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
Murder By The Book - A Killer Collaboration
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Two mystery writers. One deadly breakup. And a detective who keeps asking inconvenient questions.
Fletch and Abby dive into “Murder by the Book,” the first episode of Columbo’s regular series. Jack Cassidy stars as Ken Franklin, a mystery novelist whose plan for ending his writing partnership involves considerably more than a farewell lunch.
With Steven Spielberg behind the camera and a script by Steven Bochco, there’s plenty to talk about as we unpack the murder, follow Columbo’s questions, and share our favorite moments and wonderfully dated details along the way.
Join us for another father-daughter conversation about television’s most disarming detective...one raincoat, one cigar, and one final question at a time.
Spoilers throughout! Watch first, then join us!
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Watching along? Find it on Peacock: Columbo Season 1: Episode 1 - Murder by The Book
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 and Abby.
Introduction
SPEAKER_03Hey, welcome to Just One More Thing, the Columbo Rewatch Podcast. This is Fletch.
SPEAKER_01And this is Abby.
SPEAKER_03Hey, before we get started with this episode, this episode of Just One More Thing is brought to you by nondescript Nicaraguan cigars, brought to me by a friend. They're these little skinny cigars, and I'm smoking them because it's what I think Columbo would smoke if he was doing a podcast. And today we are starting on another Columbo episode. And this one is called Murder by the Book. Abby, do you know when this one aired?
SPEAKER_01I know the year, 1971. September.
SPEAKER_03Do you know the date? September 15th, 1971. So almost a little more than 54 years ago. Isn't that crazy? 55 years ago.
SPEAKER_0155.
SPEAKER_03Wow. This one is uh we're gonna get into this more, but directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Stephen Botchko. Those are both names that mean a lot to people, but we'll talk about those. The stars of this one, Peter Falk as Columbo, Jack Cassidy as Ken Franklin, Martin Milner as Jim Ferris, and the lovely Barbara Colby as Lily Lisenka, which I know we're gonna talk a lot about her because she was a fun part of this episode. I'm gonna start with a little bit of episode
Episode Trivia
SPEAKER_03trivia before we get into the overview. Do you do you have any trivia you want to bring in? Well, I have quite a lot of trivia, but I mean Steven Spielberg.
SPEAKER_01Okay, yeah. 24. 24-year-old Steven Spielberg. 24. I didn't know this. I'm always shocked to find out how involved Peter Falk was, but he had to actually be approved by Peter Falk. So they met up, I guess, and Peter Falk was just liked his style so much that he allowed him to direct this episode.
SPEAKER_04Yep.
SPEAKER_01He did not, Spielberg did not direct another episode of Columbo, but they did do an homage to him in a later later episode in the 1990s.
SPEAKER_03I'm so glad you mentioned that because I was gonna bring it up. So yeah, we'll talk about that one down the road, but there was, and that and that one stars one of my favorite, one of our family's favorite actors, because we watched him in a another series called First Edition.
SPEAKER_01And he's in Grey's Anatomy.
SPEAKER_03Oh, so good! So good. He's also in he's also in the blacklist. He's oh that's right. He keeps coming up. He's he's a favorite actor. Let's see. This is the second episode filmed, right?
SPEAKER_01Right. So the first one filmed was Death Lends a Hand, but apparently this one was thought to be stronger of an episode, so they had it be the first episode, even though it was filmed second.
SPEAKER_03And I know this is confusing because we've already done two episodes, but remember, those were TV movies, and these were the first official series.
SPEAKER_01So this was Yeah, and on that note, one of the reasons that Spielberg really was picked for this episode was because his style was more movie style, and so they wanted the writers or creators or whatever really wanted more of like a movie style for the show. And usually what Spielberg wouldn't be asked back to direct other episodes of other shows because he was he was too detailed. Yeah, he put too much of his style into it, and so he wouldn't be asked back. And the and in this case for Columbo, they actually really liked that he did that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I'm gonna And then didn't ask him back. I I I have a lot of Spielberg I want to talk about in this episode. Last bit of trivia I had was this is one of three times that Jack Cassidy is the murderer.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03He's also gonna be coming up in Publish or Perish, another author-based murder.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then one of our favorites. That's in 1973. Then one of our favorites, Now You See Him. Yeah. I love that episode.
SPEAKER_01I'm excited to talk about that one.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So Jack Cassidy is a three, a three-timer. He's in the three-timer club.
SPEAKER_01There's another bit of trivia here, too, where Oh, this is kind of lame, but I thought it was interesting because of Pop Up. Your dad. Peter Falk was. Let's see, there was a mention about Lily Lasanka's husband being a cook in the Merchant Marines. And it was sort of a nod to Peter Falk being a cook in the Merchant Marines. And I just liked that because your dad, you know, was in the Merchant Marines.
