Elsbeth gets her Columbo moment

Waiting for the pandemic to end, Robert and Michelle King re-discovered a key fact: People like stories that end.
“Every night, we wanted to watch an episode of ‘Columbo,’” Robert said, “instead of the eight-hour movies that were thrown our way.”
So they created “Elsbeth” (shown here), the fun murder-mystery that debuts at 10 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 29) on CBS. It fits a pattern that works for CBS.
Some others – especially on cable or streaming – have stories that stretch on for 8 or 10 weeks or more. CBS, however, prefers tales to end each hour.
Sometimes, that succeeds thoroughly. In its premiere week (Feb. 12-18), CBS had the 16 top-rated shows. That included 11 dramas – one two-parter and 10 self-contained tales.
The Kings followed that plan: Each week, a clever murder is solved by Elsbeth Tascioni.
She’s a bright-but-bizarre lawyer they created for “The Good Wife” and continued in “The Good Life” … occasionally.
In 12 seasons of the two shows, Elsbeth only did 19 episodes. “Never knowing when I was going to play it again, it has been truly a gift every time it comes up,” said Carrie Preston, who plays her.
Certainly, Preston had other things to keep her busy. She did six seasons of “True Blood,” five of “Claws,” guest spots on others. She and her husband Michael Emerson (an Emmy-winner for “The Practice” and “Lost”) are sort of the power couple of quirky.
But now she gets to be the star. The idea is that Elsbeth has been sent to New York to observe a police unit that’s under suspicion. Incapable of merely observing, she soon starts solving crimes.
The head cop (Wendell Pierce) promptly assigns one of his people, Kaya (shown here with Elsbeth), to keep an eye on her. The result? “Kaya and Elsbeth are underestimated by people around them,” Preston said. “I think they bond in that way.”
Elsbeth promptly solves crimes, starting with a canny adversary played by Stephen Moyer, one of Preston’s old “True Blood” colleagues. She also brings humor.
“I write everything funny,” said Jonathan Tolins, whom the Kings hired as showrunner. “I can’t help it. I feel like we spend most of our lives trying to make each other laugh.”
Even when there’s a killer who’s too smart for anyone but Columbo or Elsbeth.