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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 6, 2017 3:36:41 GMT
Has anyone else seen, and/or does anyone like, this show?
Only one season ('75-'76), but it's a sheer delight, with a wonderful central performance from David Wayne as Insp. Queen and a likable one from Jim Hutton as Ellery.
The guest stars are all great as well, and John Hillerman is an absolute joy as amateur rival detective Simon Brimmer, who's a perfect "expy" for Philo Vance.
And, along with Columbo and a few episodes of Murder, She Wrote (very few) and Monk, it's the best-plotted [original, not adaptational] mystery TV program of them all.
Anyone interested in posting a list of favorite episodes? I can post mine tomorrow.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 6, 2017 18:03:44 GMT
OK, well, no one has responded, but I'll post my list of favorites with the hope that it will inspire someone else... FAVORITE ELLERY QUEEN EPISODES (in order of release) The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne While no one would claim this episode has all that great of a puzzle plot (the dying clue, while clever, is patently ridiculous, and it's the only clue), the atmosphere is superb, feeling exactly like '40s New Year's Eve parties that movies from the era have recorded. There is great fun in the countdown to midnight, when Insp. Queen will be forced to let the suspects go, and as Ellery is stuck in exceedingly silly situations to arrive at the party, solve the mystery, and make up with his girlfriend. (The first instance of a perpetual whim of the writers, giving Ellery different girlfriends as the series progresses.)
The suspects are continually at each other's throats, building cases against each other, as in a Christianna Brand story, and the actors playing them, among whom Joan Collins is the most recognizable, are having tons of fun it with it. Guy Lombardo also cameos as himself; seeing all these famous faces is always a delight with this series. David Wayne is also having a good time as the principal investigator, as Ellery is continually trying and failing to get there until the very end. The Adventure of the Lover's LeapNotable for the first series appearance of John Hillerman's hilarious Simon Brimmer, a conceited radio detective who always thinks he can beat Ellery, and for one of the best, most complicated plots of the series, with the ingenious clue of a shard of glass. The solution must be taken with a grain of salt, but the writers' ingenuity is superb, with Brimmer's solution quite good but not good enough, as Ellery builds on it to find the real murderer and method (just as in one of Queen's own novels!). The Adventure of the Chinese DogNot only is the appearance of Wrightsville a joy for the EQ fan, and not only is the episode quite hilarious (e.g., Insp. Queen's repeated attempts to go fishing, hindered by the murder investigation!), but there is exceptionally clever plotting. The murderer's identity is not too difficult to figure out, but this person's motive is absolutely brilliant—and very possibly sui generis, for I've never seen it in any other detective story before or since. Also, the writers have apparently been reading Queen's novels closely, for we not only incorporate Wrightsville but also utilize the "Ellery interrupts a marriage ceremony" scenario (what this website calls "the showdown at the wedding bit"), which Queen-the-author used in There Was an Old Woman and Face to Face. The Adventure of Miss Aggie's Final PerformanceInteresting cast—Eve Arden and Betty White both star—but an even more interesting plot, seemingly combining elements of Agatha Christie's After the Funeral and The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side. The murderer is not too difficult to spot, but the other plotting elements are first-class. The Adventure of the Mad Tea PartyMost people's favorite episode, but the characters felt a little off in this one to me, with Ellery being a little less friendly and funny than in all the other episodes. Could that be because this episode was based on an EQ story from Period I, when the Ellery character was a little more Philo Vance-ish? Either way, this was indeed the only time that the writers directly adapted an EQ story for their script, though some are close calls (“The Adventure of the Wary Witness,” for example, is very close to EQ's “The Case Against Carroll,” and “The Adventure of the Judas Tree” bears some key similarities with EQ's The Door Between). There's also some good comedy on the train, and the atmospheric storm, while clichéd, is effective. It's one of EQ's best plots, though interesting in the sense that Ellery manufactures many of the best clues and the pattern in which those clues fall—prefiguring Period III's obsession with detective-as-god?
