Heartwarming / Columbo

• In "Murder by the Book", Columbo, seeing that the victim's wife is overwhelmed by the chaos of a group of cops searching her husband's office, gently offers to take her back to her house and insists on making her something to eat when they get there.
• In "Death Lends a Hand", Brimmer does act unethical running his detective business, and try to hide his accidental manslaughter. However, at the end when he gets checkmated by Columbo, he regretfully confesses to the victim's spouse to assure them that he never wanted to hurt his wife.
• In "Dead Weight", the perp of the week General Hollister starts a relationship with Helen to make her doubt her story after she'd partially witnessed him shooting a man dead at his house. Over the course of the episode, the general appears to develop genuine affection for Helen. When she asks him at dinner if he would've gotten married, he seems rather pensive at the question, as if he'd just realized what he had missed out on while spending most of his life in the army. He's finally caught by Columbo, after which he gives Helen a Heartfelt Apology, but it's heavily implied that if he had gotten away with the murder, he would've happily settled down with Helen.
  • After Hollister is arrested, Helen anguishes over her troubled love life and considers socially locking herself up for the rest of her life. Columbo reassures her that she shouldn’t do that and escorts out of the museum while telling her about his niece who had similar problems like hers.
• In the ending credits sequence of "Murder Of A Rock Star", Columbo is driving down the highway with the top of his car down, singing along to the victim's hit song that's been played earlier in the episode. The camera cuts down to show a brand new battery-operated boombox, purchased from Dhoti's Discount, which ended a small subplot from early in the movie. One of the victim's CDs is also sitting propped up against the boombox. Columbo picks up the cover, looks at it and smiles, almost as if he was reassuring her that she could rest as her killer was caught.
• The episode "Any Old Port in A Storm" when Columbo allows Donald Pleasance's vineyard owner a final drink (and makes an effort to choose a wine that Columbo knows he will enjoy) before taking him off to sign his confession.
• In "The Most Crucial Game," Columbo goes to see Eve Babcock, who is alleged to have bugged the victim's phones. Before he can introduce himself, she flirts with him and plans to take him out to dinner, making Columbo realize she is an escort mistaking him for a new client. Though Babcock is frightened when reveals his true identity to her, Columbo puts her at ease, reassuring her that he won't arrest her, and even advising her to put her "appointment book" where he can’t see it. Considering the way that most sex workers were treated in similar detective shows in the 70s and 80s, it's downright progressive that Columbo doesn't judge her for her profession and treats her the same as he does everyone else!
• The season five premiere "Forgotten Lady." It's the one time when Columbo doesn't arrest the perpetrator, who is terminally ill, dying of a brain tumor that's degrading her mental faculties and caused her to forget she killed her husband. Her devoted partner confesses in her stead, agreeing with Columbo the truth will come out at trial but that will likely take months to happen, giving her the time to die in peace.
• "By Dawn's Early Light" had one between Columbo and Col. Rumford. Col. Rumford expresses a deep remorse at the state of the world and its need for police and the military, and hopes that one day he could just retire, the world no longer fighting, and that Columbo could also retire when the world finally becomes peaceful enough to have no further need of the police. It actually made the killer feel even more sympathetic, as he only did what he did because he felt that turning the military academy into a junior college would be a severe blow to the military, which he felt was an unfortunate necessity but one that should be preserved as long as it was needed.
• At the end of the episode "Swan Song", Columbo catches the killer (played by Johnny Cash) as he tries to remove evidence from the crime scene way up in the mountains. He's amazed that he's alone and when they get into his car to drive back, he asks him:
  Tommy Brown: Aren't you afraid being up here alone with a killer?
  Lt. Columbo: No, sir. No, sir, I had a feeling that sooner or later...
  (Columbo turns on the radio playing one of his songs)
  Lt. Columbo: Sooner or later, you would've confessed even if I hadn't caught you.
  Tommy Brown: Yeah, you're right Lieutenant, I would've. Because it was getting to me and I'm glad it's over.
  Lt. Columbo: Listen, any man that can sing like that can't be all bad.
• The ending of "The Bye Bye Sky-Hi IQ Case" features a low-key, moving scene where Columbo and the murderer (who is a member of a Mensa-like group) share stories about their struggles with issues of intelligence. They find, despite their vastly different 'official' IQ levels, that they can relate to each other very well.
• The ending of "Rest in Peace Mrs. Columbo," where, after having caught a culprit that was planning to (and thought she had) killed her, Columbo calls his wife to check in on her. The familiarity and affection evident by what he says is adorable.
  • While most episodes end with Columbo lightly taunting the perp or engaging in amicable small talk with them while he's arresting them, this one has him (mildly) going off on the perp. Even though Columbo doesn't shout at the her, he lets her know in no uncertain terms just how disappointed he is that she tried to kill his wife of all people. Audiences now know how protective of a husband he is.
• Columbo's speech in "Try And Catch Me." He's asked to come on stage, and perfectly explains why he's still a detective despite all the death he has to deal with. Because he loves meeting new people, he loves his job, and he truly believes that there's good in everyone.
  Columbo: I didn't expect anything like this. I came here just like you to enjoy the famous Abigail Mitchell. As for all that chemical stuff, I think Miss Mitchell was putting on because I don't know anything about that. And about my work being dark and frightening, I'll tell you the truth, I'm not sure about that either. I like my job. Oh, I like it a lot. And I'm not depressed by it. And I don't think the world is full of criminals and full of murderers because it isn't. It's full of nice people just like you. And if it wasn't for my job, I wouldn't be getting to meet you like this. And I'll tell you something else. Even with some of the murderers that I meet, I even like them too. Sometimes, like them, and even respect them. Not for what they did, certainly not for that. But for that part of them which is intelligent, or funny, or just nice. Because there's niceness in everyone. A little bit, anyhow. You can take a cop's word for it. Thank you, ladies.
• In "Murder Under Glass," Columbo investigates the murder of Italian restaurateur Vittorio. At the funeral, Vittorio's grieving head chef promises Columbo that until he completes his investigation, he "will never go hungry," a promise that all of Vittorio's friends - fellow restaurateurs, chefs, and even wait staff - honor with gusto, even before the promise was officially made. Everywhere Columbo goes when pursuing leads, they go out of their way to feed him for free, with Vittorio's chef personally cooking for him several times^note The killer first meets Columbo eating cioppino the chef made for him AT THE CRIME SCENE, even though he was shaken at the death of his boss and best friend barely an hour before. It's pretty expensive food too, for the 1970s. It not only shows how appreciative the restaurateurs are of Columbo, especially since even innocent people tend to view him as a threat or a nuisance, but also how much they genuinely loved Vittorio and how ready they were to help bring his killer to justice.
• "Ashes to Ashes" has one from Columbo's dog. While visiting Verity Chandler's house, Columbo notices that Dog is acting rather peculiar, urging to go in the house for no apparent reason. Later, it's revealed by the basset hound that Verity's bulldog puppy was in another part of the house, starving and thirsty. Dog basically saved that puppy's life! Between this and Columbo's livid and urgent insistence on revitalizing the poor little thing, this is one of the highlights of the episode to warm one's heart.

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