On March 25th, 1973 the 8th and final episode of Season 2 aired. It was called "Double Shock" an overt reference to Martin Landau playing contentious twin brothers who kill their uncle by electrocuting him in the bathtub.
Paul Stewart plays rich old uncle Clifford, who has rediscovered fitness and good health at the urging of his gorgeous young bride-to-be Lisa Chambers (played by Julie Newmar). The brothers don't want to be cut out of their inheritance by uncle Clifford's new bride though, so they kill him first. But which one kills him?
Howcatchum with a hint of Whodoesit?
A mainstay of Columbo, with only a couple of exceptions, is the Howcatchum format where the audience sees the murder committed and knows from the start who did it. Then the show is watching Columbo unravel it.
This episode does that too...sort of. You see one of the twins, presumably Dexter, do the deed...but very quickly a lingering doubt is introduced...was it Dexter? Or was it Norman dressed as Dexter?
The Vibrant Mrs. Peck
Mention the name "Mrs. Peck" to any Columbo fan and you'll get a reaction. Jeanette Nolan plays the intense, and not very friendly, mistress of the house who almost from the start is in Columbo's face. She loudly demands he be kicked out of the house and repeatedly confronts him.
In fact, Columbo has a lot more confrontation with Mrs. Peck than he does with the killer twins.
Only at the very end, when Columbo has brought closure to the case, do they seem to really make up.
Fun fact: If you like Jeanette Nolan you'll see her again. She plays matriarch Kate O'Connell in Season 7's finale, The Conspirators.
Another frequent flyer
In addition to Nolan (and Dabney Coleman) Tim O'Connor is another actor you're going to see again in Columbo. In this job he does a very nice job as Michael Hatheway, Clifford's friend and schemeing lawyer. In season 6's Old Fashioned Murder he plays one of the murder victims.
Easy to overlook Coleman
Dabney Coleman has a relatively small role in this episode as a gum-chewing detective with impressive sideburns.
Coleman will be back, of course, as the killer attorney in season 10's Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star.
Not as big a difference as you'd think
A lot is made about old uncle Clifford marrying a gorgeous woman "young enough to be his granddaughter" but in actuality Paul Stewart was only 25 years older than Julie Newmar. Newmar was 40 years old in this episode, even though she appears quite a bit younger.
Fun fact: Newmar and Stewart don't have any scenes together. The only time they're on camera together is when Newmar discovers the body in the gym.
Looks familiar, even in purple
That purple young doctor on Mrs. Peck's TV is a young Marc Singer (better known from Beastmaster or V) in just the second TV appearance of his career.
Cooking with Columbo
One of the more entertaining bits of the episode features Columbo joining Dexter on-stage for his cooking show. According to Peter Falk most of the dialog in this scene was improvised and it comes off very well.
Did you know there's an actual "Cooking with Columbo" cookbook?
The legendary Michel Lally
Double Shock also features a brief appearance by the legendary Michael Lally. You'll spot him helping Norman count the cash in the bank vault when Columbo comes to chat.
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