “A gruff detective with messy hair wears a wrinkled raincoat and puffs on a cigar, squinting in the LA sun.” He’s almost anti-style, not the cool detective you’d expect. So play with subversion, too!
Match Screen Time to Story Importance
Your main character deserves a memorable entrance. A small side character might not need so much detail. If it’s someone who has one line, you might not even include any description, depending on your tastes.
As the title character, Columbo deserves a significant introduction, but Spielberg chooses understatement over spectacle, and that becomes standard on the show. He usually arrives late, sometimes hilariously in his beat-up old car. And we can usually pick out the murderer in the episode quickly, because of the focus they get.
I disagree with McNulty’s nitpicking of the bartender character from John Wick to some extent, because there’s an interesting amount of suggested history between the two characters that I find compelling. If you, as a write,r don’t have any idea who a character is or how they might know another character, there’s a good chance that their interaction will be dull as ditchwater. Why not give it some flavor instead? I’m okay with how that scene plays out, even if it’s not as important to the overall plot. I like an intriguing side character we might never see again.
I think the main takeaway from this bit of advice is to find the happy medium. Know your characters, and know which ones to play up and which ones to let exit quietly.
What are some of your favorite character introductions? (And feel free to also tell me your favorite Columbo episode.”
