Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen

1975
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen

8.3 | en | Drama

Ellery Queen is an American television detective mystery series based on the fictional character Ellery Queen. It aired on NBC during the 1975-76 television season and stars Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen, and Tom Reese as Sgt. Velie. Created by the writing/producing team of Richard Levinson and William Link, the title character "breaks" the fourth wall to ask the audience to consider their solution.

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Seasons & Episodes

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EP22  The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger
Apr. 04,1976
The Adventure of the Disappearing Dagger

In the series' finale, Ellery probes the murder of a retired detective who was killed while investigating a five year old unsolved murder case.

EP21  The Adventure of the Hard Hearted Huckster
Mar. 21,1976
The Adventure of the Hard Hearted Huckster

Frank Flannigan probably wishes he'd taken a vacation as he's made to look foolish on the infant medium known as television. The plot concerns the murder of a nasty advertising executive for the Quick Silver Tobacco company which was thinking about sponsoring a radio show starring Flannigan.

EP20  The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep
Mar. 14,1976
The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep

Inspector Queen is in charge of protecting a mob witness but the witness is murdered before he can testify. Wouldn't you know it, the evidence points to none other than Sgt. Velie. The Inspector must also deal with rivals in the department who feel he's gotten long in the tooth and relies too much on Ellery. Will Ellery be able to figure out the correct solution? Not in this episode, he doesn't.

EP19  The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley
Mar. 07,1976
The Adventure of the Tyrant of Tin Pan Alley

The radio payola scandals of the 1940's and 50's are recalled in this episode. Simon Brimmer once again tries to best Ellery and once again falls short. The plot concerns the murder of popular songwriter Alvin Winer during the musical interlude on a radio show when he goes to the station's record library to find a record. Ellery once again must clear a friend who had just accused Winer of stealing his song.

EP18  The Adventure of the Two-Faced Woman
Feb. 29,1976
The Adventure of the Two-Faced Woman

Simon Brimmer once again fingers the wrong culprit in this tale about the murder of a socialite who was apparently leading a double life. The case has its underpinnings in events that happened in 1922 France. It's a hard road to the solution and Ellery takes the correct one as usual.

EP17  The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario
Feb. 08,1976
The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario

Ellery and the Inspector travel to Hollywood in order to watch the filming of an adaptation of one of Ellery's novels into a movie. At the studio, they meet the actors who will be portraying them. Gilbert Mallory, the egotistical no-talent assclown slated to play Ellery, is found murdered and once again there's little rest for our weary heroes.

EP16  The Adventure of the Judas Tree
Feb. 01,1976
The Adventure of the Judas Tree

The Queens investigate when a wealthy industrialist and war profiteer is stabbed to death with a Chinese ceremonial dagger and then dragged out of his house and hung from a tree with a crown of thorns placed on his head. Just like one Judas Iscariot. As usual, plenty of suspects abound and when it's discovered that the victim was dying of acute lymphoma the plot only thickens.

EP15  The Adventure of the Wary Witness
Feb. 01,1976
The Adventure of the Wary Witness

Ellery's old college chum, Linville Hagen, is accused of murdering mobster Nick Danello and Ellery must find a missing witness who can prove his innocence. This missing witness was a woman wearing a green dress. This description, of course, could fit any woman in New York. Ole Frank Flannigan comes along for the ride too and this time he's not quite so antagonistic towards Ellery.

EP14  The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer
Jan. 18,1976
The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer

Heeeeeeeeeeere's Ed. Ed McMahon, that is, who plays a once brilliant but now seemingly senile inventor who is murdered in his electric train workshop. This one's a toughie because it appears as though no one could have entered or left the workshop during the time in which the murder must have taken place.

EP13  The Adventure of the Sunday Punch
Jan. 11,1976
The Adventure of the Sunday Punch

A boxer is killed while training for a championship bout and the finger points towards his sparring partner, Joe Adams. Joe's girlfriend, Corrinne Ogden, seeks out Ellery for help in clearing her boyfriend's name. Ellery accepts the challenge of proving Joe's innocence but it seems that the dead boxer had nearly as many enemies as Bugs Moran. Making things even more complicated is the fact that good old Frank Flannigan is also on the scene trying to beat Ellery to the solution.

