Ellery Queen

Whoever chose the cast for this series knew what they were doing! No one could have filled Ellery Queens shoes better than Jim Hutton. He WAS Ellery.....Jim was taken from us much to soon. He was a great actor. David Wayne as Ellery's father was again a great choice. David & Jim made it seem real. Like they were really father & son. I heard rumor that Timothy Hutton (obviously Jim's son) would do a remake of Ellery Queen. Who better to fill his fathers shoes???? It's sad that Jim could not be here to be cast as the father! What a show that would be!

Jim Hutton is one of the best actors to come out of Hollywood. His performance in the Green Berets with John Wayne is memorable and you come to connect with his character in a very intimate way. As Ellery Queen, Jim Hutton really became the character he played. His boyish good looks, mannerism, and characterizations where beyond measure. The show itself was very well written and the guest actors where also exceptional. I remember waiting in anticipation each week to watch the show. Every show was riveting and the plot superb. The series became the measuring stick I used to judge the quality of other mystery movies and series ever since. It was a great loss to the industry when he died from liver cancer.

My wife and I really looked forward to watching this show every week during its all too short run. Jim Hutton was excellent as the boyish but shrewd Ellery, David Wayne was outstanding as his father, Inspector Queen and Tom Reese was terrific as the lumbering Sergeant Velie. John Hillerman, later Magnum's sidekick, was super as the arrogant Simon Brimmer, Ellery's rival, and Ken Swofford was good as the down to earth reporter, Frank Flanagan. The mysteries were enacted and the clues spread around so you could play at home. I don't think we got more than a couple right. Some of the shows were adapted from the Ellery Queen books and some were originals, but all were very fine quality. Very good guest stars were featured every week, some were up and coming, but many were old veterans. I would love to get this on DVD.

And thus we approach the wrap-up for another Ellery Queen mystery. This direct audience involvement was just one of the great touches in this all-to-brief series. "You have all the clues..." Well - yes and no. For example, it might have helped to know that, in 1940's Manhattan, telephone numbers were 6 digits long, not the 7 digits we knew in the 70's, so the victim was REALLY dialing...(I won't give it away). OTOH, I had to stop reading TV Guide when I watched this show. This was back in the days when TV Guide had to stretch to fill pages, so they not only gave story synopses, they printed Guest Cast lists for network series. But unfortunately it seemed that The Killer was always listed first in the Guest Cast (or second if the victim was first.) And that was a clue that even dear Ellery lacked!

"Ellery Queen" was one of the most entertaining TV series ever aired. Part of the fun was that it took place in the Big Apple in 1947 and with one exception looked it to a "T." But the most fun was the moment near the end of the show when Ellery would get the all-important missing clue necessary to nab the killer is nothing short of classic TV.

Ellery would tell whoever else he was with that he'd be right with them, then stop, turn and face the camera. "Now that was an important clue! Did you get it? Now I know who killed the victim. Do you? Was it so-and-so, or so-and-so/ Or could it have been so-and-so? Let find out." So marvelously entertaining! And totally unique to television, regardless of era.

It's cast, stories, plots and guest stars made for a guaranteed good time at least one hour a week without fail.

Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) was ideal as the absent-minded genius mystery novelist. Veteran David Wayne was letter perfect as Ellery's father, NYPD Homicide Inspector Richard Queen. The two made quite a team, playing off each other brilliantly. There was definite screen chemistry at work and, one get's the impression the actors shared a genuine friendship and respect for the other.

The only thing that didn't fit was star Jim Hutton's insistence on wearing clothes and hair far more in line with the years the show aired (1974-75)than post WWII. Cordoroy flair pants simply were not anywhere close to being in fashion back then, but they sure were in 1975.

If they'd only bring back shows that had that kind of pure fun! And what fun!