SPEAKER_03So I was like, Yeah, that's a fun liked it. That's a fun little bit of trivia. Okay, well, I'm gonna get into the episode description. I think I might just take this one on this episode. Murder by the Book.
Episode Description
SPEAKER_03This introduces us to two characters, Ken Franklin, Jim Ferris. They're a successful writing team behind a series of mystery novels featuring a detective named Abby. Mrs. Marville. Mrs. Melville. Marville.
SPEAKER_01Melville!
SPEAKER_03Wow. Did you watch this one? So Jack Cassidy plays Ken Franklin, but it's his partner, Jim Ferris, who's played by Martin Milner, who's also a big 70s star. He was in Adam 12. He does the actual writing. And then Ken handles the publicity. He enjoys the lifestyle. And it's a great arrangement if you're Ken. You don't have to do any work. You just get all of it. Which actually, and this I'm going to talk about Spielberg right off the bat. He shows us this in the opening sequence because you see Jim typing away at the typewriter. And what do you see in the background is Ken driving around Los Angeles in his Mercedes. So it's kind of a picture of what's to come. So Jim wants to end the partnership. He wants to try writing a little more serious on his own. And that obviously creates a problem for Ken because when your contribution has been essentially just being photographed for the front cover of the book, you probably don't want the main writer to leave. So Ken comes up with a plan and he persuades Jim to come to his lakeside cabin. But before they leave, he ransacks their office secretly behind Jim's back and he sets the stage for a different version of what's about to happen. So they drive to the cabin, they stop at a small grocery store that's run by Lily Lasenka. We'll talk about her. She's a big fan of the book and she's a huge fan of Ken. But while Jim stays in the car, Ken goes inside and calls Jim's wife, Joanna, and he says, Hey, I just want you to understand that I'm down at my cabin so far away from Los Angeles. But if you need to reach me, you can reach me at the cabin. I've settled my differences with Jim and everything all is well. But what he doesn't realize is that Lily has spotted that Jim was sitting in his car. So then they get to the cabin. Ken gets Jim to call his wife and say that he's still working at the office, now setting up a different location for Jim. But while Jim is talking to his wife, Ken shoots him and she hears the gunshot, she knows there's been a shooting, and she immediately calls the police. And as far as she knows, Ken is miles away at his cabin, because that's been established. And that's the trick, because he's not just lying about where he's lying, where he is, he's lying about where the victim is. Enter Detective Columbo. So Joanna, the wife, is super distraught. And here's we get this like cool glimpse of how Columbo works with people because he's real gentle with her. He makes her an omelette while they talk. Oh, and then with Ken, he's impressed by this famous author and interested in how mystery writers think. And you know what? Once again, we get a helpful murderer because Ken is more than happy to help this overwhelmed detective solve this crime. And uh he suggests that his partner Jim had been organ researching organized crime. He just lays out this whole plan for Columbo, and it's probably professional killers that were involved. He's giving Columbo this ready-made plot, and he's hoping that he'll follow it. But then Ken does something. He brings Jim's body back from the cabin and leaves it on his lawn, sending a message to him from the mob that you shouldn't be disturbing this case. Just adding more to the story for Columbo. It's totally theatrical, but I think we've realized that Ken is kind of a theatrical guy. But unfortunately for him, Lily was paying attention. She knows Jim was with him, and that puts a pretty big hole in his story. And so she confronts him and asks him for the grand total of Do you remember how much abs?
SPEAKER_01Fifteen thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_03Fifteen thousand dollars to stay quiet.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But there's a personal element to this because she's also attracted to Ken. She's hoping that this secrecy gives him some gives her some sort of a connection. So he plays along, he brings champagne back down to the cabin, spends the evening with her, makes her feel like this might be going somewhere, and it is. It's going to murder. Because he hits her over the head with a champagne bottle, then stages her death as a boating accident, leaves her body in the lake, flips the boat, and swims back to shore to make it look like she was drinking and drowned. So now we have two murders. One super well planned, and another one committed because the first plan didn't account for a witness. And Columbo starts to connect those two, and the final turn comes from Jim's own writing notes. He finds a written outline for a murder scheme that mirrors this exact plan, the way Jim was killed, the phone call, the false location, the whole setup, and the supposed perfect crime was sitting there on paper. And Ken, who spent the entire episode being treated as the partner who couldn't write, can't resist correcting Columbo at the end, saying that that murder idea was actually his. And he can't believe that his partner actually wrote it down, and that's what led to him getting caught. So even at the very end, Ken wanted credit for the story. And unfortunately, this time the credit meant time in jail. So there's the episode. What do you think,
Episode Discussion
SPEAKER_03Abby? Did you like this one? Did you like this one?
SPEAKER_01I did like this one. I am not gonna say why, because it kind of leads into my just one more thing thought. But I did this episode.