EP12  The Adventure of the Black Falcon
Jan. 04,1976
The Adventure of the Black Falcon

Simon Brimmer arrives at a restaurant where he is to give a live-remote broadcast of his highly rated mystery radio program. Ellery and the Inspector are invited to attend. As you would figure, a murder is committed on the premises. One of the owners is poisoned by a bottle of wine. Can Simon beat Ellery to the solution of the case? Of course not.

EP11  The Adventure of the Blunt Instrument
Dec. 18,1975
The Adventure of the Blunt Instrument

An awards dinner sponsored by the Crime Writers of America is being held at the residence of writer Edgar Manning who is the recipient of the Blunt Instrument Award. Ellery is not present at the dinner due to the fact that he's home sick with a head cold. Nasty, egotistical Manning calls up Ellery on the telephone in order to gloat about his win and is murdered while speaking with our hero on the phone. It might take a quantum leap for our hero to solve this one.

EP10  The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse
Dec. 11,1975
The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse

Norris Wentworth buys and brings an Egyptian sarcophagus to display at the world famous Tremane Museum. Wouldn't you know it, there's curse on the darn thing. The six previous owners have all kicked the bucket under mysterious circumstances. Needless to say, Wentworth becomes victim number seven but is he really the victim of a mummy's curse or is there some other motive in this wild, wild case?

EP9  The Adventure of Veronica's Veils
Nov. 13,1975
The Adventure of Veronica's Veils

Burlesque producer Sam Packer is found dead of an apparent heart attack but he leaves behind a video to be shown at his funeral in which he states that no matter what it looks like, he will be murdered. Packer, in the video, asks radio mystery star Simon Brimmer to solve his murder. Packer's widow, knowing that Simon can't figure out his butt from third base, goes to Ellery and asks for his help. Brimmer once again tries to best Ellery and once again is 100% wrong.

EP8  The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party
Oct. 30,1975
The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party

Ellery and his agent, Howard Biggers, travel to the estate of the wealthy and eccentric Spencer Lockridge. It seems as though Biggers wants to turn one of Ellery's books into a play and is trying to get Lockridge to provide the financial backing. All goes for naught when Lockridge disappears while wearing a Mad Hatter's costume from the Alice in Wonderland theme party he was throwing. Whodunit? Could it have been someone from New York or maybe even Dallas?

EP7  The Adventure of Colonel Niven's Memoirs
Oct. 23,1975
The Adventure of Colonel Niven's Memoirs

A WW II spy, Colonel Alec Nivin, is on a book tour in New York concerning his memoirs in which he accuses a variety of people of war crimes and treasonous acts. Ellery's galpal, Jenny O'Brien, finds the erstwhile spy dead in his hotel room having been stabbed with an antique dagger. Everybody except Jenny is a suspect in this one.

EP6  The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance
Oct. 23,1975
The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Farewell Performance

Beloved Vera Bethune stars as Miss Aggie in a radio soap opera, but is about to be written out. One day she drinks water from a jug and is poisoned in a murder attempt. She is taken to the hospital and survives, but the killer returns.

EP5  The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express
Oct. 09,1975
The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express

News mogul Henry Manners is murdered in an express elevator to the 12th floor of his building with nobody inside the elevator except the victim. The suspects include Manners' sister who had previously run the paper while her brother was absent in WW II, the right-wing columnist who was always getting the paper into legal hot water, the Editor being forced into retirement, and (yes, you knew this was coming) the paper's lawyer. Ole Frank Flannigan is on the scene too making the usual nuisance of himself and trying to beat Ellery to the solution. They'll have to take things one day at a time in this case.

