A Real-Life Cop Who Appeared In Columbo Got His Own Short-Lived TV Show

Despite being an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk) doesn't really act like a cop. He's rather unconcerned with his uniform or following police protocol, and he even stands up against a corrupt superior in one of the show's best episodes. Columbo is a deeply unusual cop, and in the season 3 premiere, a real-life celebrity cop with some unusual quirks of his own had a small background role. In the episode "Lovely but Lethal," real-life police officer Dave Toma appears in uniform and lets Columbo and the Sergeant (John Finnegan) know that there's a potential witness outside. It's a very short scene, but it marked the beginning of Toma's career in crime television.

Before his TV work, Toma worked as an undercover detective in the narcotics division of the Newark Police Department in Newark, New Jersey. He got so good at doing different disguises that he started to earn attention after he retired from policing, even doing an appearance on the daytime talk show "The Mike Douglas Show" in 1971, showing off his abilities. From there, he went to "Columbo" in 1973, and then onto not just one, but two ABC shows based on his exploits. 

Only a month or so after the season 3 "Columbo" premiere and David Toma's television acting debut, the crime drama "Toma" premiered on ABC, starring Tony Musante as Detective Toma and continuing the story set forth in a TV movie of the week with the same name that had aired that previous March. The show was about a fictionalized version of Toma, who was a master of disguise and went undercover in all kinds of different situations. Toma himself even appeared in background roles in several episodes, but unfortunately, the show was cancelled after just one season because Musante wanted out. 

The show was brought back, sort of, in the form of "Baretta," which starred the late Robert Blake as Baretta, a softened and even more fictionalized version of Toma. "Baretta" did better for ABC, running for four seasons from 1975 to 1978. 

Toma's real-life career sounds like it was truly something, as he allegedly made around 7,000 arrests in his 11 years as a detective, with an absolutely bonkers 98% conviction record. He told People in 1980: "I was very creative. I developed about 30 disguises so I could mingle with the crowd." With all of the great revivals of shows from decades past, maybe it's time for an updated twist on "Baretta" or "Toma," because there's a lot to work with there.