SPEAKER_03Did you? I loved everything about this episode. And I I have a list of the reasons I did. I think the Spielberg connection, I think the filming style on this one was, you know, the angles, the light focus.
SPEAKER_01You bring up Spielberg quite a lot because they kind of pay homage to him in another episode, too. And and uh anytime I get to either of those episodes, you're like, yeah, and I just love Spielberg.
SPEAKER_03Well, I just like that he was so young, got into this one, but everything about the way it's filmed, it has kind of like Spielberg-esqueness to it. So, did you happen to notice the music in this episode? The soundtrack?
SPEAKER_01And and you know what? Sidebar about the music, it sounded a lot like oh, I'd have to remember what song it it it sounded a lot like another song, and that I couldn't stop singing that song all week in my head because it sounded a lot like this. I have to remember, I can come back to that, but like so.
SPEAKER_03I want you to go back and listen to the episode again. Anytime there's background music, the percussion for the music is a typewriter. Oh, and it's throughout the entire episode.
SPEAKER_01I didn't notice that at all. That's cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so when it's like dun dun dun, it's like it's the sound of an electric typewriter.
SPEAKER_01What's so cool? I did not notice that.
SPEAKER_03It's a very Spielberg-y thing to do that. So you might make fun of me for liking Spielberg as much as I do, but I love how much of him is in this episode. And without this episode, without Peter Falk taking a chance on Spielberg, we never would have had everything else we have.
SPEAKER_01And you know another thing about the music too, this one. I did not know this. I actually had read about this. The in the background, when Lily Lasanka is at the restaurant with Ken. In the background, it's did you notice that the music to ransom for a dead man?
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I didn't know I didn't notice that, but I read about it and I was like, oh, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_03I like that. I liked there was there was a scene that I liked in this one that was uh it almost paid homage to the last two episodes we talked about. After he ransacks the office, he leaves his lighter, and you think, is he gonna forget it? And then just like episode one and episode two, right? You see him pick it up. I liked that we had another helpful murderer. Because he basically was almost always. I know, but this one was just over the top. Oh, you know how Mrs. Melville would solve this. Just oh, totally.
SPEAKER_01I know. He like ins it's like he can't help himself, just inserts himself and is like you know, trying to compare Columbo to this murder, murderer that he supposedly knows so or no, detective that he supposedly knows so well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but then he becomes an angry helper. And then at the end, there's this crazy confession. So I everything about this one, the two murders, I loved that. I loved the second plot that Mrs. Lisenka, you know, was at the theater and she was gonna blackmail him because she's a witness. But is it just me or is Mrs. Lysenka having a hard time keeping her teeth in her mouth?
SPEAKER_02I knew you were gonna say that. I knew I was like watching her talk, and I was like, I'm not even gonna try and make a comment on the teeth because dad's got that one. No offense to her, but yes.
SPEAKER_03Yep. Was there anything else that first off, was there anything else you really loved about this episode other than what we talked about?
SPEAKER_01I liked, you know what I liked about this episode? I did like the blackmail episode or aspect of it. I always like when we get somebody who knows about the murder and tells the murderer instead of actually going to the cops like a normal human being. They're like, okay, what can I do to get out of or get something out of the murderer? So I do like that aspect, and I always kind of like when that happens in an episode.
SPEAKER_03So when do you think Columbo first suspects the murderer in this one?
SPEAKER_01I think he suspects Ken right off the bat. I feel like this is a unique episode in that Columbo doesn't meet the murderer first, he meets the wife of Jim, the murdered.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01First, and talks to her. And you can always tell when Columbo, if he meets somebody before or right around the same time as their murderer, you can always tell that he doesn't suspect that person because he's normal around them and he isn't annoying and he's not a pest. But then anytime he thinks somebody is involved with the murder, he's he then puts on that sort of like attitude of bumbling, annoying detective.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, right. I think you're right about that. And I think it was about the same time, right? When he comes in and he's talking to the wife because she tells him, you know, this famous team is breaking up. And he goes, Oh, that must, that must be tough on Mr. Franklin's ego.
SPEAKER_01Right. And then So he maybe suspects suspects him before he even meets Ken.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but then when he comes in, he goes, Oh, did someone tell you he was missing? Because remember he comes in and he goes, Did they find did they find him yet? And he goes, Oh, did someone tell you he was missing? And he does that whole thing like, Well, Colombo, certainly you know, it's been all over the radio. But I think it was right at the beginning. Right.
What Were The Clues?
