Just One More Thing: A Columbo Rewatch
Join father-daughter duo Fletch and Abby as they revisit Columbo, one murder and one episode at a time. Whether you’ve watched every episode or you’re meeting Lt. Columbo for the first time, hit play and listen along.
From elaborate alibis to the moment the killer realizes they’ve underestimated the wrong detective, we’re talking favorite scenes, memorable villains, questionable ’70s decor, and the enduring charm of Peter Falk.
Expect laughs, family banter, and plenty of affectionate overthinking.
One raincoat, one cigar, and one final question at a time.
Just One More Thing: A Columbo Rewatch
Prescription: Murder - The Doctor Will Deceive You Now
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A psychiatrist, an actress, and a carefully rehearsed alibi. What could possibly go wrong?
Fletch and Abby dive into Prescription: Murder, Peter Falk’s first appearance as Lieutenant Columbo. We follow Dr. Ray Flemming’s plan to get away with murder—and the persistent detective who has just a few questions.
Join us for the scheme, the showdown, and our favorite moments as our father-daughter rewatch gets its first case.
Watch first, then join us. Spoilers ahead!
Find it on Peacock: Columbo Movie: Prescription Murder
Every mystery has an answer. Every conversation has just one more thing. Join this father-daughter podcasting duo as they revisit television's most disarming detective. One raincoat, one cigar, and one final question at a time. You are listening to the Just One More Thing podcast. And here are your hosts, Fletch.
SPEAKER_01Hey, welcome to Just One
Welcome
SPEAKER_01More Thing, a Columbo Rewatch Podcast. I'm Fletch. And I'm Abby. And today we are going back to the beginning. The very first episode, Prescription Murder. Abby, I have a little intro for us about this show. So do you know when Columbo first started? Which what year? Yeah. 19 oh, the year you were born, 1968, right? That's when this episode came out, but I have a little background
Intro to Episode and Trivia
SPEAKER_01for you. So Columbo was created by Richard Levinson and William Link. They're the two writers. And they said that Columbo was partially inspired by Crime and Punishment, the Dostoevsky book. But also Oh, really? Yeah, also G.K. Chesterton's uh Father Brown. But so the Columbo character started as a mystery series on TV back in 1960. And it wasn't Peter Falk, it wasn't the Columbo we know, but they turned that into a theater production, and it was a stage play called Prescription Murder, which debuted in San Francisco at the Kern Theater in 1962. So I did a little, I did a little snooping, I did a little Columboing for us on this one. And then in 1968, that play was made into what we're talking about today, which was a two-hour television movie for NBC. And do you know who they originally wanted to play Columbo?
SPEAKER_02I do not. I didn't know any of this.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I thought they want they wanted Bing Crosby for the role of Columbo, but he turned it down because he felt it would take too much time away from his golf game.
SPEAKER_02No way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So it was the director of this episode, Richard Irving, that the writers talked to, and he said, I think Peter Falk would be perfect for it. Even though every other version of Columbo, the the original television series and the stage play had a much, much older Columbo. But he said, I think Peter Falk would be per perfect at it.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, so it was created as this Well, his his loss, our game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no kidding. I mean, I can't imagine Bing Crosby being Columbo. So this was a one-off movie of the week. And due to its huge success, NBC requested that they do a pilot several years later, and it took three years until 1971. And that's the second episode we're going to talk about in our next show called Ransom for a Dead Man. It was that popularity of these two TV movies that created the NBC mystery movie that Columbo became the series of. So a few more little facts before we get into this episode. Columbo's wardrobe, we've talked about his raincoat. Totally provided by Peter Falk.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah, I think I remember that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they were his clothes, the the shoes he wore, the shabby raincoat, which all showed up in this episode. I had this quote from Peter Falk. He said, I just felt comfortable in the raincoat. And he often abli adlibbed all of the little quirky behaviors, you know, fumbling through the pockets, finding a grocery list, trying to find a pencil, getting distracted. That was all Peter Falk. He he brought all of those little idiosyncrasies in the moment when he was dealing with a suspect. And then he really insisted that you keep all of these in the show because it would often throw the actors off balance. And he thought that helped make Yeah, that's perfect. Yeah. And all the the impatient reactions, the confusion, he thought that made his antics seem more genuine. And then one more thing. Oh, 100%. The the funny I said and one more thing. The line one more thing was conceived when the two writers actually wrote the play for the one that performed in San Francisco. Levinson said this. He said, We had a scene that was too short, and we'd already had Columbo made his act make his exit, and we were just too lazy to retype the scene. So we had him come back and say, Oh, just one more thing. That was never planned, and yet that's the name of our podcast. And that's one more little juicy bit. So those are my little trivia going into this episode. Fun, huh?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right. So I didn't know any of that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so this one, you're right. It filmed in 1968. And it's the very first time we meet Peter Fawkes Colombo. And so let's why don't we just do an overview of this show? You want to take it from here? What's the murder all about? How did it happen?