Anyway, good episode, just not the best. The Adventure of the Sinister ScenarioWonderful Hollywood atmosphere--very "meta"!--and a fun cast, including Vincent Price (!) as the director of an Ellery Queen movie. There's some interesting plotting about who-was-where-when--curiously similar to the solution with the Death in Paradise episode "Wicked Wedding Night"-- and the central victim, inviting comparisons to such Christie works as The Body in the Library, Towards Zero, and After the Funeral. But the atmosphere and comedy are rightfully emphasized here. The Adventure of the Two-Faced WomanOne of the very best episodes, with some great clues and a grand unravelling of the tricky situation. Not particularly difficult to spot the murderer, but there's enough clever business--and a good false solution from Simon Brimmer!--to make this one a plotting gem. The Adventure of Caesar's Last Sleep
Also excellent plotting--and a hilarious self-critique of the show's premise, as the Commissioner feels that Insp. Queen relies too much on Ellery! While the solution is by no means original, I neatly fell into a brilliant red-herring trap that is proposed and exploded, brilliantly, halfway through the episode. The identity of the murderer, too, is fairly clever. So, those are some brief comments! Anyone agree, disagree, have some favorites?
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 8, 2017 19:46:27 GMT
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Just so that I can know someone has at least seen this thread?
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Post by Richard Kimble on Apr 9, 2017 14:11:59 GMT
NalkarjI'm also a big fan of the series. The format had originated with Burke's Law, which Levinson and Link had worked on (though they didn't create it). Then came Ellery, followed in 1979 by the very short lived Eddie Capra Mysteries, starring the miscast Vincent Bagetta and which supposedly used some leftover EQ scripts. Finally in 1984 there was Murder She Wrote and the format became a hit. Allegedly MWS used some scripts left over from the abruptly cancelled Eddie Capra. As for my favorite episodes (I don't recall titles -- I'll just give plots): -- The already cited Hollywood story with Vincent Price. The plot isn't too brilliant -- Ellery makes a big deal of the murder being filmed, though that has nothing to do w/how he cracks the case -- but David Wayne is delightful as Inspector Queen, furious that his character is being "cut down to a walk on". -- The TV episode. Ken Swofford is hilarious as the newspaper columnist -- the end joke about Ed Sullivan is great. --The one set in the world of book publishing, where Ellery faces a Mickey Spillane-ish writer (Richard Jaeckel) who tries to be as hard-boiled as his novels I'm not a big fan of The Mad Tea Party. Fans of the books (which I've never read) think it's the closest to the classic EQ, which may be the problem -- it's like another character assumed Ellery's identity. It's not the Ellery we know.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Apr 9, 2017 18:20:24 GMT
I forgot to mention something that's occurred to me. I think the Simon Brimmer character should have been a woman. The show didn't have a female regular, and that may have hurt it in the ratings. Also there could have been a romance/rivalry with EQ similar to that between Peppard and Christine Belford on Banacek.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 9, 2017 19:46:57 GMT
Thanks for responding, Richard Kimble! Much appreciated. I'm glad to see that at least someone else here has seen this show! Ellery is one of my favorite TV detective programs--far superior to Murder, She Wrote and just slightly inferior to Columbo, which is, of course, the best of the lot. Great best episode picks! As you know, I'm not as big a fan of Swofford's Flanagan as you are (in fact, I'm not fond of Flanagan at all--much prefer Brimmer). As for "The Mad Tea Party"--I like it a lot more than you do, especially for plotting and atmosphere, but I agree about the characterization, which is funny because I've never read any other criticism of this factor than yours (and mine, of course). Hutton just seems "off" in that episode; I don't know if it's the script or the performance, but there is something different about it. As you and I both theorized, it may be because it was the only episode based off an original EQ story. I'm a big EQ fan, so I think the story's great, but Ellery's characterization in the books was all over the place. He started off in full Philo Vance mode (and, if you don't know the literary [as opposed to cinematic] Vance, here's Ogden Nash's famous summary of the character: "Philo Vance needs a kick in the pance") from The Roman Hat Mystery to The Spanish Cape Mystery (Period I, as Queen fans call it), became a little more human from Halfway House to The Dragon's Teeth (Period II), evolved into a fully-rounded human being from Calamity Town to The Finishing Stroke (Period III), and had aspects of all the other characterizations from The Player on the Other Side to A Fine and Private Place (Period IV). The story "The Mad Tea Party" was set in Period I, and Hutton's characterization of Ellery was closer to a middle ground between Periods II and III. I'm not sure about your Simon Brimmer as a woman idea. Sorry! I mean, maybe some other female character... But not Brimmer! (I find Hillerman's performance hilarious.) Even so, the introduction of a female lead might have improved ratings, but I think that would be too different from the books. Ellery has a different girlfriend in Double, Double, The Origin of Evil, There Was an Old Woman, and of course the short stories and radio series (Nikki Porter is the last, and most famous, one). But he's not really a romantic sort of character, especially in the Hutton portrayal, which is why I think the writers' series of girlfriend-characters didn't work as well either. Thanks again for posting!
