The show's format was partially inspired by the NBC Columbo mystery movies staring Peter Falk. Both started out with the crime being seen from 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.