SPEAKER_02Okay, so I don't remember who the actor is. You'll have to you'll have to tell me who the actor is.
Episode Overview
SPEAKER_02Is it James Bond?
SPEAKER_01It's not James Bond. I know you said that last episode, but this he looks like him. He's just debonair.
SPEAKER_02It kind of does, yeah. So it's a psychiatrist. You said it you this episode, they really take a lot of time to show you the setup for the murder. And that's a good like fourth of the episode. Is this psychiatrist and his wife are having a party? He leaves the party to go see his mistress, and then he comes back. You that's when you find out the wife knows about the mistress and has kind of given the murderer an ultimatum of it's her or me, and if it's not me, then I'm gonna destroy your career and take all of your money.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, blackmails him almost.
SPEAKER_02You yeah, blackmails him, and you come to find out as the watcher that he's known about this ultimatum and this consequence essentially. And so then the episode goes on, and you come to find out he's planned this entire murder with his mistress, and he tells his wife he's gonna take her to Mexico for an anniversary gift, and and then kills her that night. He strangles her in their apartment and then makes it look like a robbery. So he takes some object, smashes open the door, makes it look like she's been robbed, and then he and the mistress, who's dressed up as his wife, leave for Mexico. They get on the plane, stage a whole fight, she leaves the plane, so then it looks like you know his wife has gone back home and he's gone on to Mexico without her. I think Acapulco.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And really that was the gift to her to kind of to calm her down. He almost does like a what do we call that when you he like gaslights her? You think I'm doing this, but I'm I've been secretly planning to take you to Mexico.
SPEAKER_02Part of the whole thing is that he's brought the several objects from his home that looked like they had been stolen from the fake robber and takes them in a pack in what's that called? His left.
SPEAKER_01Suitcase. Yeah, suitcase.
SPEAKER_02Suitcase. He takes it to the airport, it's overweight, he charges it on his credit card. So, and there's a reason I'm bringing all of this up because it comes up later in the episode. He goes to Mexico, he goes on a fishing trip, he dumps all of that, those objects, valuables in the ocean, and then returns back, you know, a week later, and then that's when Columbo comes in. 39 minutes.
SPEAKER_0139 minutes into the show. That's when Columbo. Yeah. And this this is the only time you don't see Columbo like right off the bat.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, totally. Okay, so after Columbo enters the scene, he he's at the murderer's apartment. What's the murderer's name? I can't remember off the top of the name.
SPEAKER_01Oh, he's a doctor, Dr. Fleming.
SPEAKER_02Dr. Fleming.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I don't remember his first name. So Dr. Fleming, he's at Dr. Fleming's apartment. That's when he meets him, which is a perfect example of Columbo already throwing the murderer off by showing up at his house.
SPEAKER_01And then he's there when the guy walks in from Mexico.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So surprise. Here I am.
SPEAKER_01Dr. Ray Fleming. That was his.
