While watching old episodes of Columbo, I ran across one with an out gay character. That episode is “Butterfly in Shades of Grey” (Season 10, Episode 8). While there’s nothing odd about having an LGBT character on TV these days, it was something to talk about in 1994.
The story revolves around Fielding Chase (William Shatner), a conservative radio talk show host. His foster daughter, Victoria (Molly Hagan), works for him as a producer. Fielding is manipulative and controlling, especially when it comes to Voctoria.
Although Victoria would like to start a life of her own, she fears how it could affect her relationship with her father. And because of this, she doesn’t want to get the novel she’s written published. When her close friend, Gerry (Jack Laufer), reads it, he shares it with a literary agent, Lou Caten (Richard Kline).
At first Victoria is upset that Gerry let another person read her manuscript, but Gerry convinces her that she has a chance to make a life for herself. Victoria agrees, then tells her father the good news. Upset that he’s losing control of his daughter, Fielding makes a few calls to ensure Victoria’s novel gets rejected, then goes out to murder Gerry.
Although it’s not obvious, Gerry is the gay character. Gerry’s not flamboyant, and his relationships with other men are met with no fanfare. Also, Gerry isn’t the bad guy, and his only unhappiness comes from working for Fielding Chase. For an LGBT character in 1994, this is unusual.
When this episode of Columbo aired, LGBT characters were not common on television or in movies. And if a TV show did have an LGBT character, the story would revolve around him/her. In “Butterly in Shades of Grey”, the fact that Gerry is gay gets mentioned, dropped, and only picked up again when Fielding Chase tries to pin the murder on Gerry’s ex-boyfriend. Columbo does mention that he’s aware that Gerry is gay, but he doesn’t seem to care. The scene when this happens is interesting because Fielding seems surprised that Columbo brushes it off. For a show that aired prior to Will & Grace, this is unheard of.
This is one of the better episodes of Columbo. It’s intriguing and well crafted. It’s also a delight watching Shatner and Falk go toe to toe on screen.
