 The shows format was partially inspired by the NBC Columbo mystery  movies staring Peter Falk (I) (qv). Both started out with the  crime being seen form the criminals point of view and with them  confident that they can get away with it. However, they then get  outsmarted by a brilliant detective. The shows differ in that  "Columbo" usually shows the full crime in the beginning while in  "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" the viewer is only shown enough to be  a few steps ahead of the detectives in knowing what happened. Goren  and Columbo also have very different styles in analyzing the crime  and the suspects.