Peter Falk
Lt. Columbo
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Prescription: Murder: Directed by Richard Irving. With Peter Falk, Gene Barry, Katherine Justice, William Windom. 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.
- (5.5K)
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Richard Irving
- 1968-02-20
- Overview
- Summary
- Appearances
- Trivia
Prescription: Murder is the first ever episode of Columbo. It first aired on February 20, 1968 and was directed by Richard Irving. The episode stars Peter Falk in his first appearance as Lieutenant Columbo and Gene Barry as the series' first murderer, Dr. Ray Fleming. Adapted from a stage play of the same name by Richard Levinson and William Link, ...
In Prescription: Murder, Dr. Ray Fleming, a psychiatrist, murders his wife and persuades his mistress, an actress who is one of his patients, to support his alibi by impersonating her.
•Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo
•Gene Barry as Ray Fleming
•Katherine Justice as Joan Hudson
•William Windom as Burt Gordon
•Nina Foch as Carol Fleming
Other Characters can be found listed here.
•Prescription: Murder was originally only intended to be a once-off TV-movie-of-the-week. However, due to its popularity, NBC ordered an additional test pilot, 1971's Ransom for a Dead Man, which also proved popular enough to warrant the creation of a Columbo TV series. This series began officially with Murder by the Book later that same year.
•Despite being the first episode of the popular series, and Peter Falk's debute as Columbo taking place in Prescription: Murder, Columbo had been played by other actors and first for an unrelated show.
•The first appearance of Columbo was and episode of The Chevy Mystery Show, played by Bert Freed in 1960.
•The Pilot "Prescription: Murder" was adapted from a 1962 stage show by the same name. The role of Columbo was played by Thomas Mitchell; his final role before passing away.
•One of the framed photos in Ray Fleming's office appears in the later episode Suitable for Framing, one of several painting stolen by Ross Martin.
•Columbo does not apear for the first 32 minutes of the episode, a third of the way into the episode's length.
Aug 19, 2015 · A classic Columbo episode from 1968, where the Lieutenant matches wits with a brilliant psychiatrist who murders his wife and frames his lover. Read the episode synopsis, opinion, best moment and more on this blog.
- 11 min
Levinson and Link then adapted the TV drama into the stage play Prescription: Murder. This was first performed at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco on January 2, 1962, with Oscar -winning character actor Thomas Mitchell in the role of Columbo.
REVIEWS: 60% The crime thriller Prescription: Murder marks the debut of Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo. Adapted from a stage play a philandering psychiatrist attempts ...
- Mystery & Thriller
