This episode aired March 25, 1973

This episode was written by Steven Bochco (creator of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue) who also wrote “Murder by the Book”, “Lady in Waiting”, “Blueprint for Murder”, and “Etude in Black”.

This was one of those rare episodes of Columbo where the audience did not know who the murderer was until the very end.

The red phone in Lisa Chamber’s apartment was identical to the red Bat phone from the 1966-1968 Batman television series on which Julie Newmar played the part of Catwoman.

The $37,500 Norman owed the casino back in 1973 would be equivalent to about $275k today. Meanwhile, the $3 million inheritance Dexter and Norman look to inherit would be worth approximately $22 million today.

Via imdb: “This episode has Martin Landau as the antagonist, and two episodes earlier, A Stitch in Crime (1973), had Leonard Nimoy as the antagonist. Those two actors have a connection many don’t realize. Both had auditioned to play Spock on Star Trek (1966); Landau was the preferred choice, but he held out for more money (much the way Jack Lord had been the original choice for Captain Kirk and also held out for too much money). Just as Lord went on to star in Hawaii Five-O (1968), Landau landed in Mission: Impossible (1966). When Landau decided to leave that show (again over money), he was replaced in the cast by Nimoy, whose character name would be “Paris”, just as Landau’s character name is here.”

The episode’s much-discussed cooking show sequence was mostly ad-libbed. “We had a set that was very receptive to ideas,”said Peter Falk. “Some scenes were improvised, That one was almost totally improvised because the nature of the scene allowed it. For Columbo, there was this sudden delight about being called out of the audience and being made the center of attention.”

My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…

This episode features both Martin Landau AND Julie Newmar. We are in for a treat!

That suit Dexter is wearing is really something else.

It would seem the housekeeper has the hots for Mr. Hatheway.

This show Mrs. Peck is watching, about a football star turned surgeon, should be next up on our watch party.

“Dexter, what a surprise,”says Hathaway when Dexter walks in on him taking a bath.

If someone was playing around with a plugged in appliance by my bath, I would be understandably nervous too.

Even Columbo doesn’t know why he’s been sent to the scene of an exercise-induced heart attack.

Boy, Columbo is super sleepy here. Did he take a couple of Ambiens before driving over?

“You must belong in some pigsty,”remarks Mrs. Perks. “Do you do that in your own home? Do you?” Hell, yeah. Tell him!

Then, after his hapless attempt at a clean-up: “You’re rubbing it in!” I’m liking Mrs. Peck.

“You broke the pitcher!” Oh boy. Mrs. Peck fast becoming Columbo’s most formidable adversary.

Notices the wet towel in the hamper. Hmmmm.

Isn’t an autopsy standard anyway? Would he really need to request one?

Why would he take a bath after fencing, then head down to the gym and do another workout? Great point.

“I have terrific arches,”claims Columbo. “My doctor says I have an exceptional arch.” And then he attempts to get Dexter to compares arches. Subtle he aint.

He’s a twin! Our list of potential suspects just doubled!

Autopsy says heart attack. No burn marks though?

Landau does a wonderful job here of playing two distinct characters.

“Draw from that interspatial life force,”says Lisa Chambers. This applies to all aspects of your life.

Why is Lisa so nervous around Columbo? Did she have a hand in her fiancé’s murder?

Uh oh. A reluctant Columbo being pulled onstage for the live cooking segment. We already know the cooking is not his forte.

Columbo doesn’t know how to separate the egg yolks from the whites. But it’s nice to see him laughing and having fun.

Did he put butter in there? If so, that is one sorry-looking Hollandaise sauce.

Love how Columbo effortlessly progresses from his wife being a big fan to her never getting the recipes right to him blaming the equipment to oh-by-the-way turns out your father was killed by an electric shock to his hypothesis that someone dropped an electrical appliance in the bathtub.

Mrs. Peck does NOT want Columbo handling the precious heirlooms. And with good reason: “Bum! You’re a bum! Putting your stinking cigar butt in this silver antique dish.” Columbo, hilariously, in his defense: “I thought it was an ashtray. I have one at home that looks exactly like that.”

It’s nice that he makes the effort to make amends: “I’m just very untidy. That’s my nature.” They achieve a temporary truce and he is delighted by her offer: ““Why thank you. I’m extremely fond of health cookies.” Who isn’t?

Aha! The t.v. went out. That’s the missing piece of the puzzle.

Poor Columbo. In an attempt to patch things up with Mrs. Peck, he actually makes things worse by unwittingly disassembling her t.v. Mrs. Peck: “Out! OUT!!!”

Oh, there’s a twist. Hatheway left all his money to Catwoman!

“So if either one of you killed him it’s all for nothing because the only goes to the girl. Unless, of course…well…” This lawyer is an interesting character.

He’ll get Lisa’s copy back in exchange for an extension of his services? Getting Tanner the butler vibes from “Dagger of the Mind”. And we all know how that deal worked out for him in the end.

How does giving him the will in the event the police search her place and find it make any sense? Surely she knows that, sooner or later, people will find out about the will.

Whoa! She killed herself. Or did she? What a twist!

Columbo tells Dexter his lawyer claims he set him up. But does that really make sense? Wouldn’t this whole set-up make Dexter even more suspicious as opposed to, say, everyone assuming Linda committed suicide? Even if it was a suspicious suicide, they wouldn’t be linked to it in the same way as this scenario does.

That “Now that I think of it, I did tell him that Hathaway and Catherine were meeting at 5 o clock.” is one unbelievable afterthought.

Is Mrs. Peck watching a new show with the same actor? Is it now a show about a former football star turned surgeon turned lawyer? If so, I love it even more! He should logically leave law for a career as a private detective, using all three of his former skill-sets in his investigations. I feel a new series pitch coming on!

Columbo suffers another haranguing from Mrs. Peck in order to test his timing series.

Pretty good twinning in these scenes featuring both brothers.

I really love the fact that this is a rare episode where the viewers are completely in the dark until the end.

Phone company records show the brothers spoke 20 times in the past 12 days. Aha!

A nice little moment at the end where Columbo walks off with a shocked Mrs. Peck, consoling his one-time nemesis.

Absolutely loved this episode. Great twists, a clever mystery, some truly standout moments that see Columbo face off against the tough Mrs. Peck, and, of course, the cooking show sequence that was oodles of fun. Terrific performances all around and simply a solid and wholly enjoyable episode. I can’t believe we’ve topped “A Stitch in Crime” so quickly. While Stitch had the better Gotcha resolution, I felt this one was the slightly better overall watch. What did you think?

My revised episode rankings:
1. Double Shock, 2. A Stitch in Crime, 3. Death Lends a Hand, 4. Suitable for Framing, 5. Dagger of the Mind, 6 Requiem for a Falling Star, 7. Prescription: Murder, 8. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie, 9. Etude in Black, 10. Lady in Waiting, 11. The Most Crucial Game, 12. Blueprint for Murder, 13. The Most Dangerous Match, 14. The Greenhouse Jungle 15. Dead Weight, 16. Short Fuse

Finally, let’s consider the evidence Columbo has gathered and decide whether he has enough for a GUILTY verdict, or are our suspects looking at an ACQUITTAL? One could argue that the evidence is largely circumstantial, but there’s a lot of it, enough I think to get a double conviction, whether the brothers flip on each other or not. GUILTY!