Columbo, Romania and the Communist Party

In 1974 the Romanian Communist Party contacted Peter Falk, known for the titular role in Columbo, to ask him to record a message promoting the series, which was so popular in Romania there were fears that people would take to the streets if it was taken off the air. A bizarre story, pieced together and complemented by a lost-and-found interview with Peter Falk on the subject. CLARIFICATION: At the time of writing there was no easily available online archive of David Letterman’s talkshow. In the last year, the official Letterman YouTube channel has started uploading clips from the show, but the Peter Falk interview has not been uploaded. All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel do not claim any right over them. “Late Show with David Letterman” is the property of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. “Columbo” is the property of NBCUniversal Syndication Studios. Sources: Chicago Tribune article: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c... inPolitics.ro article: https://inpolitics.ro/a-fost-columbo-... Charlie Rose interview with Peter Falk:    • Video   David Letterman episode with Peter Falk interview: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4881860/... David Letterman interview with Peter Falk: https://www.tumblr.com/tiganas/695750... Wikileaks Documents: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cable... https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... https://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cable... https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/19... Blog Don Giller: https://donzblog.home.blog/ Don Giller YouTube channel:    / dongiller   Columbo statue in Hungary:    • Why Is There a Columbo Statue In the Middl...   Letterman YouTube channel (where the interview might be officially uploaded some day):    / @letterman   VIDEO/AUDIO MATERIALS FROM: Columbo (1971-2003) Madigan (1972-1973) Kojak (1973-1978) Nea Mărin Miliardar (1979) Late Show with David Letterman (1993-2015) Filantropica (2000) Gyakuten Kenji 2 (2011) Thanks to Don Giller for the Letterman clip and to Claudiu Oprea for sound recording and to Cătălin Mesaru text editing! #columbo