SPEAKER_02Ray, that's what it is. Okay. So then he the Ray Fleming thinks that his wife is dead, thinks he's gotten away with his murderer or murder, and the police are there investigating the murder and the robbery. However, he's thrown off guard because Columbo tells him his wife is still alive.
SPEAKER_01Oh, she survived. And she's at the hospital.
SPEAKER_02And she's at the hospital. And Ray is sweating bullets, as they say. So they go to the hospital, they're waiting to hear and whether or not she's survived. And she dies like right when he shows up. Almost right when he shows up. He's kind of waiting for her. And then Columbo says, Oh, the last thing she said was your name. The only thing she said, she woke up, she said your name, and she died.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the doctor comes out and he says he only did she say anything. And he goes, Yeah, she only said one thing. She said your name. And Columbo's there when that doctor says it.
SPEAKER_02Right. So then leads into them investigating this as a murder and Columbo harassing Ray Fleming for the rest of the episode, basically. Oh, they go back to the apartment. This is something I forgot. When they're at the apartment, Ray gets called by his mistress. Oh, yeah. Makes it sound like it was just a patient, but Columbo is there watching the the interaction the whole time. So you know that he's been contacted by the mistress. You don't know if Columbo knows there is a mistress. So there comes this point in the episode, maybe about two-thirds in, where you think that Columbo maybe is bested. And Ray, the murderer, thinks Columbo is bested. So Columbo turns to the mistress. I don't know how he finds out who she is. He bumps into her. Oh, I do know how. He bumps into her. Yeah. In the office. He goes to the office, he bumps into her, and because he's Columbo, he can he knows, you know, this is more than just a patient. So he shows up. The mistress is an actress. Yeah, that's how he acted. She acted to be his wife. And so he shows up on set, where she's on set as, you know, a Roman lady or something like that. And he's just asks basically to speak with her and kind of pressures her. And this is something that we can get into a little bit later, but his whole scene with the mistress is a little bit unlike the Columbo that we see in the rest of the seasons. Oh, yeah. Because he gets a little bit tough with her. And you don't really see tough Columbo. Maybe there are two or three other episodes in the entire series where he just lays into whoever he's talking to. And he really lays into her. Like he shouts at her. And you don't ever hear Columbo shout. So he just basically really pressures her and she doesn't break. And so then he leaves her alone and is just basically tells her, I'm going to hound you forever until you give in. And so then he leaves and she contacts Ray that night. I think he she calls him and says, I didn't give in, but he really pressured me and blah blah blah. And Ray tells her, Okay, we can't see each other. Do not come see me. Just, you know, have a little drink and we'll see each other at our appointment tomorrow and we can figure out what to do. So cut to the kind of climax of the whole episode, the end of the whole episode, he is in his office, he's expecting to see her for their appointment for at 10 a.m. and it's 10 30, so he tells his secretary to call, and she doesn't pick up. I think both times or somebody else picks up and is and she's the secretary's trying to say, Hey, you know, he's her psychiatrist, he wants to know what's going on, blah blah blah. Ray gets concerned, he drives out to her house, and that's where he sees her being taken out of the pool by policemen, assuming or allegedly dead. And Columbo's there, and Columbo tells her, or tells Ray, the murderer, she overdosed on barbiturates. Which barbit's very big in the show. Oh, yeah. Let me tell you. Oh, yeah. I, in my generation, never hear about barbituates. I know what barbituates are because of Columbo. So so that was huge back then, apparently. And so then Columbo says, You did all I don't get it. I don't get what like you did all of this for her. You loved her, you did this so that you could be with her.
SPEAKER_01And you don't get the girl from that angle. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And you don't even get the girl. So what are you doing? And Ray basically says, You're so silly. I never loved her. I I this was not for her. I never loved her. I I needed somebody. She was an actress that was basically mentally unstable, and I I needed her, so she just played a role that I needed.
unknownDuncan.