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 18, 2017 0:50:43 GMT
Has anyone else seen this show?
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 20, 2017 22:20:12 GMT
So, then, I'll take that as a no?
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 27, 2017 18:04:27 GMT
I'm still taking it as a no?
Is anyone even interested?
Am I talking to myself?
(Something I do far too often.)
How is a raven like a writing-desk?
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Post by tarathian123 on Apr 27, 2017 18:27:26 GMT
I would discuss if I could, but I've never read any Ellery Queen novels, nor watched nor heard any programmes of him on TV or radio.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 27, 2017 18:48:34 GMT
Whew, my thanks that someone posted--and I'm happy it's you, tarathian123! I was wondering if I'd gone through a Mandela Effect in which only I acknowledged this show's (or this thread's) existence. Seriously, I've no idea if you or anyone else is interested ( Ellery Queen is not the best detective program ever made, by any means, but I really enjoy it, particularly the rapport between Hutton and Wayne), but the whole series is available here for free through Internet Archive. My (purely subjective) favorite episodes are above, if you're at all interested in those.
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Post by tarathian123 on Apr 27, 2017 19:26:15 GMT
Thanks Salzmank. I'm a subscriber to Internet Archive. It's not that I don't like, or am not interested in Ellery Queen. It's just that as there are so many shows and novels available I simply haven't got round to some of them. EQ is one of them. Don't forget we also have our own novels and shows in the UK, and many from other countries other than the US and UK too. :-)
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 27, 2017 22:40:16 GMT
Thanks Salzmank. I'm a subscriber to Internet Archive. It's not that I don't like, or am not interested in Ellery Queen. It's just that as there are so many shows and novels available I simply haven't got round to some of them. EQ is one of them. Don't forget we also have our own novels and shows in the UK, and many from other countries other than the US and UK too. :-) Oh, no, Al, I understand completely! I don't mean to try to force the silly show on you by any means, or even say it should be some kind of priority (it shouldn't), just offering the link if you're at all interested (which you may not be--that's fine). Sorry it came off otherwise.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 27, 2017 22:43:18 GMT
Thanks Salzmank. I'm a subscriber to Internet Archive. It's not that I don't like, or am not interested in Ellery Queen. It's just that as there are so many shows and novels available I simply haven't got round to some of them. EQ is one of them. Don't forget we also have our own novels and shows in the UK, and many from other countries other than the US and UK too. :-) Oh, no, Al, I understand completely! I don't mean to try to force the silly show on you by any means, or even say it should be some kind of priority (it shouldn't), just offering the link if you're at all interested (which you may not be--that's fine). Sorry it came off otherwise. I just realized why it might have come off that way--my first line--and I just changed it. Again, sorry. What I was trying to say was that, after Richard posted here, no one else ever responded. I was trying to drum up some sort of interest, I guess, or to find anyone here who might have seen it. That's all. Apologies.