SPEAKER_03Okay, that's good. I think we're both in agreement there. I have a list of clues that Columbo was working on. Now, these weren't the little things. We can talk about the little things separately, but I just made lists this time of all the little clues that Columbo was kind of holding on to. One was that they took the body. They didn't, you know, they didn't murder him and leave him in the office. That was one little clue. Right. What else? I called, but no one was at home. So Columbo eventually goes up to the cabin, which, you know, like all good homicide detectives, would drive all the way down to San Diego to a remote cabin. But he goes, I called, but you know, no one answered the phone. That was another little clue. He found the book at the store.
SPEAKER_01Right. Oh, did we forget that piece of trivia? There's quite yeah, we there's a lot of trivia, but I don't know if you want to st you know, wait to talk about some of these things. But you're talking about the book, what the book is called?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You didn't miss it?
SPEAKER_01I didn't miss it. I caught that right away.
SPEAKER_03Okay, when you're watching the episode, the book that he signs for Miss Lysanka is what, Abby?
SPEAKER_01It's called Prescription Murder. And if we remember, that's the name of the first episode/slash TV movie of Colombo.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I loved that. I that was such a great little Easter egg. Okay, that was a good one. So he did notice that the book was signed, and it was she had a copy of his book and it was signed. That was another little clue. The matchbook was another one.
SPEAKER_01And on top of that, not only was it signed, but it was signed in an endearing way and sort of in a personal way. It wasn't just, hey little shop lady, here's your book. It was my dear Lily or whatever.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And all and also he had he had said he never met her. Oh, you know, I buy groceries from her, but that's not. I know everybody.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's yeah.
SPEAKER_03The $15,000. Also, I don't think Jack Cassie would have a barber because he wears a toupee. Oh, just so we know. There was $15,000 that he was gonna give Mrs. Lasenka, and that went in and out of the bank in 24 hours. And then finally he found a little scrap of paper with the perfect alibi. Those were the clues that I think the actual pieces of evidence. Oh, did you have more? Oh, yeah. What about it?
SPEAKER_01Complete sloppiness. He he goes to Miss Lisenka's house, has dinner with her, brings champagne. This is before he's about to murder her. And he pops a cork off the champagne bottle to try and get her drunk, and he leaves the cork on the ground.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01So then Columbo finds it, smells it.
SPEAKER_03Sloppy murder.
SPEAKER_01Sloppy murder.
SPEAKER_03First murder well planned. Second murder, totally sloppy. And Columbo actually says that. All right, let's move on
What Were The Little Things?
SPEAKER_03to our next section. What were the little things? What were the little things that bugged Columbo?
SPEAKER_01It bugged Columbo that which I don't get this one. You can tell me why this bugged him so much. It bugged him so much that Ken drove from San Diego to LA to meet up with Jim's wife and console her. Because there's flights every every half hour. Yeah, there's flights every half hour. And like, why aren't you taking a flight? And and in my opinion, I think it would be better to drive too. I'm kind of on Ken's side here. I'm like, I'm not gonna like drive to the air. Well, you know what though? It was pre, you know, TSA. Yeah. But I'm not about to drive and find parking and pay for parking and try and like get a plane ticket when I can just like in a panic, I have control over this one thing. And you know what? Speaking as somebody who lived in Orange County and drove down to San Diego a lot, it's really not that long of a drive. So I don't know what Colombo's so worked up over.
SPEAKER_03Well, he was driving into LA proper, not Orange County, first off. You would have to get to LA. Second, uh, in those days you didn't pay for parking and you could walk up and buy a ticket, just like getting on a bus. So I get it, but you're right. Do you know how much time it takes to go to the airport? The part I didn't get is because I had my car.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_03I was in my car. What am I gonna do when I get back to LA? Rent you know, rent a cab? I thought that was a little bit of a stretch by Columbo. Okay, what were the other things? What else did you have? Well, one was when when he told Joanne, the wife, he said, so they were a writing team and she laughed. And he stopped and said, Hmm. Why did you laugh about the writing team? That was I think that was the first one. Right. Uh the folded paper.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah. The names of well, we didn't even talk about the names. So there's this whole thing that happens where before they Jim and Ken go down to San Diego, he has this list of names and he's so obvious about it, like, so not he's very shallant. He's like, Oh, I have this, I need to get something. And then he takes this list out of his jacket, he's like, Oh no, this isn't what I want. This is a list of names, and he hands it to Jim, I think, to touch and get his fingerprints all over. And then puts it back in his jacket, and whatever. Long story short, Columbo finds this list of names and he's like, Why is this folded long ways?
SPEAKER_03Let's not forget, he was given the list of names.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03The murderer gives him oh, by the way, these are a bunch of mobsters, and he gets all upset that it's folded three ways. Right. Why would you why would you type this out? And I'll check the typewriter. And then why would you fold and I'm like, that was another one where I go, I don't know. I don't know that I ever pay attention to folding a piece of paper, but it's I know that's
SPEAKER_01There are many times with Columbo where I'm like, sometimes people are just odd.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01And it doesn't mean they've murdered somebody, even though for him it always means they murdered somebody, but you know.