SPEAKER_02Dun dun dun in comes the alive mistress. Joan Columbo has played her.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Joan comes from behind the wall.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And so she is like, oh, Ray, he, you dirty dog, whatever she says. And he realizes he really messed up. And that's kind of the end of the episode. Oh, and then he looks over and he sees that the fake Joan who had allegedly died in the pool was just an actress. It is.
SPEAKER_01He uses psychology to capture the psychologist, the psychiatrist. Yeah, that's the episode. It's very classic. Yeah, such a good plot, right? The guy thinks he gets away with it. So, okay, let's get into this. This this episode, there's I made so many notes on
Gorgeous Homes In Columbo
SPEAKER_01this episode. What is it with people living in gorgeous penthouses? Oh my gosh. And then her house, it's actually a famous house. I looked it up. I showed it to mom because it's for sale in LA. That that overlooking house.
SPEAKER_02Also, like not a super famous actress, an up-and-coming actress living in this gorgeous home by herself. And I'm like, I don't think this is how actresses live their lives.
SPEAKER_01Well, the link I went to is no one wants to buy LA's most famous mid-century house completely surrounded with windows, looking over the LA picture. It's called the Stall House, S-T-A-H-L. And it went on the market in 2025 for, wait for it, $25 million. So yeah, what is it? Like he lives in this fancy place, she's there, everybody's overacted. I mean, this is classic 60s television. You know, he's a totally he's like a 60s, 70s actor, like the character that plays the doctor. She's his wife is like an over-the-top actress. Yeah. So much in this episode is just classic 60s. One other thing I noted, did you notice LA? Total smog across the the look of LA. So yeah, that he has to deal with the this guy's obviously, he's a psychiatrist, and his best friend is the district attorney. Works in the district attorney's office.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Oh, I forgot about that part. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01There is a part in the episode where Columbo gets thrown off the case.
SPEAKER_02Thrown, quote unquote, thrown off the case. He tries to get Columbo thrown off the case. Columbo goes to him and starts saying, Hey, I wanted to come say goodbye because I was taken off this case. And then later says to the mistress, Joan, she said, How oh, this is what gave it away. I forgot about this part. They were she was trying not to reveal, she was basically doing a very good job of saying, I don't know anything, I don't know anything. But she called the doctor Ray. She actually called the doctor Ray.
SPEAKER_01That was the first thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, she called him Ray, and he says, Ray. And that's what he kind of lays into her. And then she says, How do why do you even care you're thrown off the case? And he said, How do you know that? And then he reveals to her, I wasn't actually thrown off the case. My supervisor gets really suspicious when people try to throw my detectives on the case. Or mean off the case. So you're on to something hot. Keep going.
SPEAKER_01And that's when he just lays into her. And you're right, you said it during that intro. This is like an angry Columbo. I mean, he I I made the comment in the last episode that we never see Columbo really grilling a subject, like in the box, you know, like a like an actual detective would do. I I mean, I loved the whole cat and mouse with Dr. Fleming. You know, he shows up, shows up at the apartment, shows up at his office. That's just classic Columbo. He does mention one point when he's in his office, there was one funny Columbo scene
Columbo's Extended Family
SPEAKER_01when he talks about the table.
SPEAKER_02I have a note that says, Sister who has a big coffee table, because this is a classic Columbo thing where he brings in somebody he knows to then connect to whatever's going on with the murderer. And a lot of the times he does it with a piece of evidence that is kind of the dooming evidence. And he's like, Well, you know, I have a sister who has a very big coffee table and and a kidney-shaped coffee table.
SPEAKER_01Does he say that? Oh, that's funny. Yeah, my sister, her husband has this kidney-shaped coffee table. I mean, such a classic Columbo statement. I I had a couple things that uh maybe we should spend a moment saying what makes this not feel like a Columbo episode. And for me, it's the first time you meet Columbo and he walks out of the bedroom and he's wearing these goofy-looking white shoes. That was the first thing I noticed. I'm like, Columbo wears like dirty old boots, you know? And he's wearing these like bright white suede shoes. And I'm like, well, that's that's really not Columbo.
