Fade in to Murder

Decently plotted and reasonably originally conceived Columbo Season 6 opener, which sees him square-off, rather interestingly, against an actor renowned for his portrayal of the television detective Lt. Lucerne (played by William Shatner) who murders his blackmailing ex-lover (the show's producer) in a made-to-look-like robbery.

The most noticeable thing about this episode is the inordinate amount of screen time between Columbo and murderer, which therefore places a heavier emphasis than normal on having a quality script. In this respect, the scenes are carefully drawn and many of them are executed in a pleasing style, particularly as we get more information on the murderer's motives behind his crime. Nevertheless, the playful style of Columbo's interfacing with his rival (which may be too strong a word) is not a particularly rewarding approach by the script-writer, who almost airs on the side of caution to maintain a lighter atmosphere than is often the case in Columbo adventures. This style also renders a lack of build-up to the conclusion, which with all the open-mindedness in the world, is very inauspicious and unsatisfying.

Shatner's performance is carefully executed but overly hammy; although he probably does everything he is asked of in the script, particularly in conveying his character's deep-rooted insecurity, which is rather heavily portrayed at the end as he tries to seek sympathy for his crime.

I especially liked the final piece of dialogue after Columbo collars the murderer: Lt. Lucerne to Columbo - "...you would do me a enormous favour if you would stop calling me sir...."

It's a very curious episode with positives and negatives in equal measure; perhaps the script-writer could have allowed Lt. Lucerne's character to possess more self-assuredness, particularly as he gifts Columbo evidence off and on during this adventure.

William Shatner stars as Ward Fowler, who is an actor on a successful TV series called "Detective Lucerne" that decides to murder his producer, a woman called Claire Daley(played by Lola Albright) by making it look like an armed robbery gone bad, and setting up a clever alibi for himself. Lt. Columbo(Peter Falk) of course finds those inconsistencies that convince him it was murder, but Fowler seems more at home as Lucerne rather than himself, and gives the good Lt. all the help he can, even about that odd fellow Fowler... Fellow "Star Trek" actor Walter Koenig has a small role as a policeman. Amusing episode full of in-jokes is at least a return to form for the series,

I found this to be one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen, even though most of them are funny, anyway. Falk and Shatner work great together. One of the funniest things is when Shatner's character is video taping Columbo and he has no idea how to act on camera. One of the aspects of Columbo that fascinates me is how he is able to almost befriend his suspects; that plays a great part in this episode. Don't miss character actor Timothy Carey's hilarious cameo.

For Lieutenant Columbo this case must have been like looking through the mirror because he was facing a TV creation here. Of course the elegant, dapper, white suited Lt. Lucerne is so unlike the working class hero that Peter Falk made so immortal.

Our murderer here is William Shatner who as Columbo with his usual dogged style keeps seeking his company and getting bit by bit of information, goes in and out of his TV character. It also turns out that his name of Ward Fowler is also a pretense and he didn't just change it for stage purposes.

I won't reveal the reason, but it's why Lola Albright who was the producer of Shatner's TV show is murdered in a plot that predates the Mark Wahlberg film Four Brothers where Fionula Flanagan is killed during a convenience store holdup. She was also involved with Shatner at one time, but now she's blackmailing him and sucking him dry. It's all she has because husband Alan Manson is out stepping with Shera Danese.

I agree with another reviewer that the solution does come out of the left field bleachers, but the best thing that this Columbo episode has going for it are the scenes of Shatner and Falk together. A real duel of champions.

Ward Fowler (William Shatner) is a successful television detective. However, his producer is taking advantage of him, as she knows he has a shady past and she threatens to expose him unless he gives her half his income. Not surprisingly, Ward is not pleased with this arrangement and it becomes the motive for his killing her. Using props from the studio, he stages a phony robbery and kills the woman.

When Lieutenant Columbo arrives on the scene, Ward behaves as if he, too, is a crime fighter. Again and again, this arrogant actor tells Columbo how to handle the case and time and again Columbo defers to the actor--pretending to be in awe of Fowler's detecting skills. Not surprisingly, Columbo gives the guy enough rope that eventually he does, figuratively, hang himself.

This was a very enjoyable installment of the series. Shatner was quite good as the egomaniac and the interplay between him and Peter Falk (Columbo) was quite enjoyable and clever. Overall, a very good episode with a well-conceived crime and investigation.