Face à face

William Shatner makes his second appearance, here playing a radio talk show host/commentator named Fielding Chase who is very possessive of his adopted daughter Victoria(played by returning actress Molly Hagen) and resentful of his investigative researcher Gerry Winters(played by Jack Laufer) who encourages Victoria to leave her father so that she can hand over a novel she wrote to a publishing friend of his(played by Richard Kline). In order to stop this, Fielding kills Gerry while establishing a clever alibi for himself, but Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) finds a big hole in his story that may force Chase off the air... Old fashioned(in some ways!) episode is entertaining and clever, with Shatner giving a good performance as the alternately sympathetic yet despicable character with complex moral shades indeed.

BUTTERFLY IN SHADES OF GREY makes the return of William Shatner to the COLUMBO TV series after he first appeared in it in the 1970s. Shatner is one of my favourite cult stars - I find him an actor it's impossible to not enjoy - and he certainly lifts the material in what is otherwise a well-paced but fairly predictable Columbo storyline.

Shatner plays a brash radio talk show host with a fixation on his adopted daughter. When another man tries to break her away from him, he's driven to extreme means in order to dispose of the threat. The murder itself is quite straightforward here, relying on an unusual telephone-related alibi for the most part, and the resolution is fairly average.

What lifts it is a typically assured performance from Peter Falk as the titular detective. Falk enjoys a handful of comedic moments in this one; they're quite familiar and have played out before, but there's plenty of mileage in them nonetheless. He also shares plenty of scenes with Shatner, and both actors are really enjoying themselves. You can't help but do so as well.

PLOT: A controversial radio-show host (William Shatner) murders a former member of his staff, a gay man, who was about to whisk his beloved foster daughter off to New York City to become a novelist (Molly Hagan).

COMMENTARY: This episode is superior to Shatner's first appearance on Columbo, "Fade in to Murder" (1976); of course the story & characters are totally different, except for our beloved disheveled detective. As usual, Shatner is entertaining as he hams it up in the role of the semi-shock jock.

There's a priceless sequence where Columbo shows-up on the set of a soap opera and is mistaken for an actor playing a homeless man enlisted for the shoot. There's also a compelling on-air bit involving a senator rudely confronted with his wayward past. I must say, the radio host's mansion in the mountains of Malibu is magnificent.

GRADE: B

It's amazing how viewers can see something different. Though I agree with the other commentator about Shatner's 'stache taking on a life of its own, I disagree with the comments about the actor's acting. While the two-hour movie format is not as "tight" as the ninety-minute episodes, "Butterfly in Shades of Gray" is entertaining until the end.

Some of the highlights include the murder, the exchange between Falk's Columbo and Shatner's "Fielding Chase" in the restaurant, the argument between Shatner and his daughter, as well as the on-air revelation about a wayward senator.

Dick DeBenedictus's score enlivens the story with the appropriate blend of mystery and suspense.

Is hilarious, but fits Shatner's character quite well. Billy's performance made this episode worth watching, due to his usual over the top melodramatic antics.

I've been watching all the episodes of Columbo once a week since forever on Peacock and it's fascinating to see how he aged in both his physical and acting aspects. This one still has the little tune of "this ol' man" playing in the background when he's at work on a particular focus of his investigation.

The plot is not quite as good as earlier episodes, but the clever twists of the villain make it fun.

The biggest part was of course Shatner, but wait there's more: Go find a film noir titled "The Big Clock" from 1948. It stars the famous Charles Laughton. As "Butterfly" opens with Shatner, I immediately saw Laughton in his demeanor, right down to the moustache! Was Billy Shatner mimicking Laughton? They both acted in the same dramatic fashion in their respective roles in their films. Maybe Shatner was paying homage.

As Spock would say..."Fascinating."