SPEAKER_02And then obviously I feel like his whole look is not Columbo.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he's young. I mean, and you gotta realize this was the first episode, and they didn't do another Columbo for three more years. So he had three more years after this to kind of develop who Columbo was gonna be. So what stood out is like 70s to you? We've talked about, you know, obviously the actors
Typical 1970's Content
SPEAKER_01and the houses. I love that he's smoking a cigar in the hospital.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I I took a note on that too.
SPEAKER_01I'm smoking a cigar right now while I do our episode. That's that's gonna be something I do on every episode is smoke a cigar. But he smokes a cigar. Where? Oh, in my dental office. Yeah, sure.
SPEAKER_02In your dental office.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's what we do. I love that he just shows up on a a movie set where Joan is acting. Because you could just like show up. Just you could just be there, just waiting for him. What else?
SPEAKER_02He does that in a lot of episodes where I'm like, I don't really know if you would be there if it was today's day and age.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. He he does the there's some things about this that were artistic too. One was I thought the the Rorsha Rorschash, or I don't know how to say that, like the ink things that psychiatrists use, that's how they intro this episode. I'm like, that's cool, it's very artistic. And then the other one is when Joan is in the apartment the night before her supposed death, it's like super shadowy. And I'm like, she's in an apartment with these bright lights, and the the cop that's stationed down below, he's seeing these big shadows of her against the drapes that she closes. And I'm like, who sits in their apartment overlooking LA with big glass windows with big bright lights? I mean, that was such a director move of the television show to make it even that move.
SPEAKER_02I did think that too. I was like, there's nothing relaxed. You know what would make you being stressed about being accused of murder a huge spotlight in your eyeballs.
unknownExactly.
SPEAKER_02That's what would make this anxiety better. Yeah. And you know what would make it even better? Your psychiatrist saying, have a drink. Right, oh, that's just drink tonight. Get drunk.
SPEAKER_01Just relax with some alcohol.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That was classic, classic 70s. There's just so much in this.
SPEAKER_02I want that psychiatrist. Where can I have him?
SPEAKER_01The other thing is everything is done by actual telephones. You know, like someone calls randomly to the uh his office and they're like, oh, it's for you, prof you know, Lieutenant Colombo. Right, because hey, I'm gonna be here. Call me here if you need me. You know, you think about nowadays where there would just be everybody be on cell phone. Phones.
SPEAKER_02Which is that a thing back then? Because I wrote a note about, and you're making me second guess myself. I said that that was a classic Columbo move because he does that in all the episodes where he gives them the number of where he might be, and then they they call asking for him, and it's always like the murderer who picks it up, or whoever he's interrogating picks it up, and they're like, Oh, actually, this is for you. But maybe that was just a thing of the time.
SPEAKER_01I I think it is, and that's what I'm saying. This is very much a 70s thing. The other 70s thing was like you said, the luggage. You walk up and you give your luggage to the counter, and the guy weighs it and says, Hey, you're 75 pounds overweight. And he's like, Oh, just put it on my credit card. I thought, no, that's something that you know, you fly in Southwest now, you're only allowed to have one bag, let alone two bags and one that's 75 pounds heavy.
SPEAKER_02So how does it Well and I thought, too, they're going to get on their plane and he's like, Oh, it boards in three minutes. I would be literally sweating, sweating, if I was trying to get my luggage on, and they're like, it's boarding in three minutes. No, no, no, that wouldn't happen.
SPEAKER_01So let's talk about the things you wouldn't have
What Wouldn't Work Today
SPEAKER_01gotten away with in this episode. I have a list. Do you have a list?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, go on.
SPEAKER_01You you can start. So the first is the idea of the sorry, the idea. The ID getting on the plane. You know, nowadays you have a photo ID and you show it, and the TSA agent is looking at you, and here's this actress playing Dr. Fleming's wife, and she just gets on the airplane. And the second thing I have is radiation of the bags. The bags would go through and they'd be like, Oh, do you have several candlesticks and what appears to be a table setting for twelve of silver in your bag?