SPEAKER_03And then why did they leave the body? That was another one that bugged him. How about when Ken came back to the house and called Columbo on the phone? What bugged Columbo about that?
SPEAKER_01Was it the mail?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Are you talking about the mail? So there was another thing that bought that bugged Columbo. That Ken opened his mail when he came back, and it just felt like way too normal of a thing to do. And I think it really pointed out to Columbo that Ken didn't have any real emotions over Jim dying. And he even brings that up at the end. He says, like, oh, I have this, all these little clues. One of one of them being you had you didn't show any true emotions over Jim dying. And and I think that was pointed out to him when when Ken goes to like open all the mail. And he's just like, well, but I just it's just my routine.
SPEAKER_03The two bottles of champagne. He asked that question, like, oh, you're taking two. And he's like, Oh, don't worry, I can finish two bottles of champagne plus more on my own. Right. He was concerned about the phone records because he called the phone company. And there was a phone call from San Diego to Joanne, the wife. And that that bugged Colombo.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03And then the last thing I had was why a woman would go out on the lake early by herself. Right. Once again, 1970s. Why would a woman go out in a rowboat bar? I mean, maybe to watch the sunrise. I would I could come up with a bunch of reasons as to why you, Abby, would go out in a boat by yourself at the sunrise. Like maybe to fish, maybe like there's so many reasons. And then this was one of the episodes that I wanted to point this out in this section where Columbo literally detailed all of the things that bothered him when he said, I was gonna arrest you. I'm arresting you for murder, and it's all these little things, and he just goes through all of them. What would or wouldn't
What Wouldn't Work in 2026?
SPEAKER_03work today? Or why would this murder not have worked?
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm questioning the dumping Miss Lysanka into a river or lake or what the lake, not the river, because that feels familiar. A little bit of trivia. I don't know if you know this to our listeners. We're from Modesto. There was a hot lake murder case that happened in Modesto, the Peterson case.
SPEAKER_03Oh when that was the bay, that was the bay. That was the bay.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it was the bay?
SPEAKER_03I thought it was in the No, it was out in the San Francisco Bay. That was a that was a sloppy murder.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sloppy. True.
SPEAKER_03But concrete.
SPEAKER_01But I still feel like they have the technology these days to kind of figure out. They they said, oh, the the detective in San Diego was very kind of pushed off, like, no, it was just this lady and she got hit in the head by the road. Like he very much didn't do any sort of work to further investigate what happened.
SPEAKER_03We don't think there's any foul play, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03You know what else wouldn't work? You can't bring someone to your cabin and murder them and have no trace evidence. Because he said the the reason he was taking him to the cabin was because he hadn't been there. So if there was a shred of evidence that he had actually been on location, a a hair fiber, you know, anything that could have been proven that he was there. I think today we could have traced phone calls a lot better.
SPEAKER_01I think so too. I do I do kind of question all of that. Those little things that you could have used like modern technology to see a timeline and be like, no, this is not what happened.
SPEAKER_03What about they they didn't do any forensics on the bullet? They didn't even mention that in this episode. Right. Like no one was running forensics on this bullet. Right. The other one I thought that probably wouldn't work today is jurisdiction freedom, which is gonna come up a lot in Colombo. That he could just walk into a crime scene and just go, I'm from LA, I'm investigating a murder.
SPEAKER_01Okay, I wondered about that.
SPEAKER_03And then just walk through the store and like touch everything.
SPEAKER_01Is this are you talking about he goes down to San Diego? Yeah, and he's like, I'm from LAPD, and they're like, Yeah, we're happy to cooperate. And he just goes in, and I'm like, I don't really think that would happen today. Mmm, I don't think you'd get away with that. You'd get sued. Yeah. First of all, you're smoking in a non-smoking room. That's point number one.
SPEAKER_03Oh, you he did he did cigar a lot in this episode. That was a good one to bring up right now because this is gonna come up in a lot of episodes where you're like, Columbo shows no regard for where he's smoking his cigar, except for a few episodes, and it it becomes a humorous piece. In this one, he just walks right in. All right, favorite 1970s
Favorite 1970's Parts
SPEAKER_03parts to this show, like what was just classically 1970. And this might be hard for you. I was realizing as I was writing these these topics down. I'm like, I wonder if Abby will recognize classic 70s things.
SPEAKER_01I think the way that Jack Cassidy looks is classic 1970s. Him in all three episodes, I'm like, you your makeup is very you just you look like pretty. He's like a pretty, like he's got his makeup, and and I'm just I don't think you would look like that if you were an actor on a TV show these days. Like it's unsettling almost, which works because he's the murderer.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, does he is he wearing an ascot ever? Because I feel like he's the kind of guy that would wear like a like an ascot, you know.
