- A Nero Wolfe Mystery
-
A Nero Wolfe Mystery 
Title illustration and design by
Aurore Giscard d'EstaingAlso known as Nero Wolfe
The Nero Wolfe MysteriesGenre Period drama Written by Sharon Elizabeth Doyle
Lee Goldberg
William Rabkin
Michael Jaffe
Stuart Kaminsky
Janet Roach
Jennifer Salt
Mark SteinDirected by John L'Ecuyer
Timothy Hutton
George Bloomfield
Holly Dale
John R. Pepper
James Tolkan
Neill Fearnley
Michael JaffeStarring Timothy Hutton
Maury Chaykin
Bill Smitrovich
Colin Fox
Conrad Dunn
Fulvio Cecere
Trent McMullen
R.D. Reid
Saul Rubinek
Kari Matchett
Debra Monk
Nicky GuadagniComposer(s) Michael Small Country of origin United States Language(s) English No. of seasons 2 No. of episodes 20 Production Executive producer(s) Michael Jaffe
Timothy Hutton
Howard BraunsteinProducer(s) Susan Murdoch
Randi RichmondEditor(s) Paul Winestock
Stephen Lawrence
James Bredin
Susan ShiptonLocation(s) Toronto, Ontario Cinematography Derek Rogers
John BerrieCamera setup Single-camera Production company(s) Jaffe/Braunstein
Films Ltd. and
A&E Television Networks
in association with Pearson Television InternationalDistributor A&E Television Networks
FremantleMediaBroadcast Original channel A&E Network Original run April 22, 2001 – August 18, 2002 Chronology Preceded by The Golden Spiders:
A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000)External links Website A Nero Wolfe Mystery is a television series adapted from Rex Stout's classic series of detective stories that aired for two seasons (2001–2002) on the A&E Network. Set in New York City in the early 1950s,[1] the stylized period drama stars Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin. A Nero Wolfe Mystery was one of the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for 2002.[2]
“ A witty, beguiling, colorful, pulse-pounding hoot of a weekly series set in the '50s... The greatest of fun... From straw hat to natty black-and-white wingtips, Archie is the swaggering, milk-drinking, street-savvy legman of this unequal union, Wolfe the cultured closer who rakes in big fees while rarely venturing outdoors on business. The "oversized genius," as Archie irreverently titles him, is 275 pounds of authoritarian harrumph packed into a custom-made three-piece suit. A derrick couldn't budge him from that ornately furnished brownstone, where he is an antique among antiques, hovering over his personal chef while cultivating his gourmandise ("I must see about those cutlets") as assiduously as he does his beloved orchids in a glassed-in plant room. ... Archie is the only man on TV who wears a snap-brim hat like he means it. ” — Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times[3]A Nero Wolfe Mystery creates the world of the brownstone on Manhattan's West 35th Street through high production values and a jazzy score by Michael Small. The language and spirit of the Stout originals are preserved in the teleplays, most of them written by consulting producer Sharon Elizabeth Doyle and the team of William Rabkin and Lee Goldberg (whose "Prisoner's Base" was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America).
Contents
Plot
“ You are headstrong and I am magisterial. Our tolerance of each other is a constantly recurring miracle. ” Archie Goodwin introduces Nero Wolfe as "a man who thinks he's the world's greatest detective. Truth being, he is." Grandly obese and famously eccentric, Wolfe is a genius who lives in — and rarely leaves — a large and comfortably furnished brownstone he owns on West 35th Street in Manhattan. Wolfe maintains an inflexible schedule of reading, tending his 10,000 orchids in the rooftop plant rooms, and dining on the fine cuisine of his master chef, Fritz. To support his opulent lifestyle and meet the payroll of his live-in staff, Wolfe charges high fees for solving crimes that are beyond the abilities of the police, most often the cigar-chewing Inspector Cramer of Manhattan Homicide. Wolfe sometimes calls upon freelance detectives Saul Panzer, Fred Durkin and Orrie Cather; but he depends upon his assistant Archie Goodwin, the street-smart legman whose wisecracking, irreverent voice narrates the stories.
