Just One More Thing: Prescription Murder

From 2014-2020, I co-hosted Just One More Thing, a podcast all about Columbo, with my pal RJ White. We reviewed every episode of Columbo -- and its much-reviled spinoff Mrs. Columbo! -- with a special guest each episode. These are additional notes and screenshots originally collected on the Just One More Thing Tumblr account.

Beginning at the beginning, this is the entry for the original series pilot Prescription: Murder: Originally broadcast on February 20 1968, starring Gene Barry as a two-timing psychiatrist, Katherine Justice as the mistress he coerces into murder, Nina Foch as the killer's wife and victim, and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"A psychiatrist uses a patient he is having an affair with to help him kill his wife, but his perfect alibi may come apart at the hands of a seemingly befuddled LAPD lieutenant."

-IMDB Summary

"Ever wonder exactly where Columbo came from? Well, wonder no more, as we delve into the origins of the show while talking about “Prescription: Murder,” the TV movie that started everything. Okay, well, first there was the short story, then the play, then the 1950s anthology show episode, then this, but it’s all covered in the podcast. Gene Barry is Dr. Ray Fleming, the first in a long, long line of homicidal rich and powerful jerks who don’t count on Lt. Columbo being so awfully good at his job. Tilt Araiza (The Sitcom Club) joins Jon and RJ with an astonishing amount of research and knowledge in the field of Columbology. This is the one that started it all and it’s rather in place from the get-go."

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:
Episode 25: I Think I’m Too Suspicious with guest Tilt Araiza

Prescription Murder
TV Movie
Director: Richard Irving
Writers: Levinson and Link

This was the television adaptation of the stage play which Levinson and Link wrote to showcase Columbo after a small screen debut. Circuitous routes. Apparently Thomas Mitchell played Columbo in his original incarnation. You might remember Mitchell better as Uncle Billy in It's A Wonderful Life, getting his head bounced off a wall by Jimmy Stewart. I'd love to have seen it. The play, that is.

A friend of mine was once talking about Dracula, having just seen the original film, and how weird it was that there was just this guy dressed like Dracula and talking like Dracula the whole movie, and no one says anything. “Shit, wait, the vampire is the guy who calls himself Dracula and looks and talks like Dracula? I should have known it!” Lugosi’s performance and appearance are such a big part of the culture that it was impossible for him to watch the movie and not just, you know, see Dracula.

You get the same feeling here. Young and still shevelled, it's still unquestionably Columbo on the scene, and that spells trouble! It’s COLUMBO, man! You idiot, you murdered your wife and now Columbo’s here! Ohhhh shit, you’re going to jail!

Next episode: Ransom for a Dead Man