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Post by tarathian123 on Apr 27, 2017 23:00:08 GMT
No apologies necessary. I knew your meaning. :-) I know there are many EQ fans around and like you I'm surprised you haven't had more response. I probably would like the EQ mysteries, but as I say, as with the Philo Vance tales I just haven't got around to them yet. At the moment I'm listening to Hamish Macbeth audiobooks and I'm now at novel #22. Another twelve to complete the set. But every novel is about 6 hours in length. Takes time. Btw I sent another PM (a response to your reply of my last).
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Post by Richard Kimble on Apr 29, 2017 10:40:56 GMT
the whole series is available here for free through Internet Archive. My (purely subjective) favorite episodes are above, if you're at all interested in those. That's curious. The Internet Archive is only for stuff in the public domain. Is the EQ series PD? I looked over the episode list and realized there are several for which I've forgotten the solution/killer. Tonight I watched "Col Nivin's Memoirs", w/ Gretchen Corbett (then a Universal contractee and and a semi-regular on The Rockford Files as Jim's lawyer Beth) as romantic interest for Ellery. Could she have been intended for semi-regular status here as well? At the end she walks off arm in arm with Hutton and Wayne.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 29, 2017 13:31:17 GMT
the whole series is available here for free through Internet Archive. My (purely subjective) favorite episodes are above, if you're at all interested in those. That's curious. The Internet Archive is only for stuff in the public domain. Is the EQ series PD? I looked over the episode list and realized there are several for which I've forgotten the solution/killer. Tonight I watched "Col Nivin's Memoirs", w/ Gretchen Corbett (then a Universal contractee and and a semi-regular on The Rockford Files as Jim's lawyer Beth) as romantic interest for Ellery. Could she have been intended for semi-regular status here as well? At the end she walks off arm in arm with Hutton and Wayne. Officially, no, I don't think it is, actually. Umm... Shhh! As for Miss Corbett, I have no idea if she were intended for semi-regular status--maybe if they'd gone on to Season 2--but I do know that the writers kept trying to give Ellery a different girlfriend every other episode or so, it seemed. I know "Auld Lang Syne" and "The Mad Tea Party" do, and I know there are a few others. It always amused me why, if the writers wanted a female lead, they didn't just use the character of Nikki Porter from the books (and radio show)? She's Ellery's secretary-girlfriend, and she's a very perky, likable character. Great for a film or TV adaptation, but no EQ adaptation outside of the radio series has ever used her. I've no idea why.
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tucotherat
Sophomore
@tucotherat
Posts: 262
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Post by tucotherat on May 6, 2017 23:50:49 GMT
I liked it back in the 70's, then rewatched most episodes a couple of years ago and found them to have too many twists.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 7, 2017 22:15:17 GMT
I liked it back in the 70's, then rewatched most episodes a couple of years ago and found them to have too many twists. Amusingly enough, Tucotherat, that's exactly what I do like about it: it's a million times better plotted than just about every other TV detective program (except Columbo, which is often superbly plotted as well). With a few exceptional episodes, Murder, She Wrote and Diagnosis Murder have particularly weak plots, especially in respect to cluing. (In fact, except in those cases bolded above, I think the only clue in many of those programs' episodes is the " I Never Said It Was Poison" one, which is so very weak.) I'm quite fond of the twists, but, then, I love clever puzzle-plotting.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 10, 2017 16:10:05 GMT
Tonight I watched "Col Nivin's Memoirs", w/ Gretchen Corbett (then a Universal contractee and and a semi-regular on The Rockford Files as Jim's lawyer Beth) as romantic interest for Ellery. Could she have been intended for semi-regular status here as well? At the end she walks off arm in arm with Hutton and Wayne.Richard, someone just let me know on a different forum that Ann Reinking in "The Eccentric Engineer" was intended as a semi-regular character, basically Nikki Porter in all but name. He also let me know that Nikki's character couldn't be used because there were some copyright problems with Columbia because of the Ralph Bellamy Ellery Queen movies in the '40s. So--maybe they were trying Gretchen Corbett too? Just to see who'd be best? All musing because they never went forward with a second season, of course.
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