SPEAKER_02And all your wife's jewelry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then I think the other one is just an argument on the plane where she storms off and leaves the plane. That would, you know, that would set off all types of security issues nowadays. So those are my that wouldn't happen today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I also love his reason for the weight. Because Columbo, that was one of the, and we'll get to the one of the little things, but Columbo at one point says, Hey, your your luggage was 75 pounds. When you came back, it was less. And and his do you remember what his answer was? Why did you have such heavy luggage?
SPEAKER_02I don't remember what I remember it being lame.
SPEAKER_01He says, Oh, I took a bunch of medical journals down to read. And Columbo goes, And you didn't bring them back? He goes, No, I read them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right. And I thought that he would really hound him more on that. When I saw that scene happen where it was overweight, I was like, Oh yeah, I remember this. He comes back with it less heavy because he dumps it all in the ocean. And I really thought Columbo would care more about that, which he did care about it, but he just kind of drops it after.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so was there anything else that you thought was atypical for today that you wouldn't get away with?
SPEAKER_02I think I think the robbery setup might not, because of how many cameras there are. They would have looked for camera footage of the robber coming in, and I just think they would have laid more into what is proving that there was actually a robber. And now they you know back then they didn't have maybe as much camera footage, and so they just believed it because the door was broken.
SPEAKER_01Well, he clearly lives in a high-end apartment. That wasn't a house, it was like an apartment. And so camera footage in the entrance to an apartment building nowadays, I think that's definitely something. I mean, he's a wealthy security, and she was his wife was like, you know, she had the money, clearly. You don't live in a place like that anymore that doesn't have outside cameras, inside cameras, a doorman, you know, so much.
SPEAKER_02Codes, so much.
SPEAKER_01So let's move on then to when did Columbo first
When Did Columbo First Suspect
SPEAKER_01have a question about behavior or something.
SPEAKER_02I wrote down he didn't verbalize this, but if you watch his facial expression, he does seem suspicious about the phone call from the mistress, from the mistress, I mean. You can see his face, he kind of like has this face of suspiciousness.
SPEAKER_01I have the one where he cat he immediately has a suspicion, and it's when he's in the hospital, and it's kind of going back and forth between Dr. Fleming is trying to get in to see his wife, and he doesn't have you know hospital privileges. So he calls the head of the hospital, who's he he's personal friends with. And Columbo kind of sidebars and he's talking to the district attorney, and he says, You know, boy, this will be a feather in your cap if you solve this one that can you know do a lot for your career, and something's bugging Columbo. And he he said, Well, do you have any clues? And he goes, Well, no, nothing yet. He said, But there is something odd, and it's the first time that Columbo does this in the history of Colombo. And he says, when he comes in, he doesn't call for his wife. You know, when he came back from Mexico and he says, you know, why didn't he say hello? Why didn't he, you know, when I come home, you know, first thing I say is hello, honey, to Mrs. Columbo. But he didn't come to the city.
SPEAKER_02And I did put that in my notes, I have that point.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_02And then I think I wrote that was when he knew. Dr. Flaming didn't call his wife, and that was when he knew.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02And then and then that he knew from the first moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then when they get the phone call, he's questioning that. You're right, there's like a look that Columbo gives. The second thing I have is that he he did question the heavy luggage. He had taken the time to obviously research the luggage weight. I don't know. Columbo's an amazing detective. He does everything. But he says, you know, why was your luggage so heavy? And then the third one that was the giveaway was the what happened to the dress and the gloves. And we left that out in the description because one of the things that the psychiatrist planned was dress like my wife, put her dress in the overnight cleaning bag, and they will he'd he'd called to clarify that they would pick up the cleaning the next morning so that when the mistress put the dress in the bag, it would be at the dry cleaner. So it looks like the wife came home from the plane, took off her dress, put it in the dry cleaning bag, and then got murdered. And he says, Where, you know, we're we're still wondering where the dress and gloves were. And that's when you realize that the mistress forgot to leave the gloves in all of her confusion. She's kind of a dumb associate. It's at that point, I think Fleming goes, I didn't choose the sharpest tool in the shed to help me with this murder.
