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Barbara Hale really outdid herself in this episode. When she rushes into the inquest to tell Perry about Paul, her tears and Perry's quiet concern instantly put tears in MY eyes. This was an unusual episode that featured all the best of the central cast. Every one of them had something interesting to do. Surprising considering the previous duds in this season. Submitted by DellaMason
The employees of Safeline were apparently mathematically challenged (maybe that's why the company was in trouble!). When Watson says that Safeline had seen an over 500% increase in coronary disability in the last three years, the chart he points to doesn't show a 500% increase. Then when actuary Groody is in Mason's office he jokes that they've taken the square root of minus one and made mathematical history. Evidently he's unaware that so-called imaginary numbers had been used extensively in mathematics, engineering, and science since the 1700's. This is surprising, since actuaries typically study a lot of math in college. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 1/31/2014.
+ But it would have little place in an insurance company - or a law office - which, of course, is why it's funny. OTOH they don't seem to handle exposure very well: we're to believe a single - and dubious, at best - lawsuit is so threatening to the company's future that they're in a panic to settle; certainly an insurance company, of all businesses, would provide for such routine risks. Noted by Notcom, 060716.
Random musings: An entertaining episode about disability insurance fraud (considering the number of ads I see on TV for law firms specializing in disability cases, evidently it's still lucrative business). Dr. Caudere's "Cardsyn Tonic" looks suspiciously like milk; can't tell if it's whole or 2% ;).
"Caudere" sounds a lot like "Kildare" as in the TV show Dr. Kildare, which was on NBC 1961-1966. "Rod Steele": what a great name for a construction worker.
Ex-boxer Hal Baylor was perfect as ex-boxer Jack David; note how effortlessly he skips rope (the little boy can't even get started) and works the speed bag. Submitted by 65tosspowertrap, 1/31/2014.
+ And a Dr. Hartlund ...as in Heart/Lung ?? Yes, the writers had quite a little yukfest going with this one. Noted (with amusement) by Notcom, 060716.
++Doreen Wilde's name--an allusion to Oscar Wilde's character Dorian Gray? submitted by Miss Carmody, 17 April 2024
When Paul (or Rod) lunches over at Nap's taco stand, he washes them down with milk. Tacos and milk? JohnK, 12 February 2018
+Milk helps cool the fire of the spices. We know from season 1's TCOT Negligent Nymph that Paul can't tolerate highly-spiced Mexican food.
Nappy either has a unique way of sorting the coins in his cash register, or he has the cheapest pay phone in the world. When he goes to the register to get a coin to call to get Paul into the insurance scheme, he takes it from the section normally used for pennies. OLEF641 9/8/21
When Dr. Caudere is explaining what a cardiopathist is in the coroner's office he explains that he uses esoteric drugs he discovered in South America. Seems to me that should have raised suspicion since drugs have to be FDA approved. Submitted by Kilo 1/22/2018.
The Case of the Proliferating Pitkins. This episode's credits indicate that Orville H. Hampton wrote the script, but one suspects that ESG must have been leaning over Hampton's shoulder when it came to creating some of the characters' Pitkin-like monikers: Reve Watson, Wallis Lamphier, Chauncy Hartlund, and, best of all, Dennison Groody. Submitted by BobH, 06 February 2018.
Another 'homecoming' show - Bruce Bennett, Whit Bissell, Richard Emhardt, David Lewis,Shirley Mitchell,and Benny Baker have a combined 27 PM appearances.
And why, oh why did Paul have to pick a porn star name - Rod Steel? Really! DOD 3/19/18
+Indeed. I’m sure the cast and crew loved that one. Rickapolis 05/11/22
After Jack David drops dead, Wendell threatens Perry and the doctor with legal trouble - but on what charges? David was required to have regular checkups anyway, so this office visit would not have been out of the ordinary. DOD 04/26/21
It seems as though the authenticity of Dr. Caudere’s credentials would have been addressed earlier in the proceedings than Perry’s examination. Since the plot rather hinges on this, to my mind this weakens an otherwise fun episode. Submitted by Ed Zoerner, 1/31/11
+ There's also a nonsensical scene in the hospital: the doctor tells Perry "we pumped his stomach and administered medicine"; the former is SOP for poisoning cases, but with no idea what the poison was, there would be little hope of finding an antidote. Submitted for your disapproval by Notcom, 060716.
In a scene in the coroner's office, when Perry is exposing Dr. Raul Caudere (Joseph Sirola) as a phony, he addresses Caudere in French, his supposed native language. But of course Raul would be a funny name for a Frenchman, being it is Spanish. Though it is used in France, but always spelled as Raoul.
+ Actually this occurred at the inquest not in the coroner's office. Kilo 1/22/2018.
It seems to me that added to the suspiciousness - if the quack, Raul was trying to pass himself off as French, but without enough knowledge save a phony accent, he might not have even known that 'Raoul' was the right spelling. Or cared. Most con men aren't as smart as they think they are ... but there was a point in the show that puzzled me. Paul gets the note to get into the scheme in his locker, and as the instructions on it tell him, he burns it. I wondered why he did that, since it was evidence! Then again, if he hadn't burned it, since he might have been watched, that would have spooked the crooks, and they might have hit the road .. hmm! Submitted by MikeReese, 6/24/2017.
A CORONER is "an officer, as of a county...whose chief function is to investigate by INQUEST...any death not resulting from natural causes (from the Anglo-French word "Corouner," Supervisor of the Crown's pleas, per Webster's Unabridged Dictionary). Like an Attorney, a Coroner is an Officer of the Court. "Quincy, M.E." points out that a Coroner is not always an MD; WUD defines a MEDICAL EXAMINER as "a physician...who is appointed...to perform autopsies on the bodies of persons supposed to have died from Unnatural Causes & to investigate the...Circumstances of such deaths." Mike Bedard Presidents' Day 2015.
In an appearance on The Jack Benny Show from 1962, he also speaks French in a sketch, which leads one to wonder if he was fluent in the language. While from Canada, he was born in British Columbia, far from the French speaking part of our northern neighbor. Submitted by PerryDixon 2/4/14.
LOL: Paul not only gets the poison caused heart attack, with all that pain, he then gets hit in the face w/the volley ball...even though softly...still "I hate when that happens!" <said in a Billy Crystal SNL voice!>! ...but it all works out as he gets FINE treatment w/all those hot nurses!!!! ;-> Submitted by mesave31, 02/16/15.
By the end of the show, Burger had enough evidence to charge 4 or 5 people in the scam. I liked the overall show despite some plot holes plus Della gets to show more emotion. Submitted by Perry Baby 1/4/17.
The last scene, with Rod Steel, er, I mean Paul Drake, and three beautiful nurses reminds of Joseph Cotton’s line as the now old reporter in Citizen Kane. Except he was being taken back to his hospital bed by a pair of much older (and less attractive) nurses. “You know, when I was a young man there used to be an impression around that nurses were pretty. Well, it was no truer then than it is today”. Submitted with a smile by Rickapolis 05/11/22