EP4  The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader
Oct. 02,1975
The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader

Ellery himself is a leading suspect in the murder of a comic book publisher with whom he'd clashed over how he was portrayed in the publisher's comics. It seems as though the man left a dying clue which apparently points to him. Ellery is forced to investigate in order to clear his name. Ole Frank Flannigan is on the scene too trying to steal some of the glory.

EP3  The Adventure of the Chinese Dog
Sep. 25,1975
The Adventure of the Chinese Dog

On a fishing trip to the town of Wrightsville, Ellery and Inspector Queen are dragged into the case of the murder of a wealthy man who was whacked over the head with an ornamental dog figurine meant as a wedding gift for his daughter and worth nearly half a million dollars. It seems as though two rival candidates for sheriff want the Inspector to solve the town's first murder in decades so that they can grab the credit.

EP2  The Adventure of the Lover's Leap
Sep. 18,1975
The Adventure of the Lover's Leap

A wealthy heiress dies. She jumped off the balcony of her elegant home (or did she?). Was it suicide... or was it murder? The twist: she was reading one of Ellery's own murder mysteries at the time and she died exactly the same way as the victim in the book.

EP1  The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne
Sep. 11,1975
The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne

The time: 10:00 pm, New Year's Eve, 1947. The place: The ballroom of the Hotel Astor. The victim: Mr. Marcus Halliday. And the suspects (all the usual ones): the son (and his gold-digging girlfriend), the untrusted nephew, the long-time secretary (and her brand new fiance), and the new business partner (of course, stealing from the company behind the victim's back). The soon-to-be victim has just announced that he plans to disinherit all of the above before the night is out - only to be found minutes later, slumped over in a nearby phone booth. Can Ellery figure out the clues as they play out? Of course, he can. But can you?

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8.3 | en | Drama , Mystery | More Info
Released: 1975-09-11 | Released Producted By: Tom Ward Enterprises , Universal Television Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

Ellery Queen is an American television detective mystery series based on the fictional character Ellery Queen. It aired on NBC during the 1975-76 television season and stars Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen, and Tom Reese as Sgt. Velie. Created by the writing/producing team of Richard Levinson and William Link, the title character "breaks" the fourth wall to ask the audience to consider their solution.