SPEAKER_01So true. Classic 1970s too is the way he kind of schmoozes everybody, especially the ladies. He's very like womanizer vibes of that time. And I don't know if he would if that would work as well. I think people in this day and age are a little more jaded. Maybe that's just me.
SPEAKER_03Tell me what the hell's going on with LA traffic. Every time we see a car driving in LA, it's like the only car on the road. Yeah, I'm like, totally. That's 1970s. That is that's clearly not now. I I said uh also driving gloves.
unknownOh my god.
SPEAKER_03So funny. They're like nice, like they're meant for driving. That's what that's why you have a glove compartment. Oh my god. Is for these gloves. That's actually why they're it was called a glove compartment. I thought when he called and he there was a big discussion about a station to station call. Oh you've never had an affair, my friend. You don't do a station to station call. You call direct. Oh, and by the way, the area code is 213. Okay, so just so we all know, there's like multiple area codes in LA this now. That's that's still the main one, but this is back when you called directly. Like that was a big deal. Also, the restaurant. You mentioned it earlier. Do you remember the name of it?
SPEAKER_01It's called It was called Tale of the Pup. Tale of the Pup the Pup. Yeah, Tale of the Pup. And it was shaped like a hot dog.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's shaped like a hot dog. Yeah. So you you walk up to a giant and hot dog.
SPEAKER_01Right. And and they go, so he goes to this hot dog place with uh to meet up with an insurance agent. But you go they go to this restaurant, and apparently that restaurant is still a business today. You can still visit it. So well, that's that's kind of fun.
SPEAKER_03I think in the 1970s, anytime you you designed a restaurant like an object, there used to be one on Highway 99 in between our house and your grandparents in Fresno, and it was a giant orange. The building was an orange, and you went up and and you know what you got there? Orange juice. Yeah. Because you know, when you're driving up Highway 99, just outside of Madeira, California, and if you're a listener and you know about this, you should you should write in. You just go down in the show notes and send us a message if you remember the orange, or if there's another restaurant that you remember was designed like the food it was selling. That that would I would I'd be interested to hear what our listeners have to say about that. So you can send us a message or send us a voicemail, which we should pause right now and just say if you send us a voicemail, we'll use your voice on the episode, just so you know. Those are all my 70s things. I didn't have any other major 70s things.
Favorite Columbo Scenes
SPEAKER_03So let's talk about fun, humorous, traditionally Colombo-ish things. I got one. Okay. I got you.
SPEAKER_01I laughed out loud when he shows up. Ken is doing an interview. I think you know where I'm going. Ken is doing an interview. Classic Colombo move to show up when the murderer is doing something that's really important to them, especially like interviews. He always shows up during an interview or you know, little maybe their TV show they're recording. Yeah, anything that's being recorded. And Columbo's in the background, just completely bullshitting, doing whatever it is. So he shows up and he's in the background with like eight or nine books in his hands, and he's like walking around with them, setting them down, picking them up, and it just made me laugh out loud because it's classic for him to just do something outrageous for the murderer to be trying to focus on whatever they're doing, stressed because this detective is back and is doing just the wackiest shit.
SPEAKER_03So I do, I agree with you because he and he's then he says, What does he always say? Oh, don't mind me. Just ignore me. Ignore the homicide detective that's investigating a murder when you're the murderer, just ignore me. All right, so I have I liked right off the bat. There's there's two things I liked. One is a Spielberg thing, and that is why does a high-end convertible Mercedes have
Bumper Sticker
SPEAKER_03a bumper sticker that says, have a nice day? That to me was so funny. Like from the very first opening scene, he pulls into the the parking lot of the where they write at this big high rise in LA, and it shows the bumper. I mean, why would you destroy a high-end Mercedes with a bumper sticker that says have a nice day? Unless you're Steven Spielberg, and I think this is a connection. I I sent it to you earlier, I texted this to you. There's a scene when he kills Jim in the cabin and he's comes out to the car and he puts a blanket in the trunk and he walks back into the house to go get the body of his partner that he just murdered, and the camera focuses in a total Spielberg way on the sticker that says, Have a nice day. And it's so juxtaposed to what just happened. And it reminded me of a
Jaws Scene
SPEAKER_03picture I sent you of the movie Jaws when this shark is terrorizing Amity, New York, and there's a scene when they focus in on a billboard and it says, Amity Island welcomes you. Annual regatta, July 4th. And it's just this happy, sunshiny picture that Spielberg includes in his movie of a shark ripping people apart. And I'd like, I think that's a Spielberg thing. And I I don't think I'm far off making that connection. I thought that was fun. I loved when he was talking to the, I don't know where he was. Was he with Ken? I think he's with Ken in the in the elevator, like right by the elevator, and he goes, Oh, hmm. I like the buttons on this thing. Right. They don't they don't click, they just sense the heat of your finger. And it's like it's such a Columbo thing. Just like notice that. How about the omelet thing? Did you notice the omelet blooper?