SPEAKER_02And he, I thought about this. He says, You know what we need to do? We need him to find the gloves because he will hound me about these gloves until he finds them, and I need him to find them. And I felt like that was another mistake he made because he comes back to his apartment to hide them or something, and Columbo shows up and starts asking about the gloves or something, and the murderer says, Well, well, I just found them. That is the weakest argument you could have given Columbo. I just found them. If I was Columbo, I'd be like, Okay, it's you.
SPEAKER_01You're done. We're done here. He already did think that. Now he just has to put all the pieces together. And what I love, like you said, he knew he wasn't gonna catch the psychiatrist. He was too smart for his own good. But he knew the weak spot would be his accomplice. And he even tells her, he said, you know, at some point, this is going to be an accessory to a murder. That's what you're gonna be charged with, just to get her thrown off. So
Was This A Good Story?
SPEAKER_01well, what did you think? What did you think overall of this murder? Was this a good murder, good story, good plot? Was it a good attempt?
SPEAKER_02I do think this was a good murder. I felt like it took Columbo quite a lot to find what he needed and to get what he needed. There are episodes where he solves it very quickly and it's done and over with, like very, very quickly. And this one, you've you can tell he really kind of has to think and really kind of has to play the murderer. So I felt like it was good. I just there's always, you know, one thing, one little thing the murderer forgets. And and it it is almost perfect, even to the point where there's a moment at the beginning. I don't know if you I mean it's kind of obvious. That's the other thing that's very 70s about this, is they do a lot of very obvious filming. So, for example, he leaves the apartment to go to Mexico and leaves the handkerchief on the phone.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02And you see it and you go, Oh my gosh, that's gonna be the dead giveaway. And he comes back in and grabs it. He realizes he forgot it. So it's it he paid very good attention to detail. It was clearly very premeditated and thought through. And Colombo just knew like this there is this one weak spot, and it's your accomplice. And and I do feel like anytime there is an accomplice in the murderer, in the murder, it it makes the murder more weak. And so that was the thing that got him in the end. What do you think?
SPEAKER_01I thought it was a great murder, but the one I love is that right after, or right when he's killing his wife, he's choking her, and it's like, you know, dun dun dun dun dun, the phone rings, and he gets done murdering her and he goes and answers the phone, and it's his friend, the district attorney, on the phone. You know, and he has to like take a phone call in the middle of a murder because nothing's gonna go to voicemail, nothing's gonna go to an answering machine. It he has to take the phone, and it's like, yeah, we're just getting ready to leave to Mexico now, you know, blah, blah, blah. And he's so creepy cool. He's just so he's so psychiatrist cool. Doesn't touch anything, destroy, you know, breaks the glass, does this whole thing, and then at that last minute remembers the handkerchief.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I almost wondered if the phone call was the reason she was alive. I have something to ask you, actually. Do you think she was actually alive?
SPEAKER_01Well, obviously she wasn't dead, but I'm trying they never really tell you how she's found or how long she was unconscious on the ground because it was a long time. And the mistress never goes into the apartment. When she comes back to drop the dress off, she just puts it in the bag out by the door and then leaves again. So yeah. Any let's talk about humorous things. Are there anything in here that was funny? I mean, I
What Made Us Laugh
SPEAKER_01I love the kidney-shaped coffee table. I love that he needs to borrow a pencil, which is a classic Columbo move. And he says, he goes, You know, can I borrow a pencil? You know, my wife gives me one. I just can't ever I can never seem to keep a hold of my pencils. And then it's, you know, the the one more things and all that. So there was some some fun little humor even in the first episode. We got some of that Columbo humor.