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Cast

David Wayne , Jim Hutton , Tom Reese

Director

Richard Levinson

Producted By

Tom Ward Enterprises , Universal Television

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Reviews

dgz78 I remember watching these shows as a young teenager. As a kid I read all the Poirot stories from Agatha Christie so I liked mysteries and these shows gave one an opportunity to figure things out and use your brain.But the thing I was surprised at were the guest stars each week. As a kid I had no idea who Eddie Bracken or Ann Reinking were but after watching every episode on dvd I amazed that every episode has big name guests.If you're a fan of dark mysteries this may be too mild for you. But in the end it's a good clean fun for the entire family.
aramis-112-804880 "Ellery Queen" (a mystery writer/character whose stories were published for decades) was one of those shows popular in the late 1970s and most of the 1980s suitable for family viewing. With only three major TV networks (ABC, CBS, NBC--hey are those guys still in business?) they tried to attract the optimum number of viewers by bringing in genuine stars of yesterday, "today," and tomorrow (also think "Murder, She Wrote", "Fantasy Island" and "The Love Boat").The stars of yesterday from movies and radios were dangerously close to has-been status, if they hadn't already crossed that line (Mel Ferrer, Arthur Godfrey, Eddie Bracken, Donald O'Connor, Farley Granger, Ray Milland and even George Burns, in the same year his career was inexplicably revived in "The Sunshine Boys")."Stars of Today" were mostly picked off recently-ended or then ongoing television shows (Bob Crane, Eva Gabor, Gary Burghoff, David Doyle, Gretchen Corbett, Pernell Roberts, David Hedison, Ken Berry, Dick Van Patten) while others were famous for appearances in game shows, guest-shots on TV shows or commercials (Eugene Roach, Orson Bean, Barbara Rhoades, Jesse White, Lloyd Bochner, Simon Oakland, Roddy McDowell, etc.)."Rising Stars of 1975" barely merit a mention since few of them caught fire. Some of us who were in school then might have asked "Whatever happened to" some of the big has-beens who lived off and fed on these shows, but the real "Whatever happened to" people are the "rising talent" of 1975. Whatever happened to Ann Reinking, Renne Jarrett, Brad David, Erica Hagen or Susan Stafford? The mysteries were sometimes quite obtuse. In the interest of fair play all the relevant clues were presented. Two rotating characters, a news reporter (Ken Swofford) and a radio mystery solver (John Hillerman, later of Magnum--a legitimate rising star), neither of whom appear in Ellery Queen stories, run their own simultaneous investigations, naming false suspects and weeding them out.The catch to "Ellery Queen" (as with many of the books written under that name) is that near the climax of nearly every show star Jim Hutton (Timothy's dad) turns to the camera and challenges the audience in the nicest possible way to name the killer ahead of him, even handing us pertinent clues we might have missed.Killing for fun plays a little differently on television than in books by masters like Christie, Allingham, Carr, etc. "Ellery Queen" softened the blow when some of the biggest stars appearing on the show were the victims. These days, however, when we have viewers who know not Tom Bosley, Eve Arden, Ed McMahon, Rudy Valee or Walter Pidgeon, the killings may seem more cruel than when "Ellery Queen" was produced. Back in the day it was fun seeing Johnny Carson's sidekick or Ronny Howard's second TV-dad knocked off.The show was lavishly produced (which might have spelled its doom) with great period cars and clothes circa 1947. It's one of the loveliest shows ever on air.But the beating heart of "Ellery Queen" was the relationship between gawky, absent-minded mystery author Ellery (Jim Hutton) and his no-nonsense police inspector dad (David Wayne). They have an obvious fondness for each other, and they bat the clues back and forth in jovial banter. The show also makes the most of their height differential, Hutton being 6'-4" like the Republican Lincoln, Wayne being 5'-7".The show had style, a great family relationship between the two leads, and tons of familiar faces for fans of old movies and TV shows. One or two shows stray into serious territory, and some of its writers make ill-advised 1970s political statements when they should have kept their traps shut. Mostly, however, the shows are classy and fun for people of all ages and political orientations. If you like you may keep a scorecard of clues (or what you think are clues) or you can just sit back and enjoy it for Jim Hutton's winsomeness and the relationship he has with his father, which is even better bonded than Jim Rockford's. I was a schoolboy when it first aired and I still watch the DVDs with my father, who is closing in on 90.
midnight_raider2001 One of my favorite TV series of all time was this show, a must-watch leading into the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie. Done by the same creative team that had given us "Columbo," "Ellery Queen" did that show one better by giving us a mystery to solve each week while using the same patterns of intricate clues that had made "Columbo" such a hit. I think NBC had high hopes for this show: it looks like they spent big money on it, meticulously re-creating New York City in the 1940s on Hollywood sets, getting the big-name guest stars, hiring a top-notch writing staff, and possibly giving the directors extra time to film and get things right. Maybe the show was too high-class for television, especially 1970s television, when Norman Lear's in-your-face, ultra-modern sitcoms ruled and Garry Marshall's escapist sitcoms were about to head for the top, while the dramas were epitomized by The Six Million Dollar Man (which was Ellery's competition during much of the year). TV networks always try to stay with the trends, although it seems like they always catch the trends at the tail end. Ellery was also Family Viewing Time material, after a programming edict by the networks which never caught on. But it even compares well with the immortal Murder, She Wrote, which came along a few years later (in the same time period) and became a 12-year hit. Catch the predecessor series if you can to see how the production team did it at their best.
occupant-1 One of the great casting feats of series television, ranking with the original "Star Trek" crew, the Carol Burnett sidekick stable and the "Bonanza" Cartwrights. It's a shame there were so few episodes made; this is a prime candidate for reissue in whatever form. High quality mystery writing, and with a little more action than say, Miss Marple.