Omelet Blooper
SPEAKER_01Okay, so and I have something to say about this.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I have two things that I think either were crazy coincidences. This one might be a coincidence, or were nods to later episodes. I don't know. So he goes to make his he meets with the wife and he wants to question her more, but he also wants to kind of get her out of the situation, the out of the hubaloo, hubba baloo, hubba hubabaloo. Hullabaloo? How do you say that? I think it's holla balloo.
SPEAKER_03And this episode is sponsored by Hubba Bubba Bubba Gum. Hullabaloo.
SPEAKER_02Hullabaloo.
SPEAKER_01Don't say words until you know how to say them. Okay. Hullabaloo. She so he takes her to her apartment and he's like, I'll make you an omelet. Like, I, you know, I want to talk to you, but I'll make you an omelet. And so he's he's like, I don't know if you know this, but I'm really good at making omelets, is what my wife says that I know how to make best or know how to do best. And he's like, you know what the secret is? And he was supposed to say no, no, just eggs, no milk. But what he ends up saying is, no eggs, just milk. And the wife laughs and he laughs, and it's a funny little moment. But I will say on top of that, there is a scene later in a later. Oh, actually, this is the same episode as both of my connections. There's a scene later where he or an episode later where there are twin murderers, and one one of them is like a chef on TV. And so he Columbo goes on to do remember this, the episode? Or he goes on to the like cooking episode, and he acts like he doesn't know how to make an omelette.
SPEAKER_03Nice Easter egg connection.
SPEAKER_01So so I don't know if that was later they just drew on that, or if it was just, you know, one of those in I think it was intentional in the second episode to pay homage back to this. To this. So he he says, Oh, I know how to make it, but then in the later episode, acts like he doesn't. And then later in this episode, let's see, Colombo and Ken. No, Ken is with a lady. It's right before Miss Leson's. Did you catch this? So he yes, so he and this woman that he's with were watching a mystery murder, and she's like, Oh, what did you think of the movie? And he was like, I knew what was happening the whole time to kind of schmooze on her. And he says, Anytime you have a long-lost twin show up, you always know that the twin was an impersonation. And I'm not gonna say why, but that is a homage to a later episode. I think the same episode where Columbo acts like he doesn't know how to make an omelet.
SPEAKER_03I'll say it. I'll say it.
SPEAKER_01Did you catch that one?
SPEAKER_03It's season two, episode eight, double shock, and it's that plot. That's the plot of the murder. There's an impersonation, and we'll talk about it. Yeah, we'll talk about it. The other funny one, so yeah, that that I'm glad you got the omelet detail that they left it in. No eggs, just milk. That's the secret. I th I thought the bumbling in the background during the magazine was good. I also liked, I thought this was some Columbo humor when he goes to visit him at the cabin and Ken says, Uh, how'd you get here? I didn't see your car. And he goes, Oh, I parked around back because the sun raises hell with the paint.
SPEAKER_01And if you know anything like that's the that's the least of his worries with his car.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if you know anything about Columbo's car, like it doesn't really, it's a piece of junk. I mean, over and over people make fun of this Peugeot that he drives. But I love that. Yeah, the sun raises hell with the paint. And then he did mention that he stopped by the store to get some cigars. So it's that classic, he doesn't smoke high-end cigars, just whatever they have at the local lake cabin store. That's where he gets his cigars. And then I did love the whole bit because it was funny, saying, I got two weeks of vacation coming up, and I'm looking for a cabin with my vacation. And Ken, Ken's like, I I don't, I think these are priced out of your range. And oh, do you like to do do you like sports? And he goes, My wife, she's really the athlete. I just these those were all little one-line Columbo statements that I love. Those were good. Those were good. How about how about this one? I want to see if you caught any of these. I think we have them all three connected.
SPEAKER_01So you caught the double shock?
SPEAKER_03Yeah,
Episode Connections
SPEAKER_03so I had episode connections. And the first one was obviously the title of the book that he gave Lysenka, and it was prescription murder. The second is that Ken's house, the the one he lives in, the beautiful house with all the artwork, that's gonna be used again in season two episode The Most Crucial Game. That's the same house. And then, yes, I did get the double shock when you walked out, and they said anytime there's a long-lost twin, you know the plot's gonna be impersonation. So yeah. All right. Is there anything we left out that you want to talk about in this episode?
SPEAKER_01Okay, I got one.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I don't know how you would fit this in or where you would fit it into, but there is a moment at the beginning where Jim tells Ken he's having deja vu. Oh yeah, that's great. He's like, so he Jim, I think he says this when he's at the cabin.
