Mrs. Columbo

One of the greatest television detectives ever was Frank Columbo. Played by Peter Falk, the rumpled detective seemed to be in over his head, but he always arrested the right perpetrator in the end. It was a no-brainer to try to take advantage of his popularity with a spin-off show. NBC decided to greenlight a drama based on Columbo's oft-mentioned but never seen wife- Mrs. Columbo.

Starring Kate Mulgrew as Kate Columbo (Columbo actually referred to her as "Rose Columbo" on his show, a discrepancy that is never explained) the show never features Mr. Columbo.

That could explain why the show wasn't as successful as had been hoped. NBC tried everything to make the show successful, it even tried using three different show titles:

The aforementioned Mrs. Columbo:

Then, after a divorce from Mr. Columbo, it was Kate Loves a Mystery:

And lastly, Kate the Detective:

Amazingly, the show lasted less than a full season, going through all of these name changes in just 16 episodes.