SPEAKER_02I think I do think this one is more serious than any of the other episodes or most of the other episodes, but I do think it's funny, and this is a classic Columbo move. He comes in, I think right around the time that he realizes I'm not gonna get the murderer. I need to, I need to get him in a different angle, I need to go a different angle. But he asks him, would you take me on as a patient? I seem to bother people, I seem to make them nervous. And I was giggling at that because it's just he's very honest about who he is, and he knows that if he's honest about who he is, that's kind of an angle to go with this murder murderer with Dr. Fleming. But I just think it's funny. But I seem to bother people, I seem to make them nervous.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Alright, so this is the part of the
Just One More Thing
SPEAKER_01episode where we're each going to share our just one more thing, something that stood out special. And mine, I wish I could play a clip of it for you, but I'm just gonna describe it to you. So we've talked about this whole murder, we've talked about everything that happened, and my just one more thing is when he goes to the studio to talk to Joan, and he meets her out on the main lot, and he he's talking to her, he's like, We should go in. And he's got something with him that he wants to show her. So he goes in to the set with her and he says, Is it okay if I smoke in here? Do you remember this scene? And uh and he pulls out a cigar, he goes, uh, it was all about the I didn't get thrown off the case, but he goes, Um, I I wanted you you don't mind if I uh smoke, and she says no, and he goes, because some women don't like cigars. You know, Mrs. Colombo, she prefers a pipe.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01And he goes, but I just uh it's just too many things to manage.
SPEAKER_02Too much, too many things to manage, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I go, too many things to manage. You got so much crap in your pockets, dude. You can handle a pipe and a lighter.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So mine was I just love that, like, because I'm a pipe smoker, and I I'm like, we were that close to Colombo being a pipe smoker instead of a cigar smoker.
SPEAKER_02So you know, I I know you know this, but there I think the cigar is even added on as part of who Columbo is because it's more, more kind of makes him gritty and and not gritty in like a gritty in like a disheveled way. It makes him more disheveled and more less respected because cigars, I think maybe at least the types of cigars he smokes are a little bit more not that respected. Whereas a pipe he might look a little bit more like Sherlock Holmes-y, and I would assume they have this assumption with pipe smokers, like, oh, you're you're wise. Yeah, you're wise. And you're like, I just like tobacco.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I do, and we're gonna see it in other episodes. The the cigar, there's so many fun cigar moments as I think about the series. But so my just one more thing was that he he did this whole interaction where it's like, you don't mind if I smoke. You know, Mrs. Columbo, she likes cigars. Did you have did you have just one more thing?
SPEAKER_02I do. My just one more thing, not as fun. I thought my just one more thing thought on on this is I really loved the style of the victim being alive because correct me if I'm wrong, I think that's the only time that happens.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know what? I I think you're right. I don't think anybody else because that was a really good gotcha when he's there and that you know, oh, she said one thing, what'd she say? She said your name. Oh man, that was good. Because that even throws the the the viewer off because we're we're for sure she's dead, so like how's he gonna get away with it? And that just adds that twist.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I really for some reason I thought I remembered that she gave him away and said, Oh, it was Ray who murdered me, and then Columbo just plays him the whole episode, but but then I realized that's not the case. It was, I don't know what I was remembering. A dream, maybe, but I love that style a lot, and I felt like that was unique for this episode.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so that wraps up Prescription Murder,
Show Wrap Up
SPEAKER_01our very first rewatch of a Columbo episode. Uh, we want to encourage you to keep listening along with this podcast. We come out once a week, and next week we are going to be watching this is your assignment for the week. Go watch Ransom for a Dead Man, which is another special Columbo. It was a television movie that NBC ordered. Uh, maybe considered the official pilot episode. And haha, there's some a little play on words there. It's a pilot episode. So go ahead and watch that episode and then come back next week, and we will be back for Ransom for a Dead Man. Thanks for listening to the Just One More Thing podcast. This is Fletch.
SPEAKER_02This is Abby. See ya.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for listening to Just One More Thing, a Colombo Rewatch podcast. For more information or to contact the hosts of this show, simply scroll down the show notes and send us a message.
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