SPEAKER_03They're driving up. Yeah, they're driving up.
SPEAKER_01They're driving up and he says, Hey Ken, you know, like I this is really deja vu. I'm really experiencing deja vu. And Ken's like, oh, why? And he just kind of is like, oh, it just kind of feels like I've been here before. And that was a foreshadow to the end because I don't think we really talked about this, but really, oh no, we did. What really what incriminated Ken at the end, at the very end, the most hard piece of evidence that Columbo got was that Jim had written down an idea for a murder book, and it was that idea that Ken used to then you know follow through and and kill Jim. But he it had been written like five years ago, and it was actually technically Ken's idea.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so he told it to Jim, and then Jim wrote it down, and it was about five years before then, and so that's why Jim felt like he was having deja vu, was because he had actually written his entire murder down on paper.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I love that that was how he was gonna die. Yeah. Okay, we're to that part of the show where we get to share our just one
Just One More Thing
SPEAKER_03more thing.
SPEAKER_01What's your just one more thing, Deb?
SPEAKER_03All right, so my just one more thing is a piece of trivia that I left out.
SPEAKER_01Oh well, sneaky.
SPEAKER_03And it's a piece of sad trivia.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_01So I think I know what you're gonna say though.
SPEAKER_03It's two parts that I left out. First was a filming of Spielberg that was very unique. I think he paid homage to Hitchcock. And that was in the death of Lily Lysenka. So when when Ken goes to kill her, he pulls up that champagne bottle because he's gonna hit her over the head with it, and you don't hear any noise. All you see is her screaming, but no noise coming out. And that's very similar to Hitchcock's psycho murder when she's getting killed in the shower, Janet Lee's being stabbed in the shower. And it's filmed in a very similar way. So I think he's paying homage to Hitchcock with that. But the sad trivia is the part is that the actress that played Lily Lysanka died in a tragic way. Four years after this this was aired, the actress Barbara Colby was shot after she was finishing teaching an acting class, and she was gunned down while walking to her car. Totally motiveless crime, and she died right there at the scene. She was only 36, and it's never been solved. So that's my just one more thing. It was kind of this creepy connection to murder. What's your one more thing?
SPEAKER_01Way less serious, way more dorky. That's okay. Um, I think I realize I love every time I love these episodes with Jack Cassidy in them, and I'm always like, oh yeah, it's this one. It's because I realized I'm like, you're kind of cute. Like, you're kind of I like you're kind of attractive.
SPEAKER_03Just one more thing is that the murderer is attractive.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Do you do so and it's it confuses me because he do he does have that toupee.
SPEAKER_01I don't think I realized it was a toupee till you just said it about 20 minutes ago, but but yeah, he's got that toupee, and his his makeup is just awful, and he's always just like weird and creepy kind of, and somebody that like would all the alarm bells in my like nervous system would go off if I was ever around him.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yet I do like that. I do that's a good one more thing.
SPEAKER_02I don't know what that's about.
SPEAKER_03Do you know who he was married to?
SPEAKER_01I know that okay, so this is another thing we didn't talk about. I know that her I don't know who this is, so you would have to tell me, but apparently the how the cabin that he's at was the actor's wife's cabin.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I don't know that. I don't know that piece of trivia. Wow. Well, I do know that he was married to Shirley Jones and that he has two famous children, David Cassidy and Sean Cassidy. And Sean Cassidy was a 1970s heartthrob. I'm sure mom had a magazine with Sean Cassidy on it. He was a singer, and so was David Cassidy. But David Cassidy and Shirley Jones were part of the Partridge family.
SPEAKER_01Oh.
SPEAKER_03Did you know that?
SPEAKER_01I did not know that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so that's I knew Jack Cassidy because I knew Sean Cassidy and Dave Cassidy and the Partridge family.
SPEAKER_01Sean Cassidy, I'm looking it up right now. He's way more attractive than his dad.
SPEAKER_03I told you, Mom. It would have been like on Teen Beat magazine back in the 70s.
SPEAKER_01He was a she'd have a magazine of him. I'd have a magazine of the dad. Jack Cassidy.
Closing Details
SPEAKER_01All right. We are at the end of our episode, so thank you for listening. Just a reminder that if you have any thoughts or if you felt like we missed anything, you could always uh swipe down and leave us a comment or a voice and a voice note. And uh we'll bring it up in the next episode. I feel like we covered a lot, but there are so many things in this episode, so let us know if we missed anything or if you have any thoughts. We come out every Wednesday morning, so just tune in every Wednesday and every Tuesday night, watch the episode. So next week our we'll be talking about the second episode, Death Lends a Hand.
SPEAKER_03Alright, so thanks for listening. This is Fletch.
SPEAKER_00And this is Abby. See ya. Thank you for listening to Just One More Thing a Columbo 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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