The wardrobe, cars, furnishings and music place A Nero Wolfe Mystery somewhere in the 1950s.[4] It is technically a whodunit series, but like the original Rex Stout stories Nero Wolfe is less concerned with plot than with the interplay between its characters.
"I think that's something that's appreciated by Nero Wolfe fans," said Maury Chaykin, who stars as Nero Wolfe. "If you become focused on the crime, I think you're kind of in the wrong place. It's more the enjoyment of the characters and their eccentricities, and the reality of those characters."[5]
The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Main article: The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery“ A&E's The Golden Spiders gets it right: tone, texture, visuals and all. And it does it in the same way Jeremy Brett's Holmes series did: by respecting the originals. ” — David L. Beck, San Jose Mercury News[6]The series was preceded by the original film The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery, a Jaffe/Braunstein Films production that aired on the A&E Network March 5, 2000. Veteran screenwriter Paul Monash adapted Rex Stout's 1953 novel, and Bill Duke directed. A&E initially planned that The Golden Spiders would be the first in a series of two-hour mystery movies featuring Nero Wolfe.[7] The high ratings (3.2 million households) and critical praise garnered by The Golden Spiders prompted A&E to consider a one-hour drama series.[8]
"We were so pleased with the reception of the movie that we said, 'Maybe there's a one-hour show (here),'" said Allen Sabinson, A&E's senior vice president for programming, in June 2000. "I don't believe we were thinking, or Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton were thinking, there's a series here. These are not people who do series. What happened was they had such a good time, I think they fell in love with their characters. And I think they saw there was a level of respect and care about the filmmaking that they were open when we approached them and asked them, 'Would you be willing to do this as a one-hour show?'"[9]
Cast
Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin
Principal
Maury Chaykin is the brilliant, eccentric detective Nero Wolfe, a man with little patience for people who come between him and his insatiable passions for food, books and orchids. Timothy Hutton is Wolfe's hardworking and cheeky assistant Archie Goodwin, whose voice narrates the stories. In addition to starring in the series, Hutton directed four episodes and served as an executive producer.
Other members of the principal cast are Colin Fox as Fritz Brenner, Wolfe's master chef; Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer), Fulvio Cecere (Fred Durkin) and Trent McMullen (Orrie Cather) as the 'Teers, three freelance detectives who frequently assist Wolfe; Bill Smitrovich as Inspector Cramer, head of Manhattan's Homicide Bureau; and R.D. Reid as Sergeant Purley Stebbins. Saul Rubinek, who portrayed Saul Panzer in The Golden Spiders, took the role of reporter Lon Cohen in the series.
Repertory
A distinguishing feature of the series is its use of a repertory cast — Nicky Guadagni, Kari Matchett [7], Debra Monk, Boyd Banks, George Plimpton, Ron Rifkin, Francie Swift, James Tolkan and many other accomplished Canadian and American actors — to play non-recurring roles.
"If a stylized, period series based solely on books wasn't enough to separate Nero Wolfe from other TV shows," reported Scarlet Street magazine, "[executive producer Michael] Jaffe decided to employ a returning repertory cast in the guest roles for each episode. He felt that it was necessary to find actors who understood and fit in with the show's unique approach. 'Every other show agonizes about casting,' Jaffe says. 'We don't. We have 20, 30 people in our repertory company and we get great actors to play bit roles. ... We found an enormous number of very talented actors in Canada.'"[10]
Kari Matchett has the distinction of playing a recurring role (Archie Goodwin's sometime girlfriend Lily Rowan) and a non-recurring role (nightclub singer Julie Jaquette) in the same episode, "Death of a Doxy." Nicky Guadagni has the distinction of playing two non-recurring characters (a secretary and Mrs. Cramer) in the same episode, "The Silent Speaker." Its ensemble cast gives A Nero Wolfe Mystery the effect of a series of plays put on by a repertory theatre company.
Production
The Manhattan Brownstone used for exteriors in A Nero Wolfe MysteryA Nero Wolfe Mystery is a production of A&E Television Networks and Jaffe/Braunstein Films, Ltd., in association with Pearson Television International. The series was shot in Toronto,[11] with select Manhattan exteriors filmed for the series premiere, "The Doorbell Rang," and seen in subsequent episodes including "Prisoner's Base."[12]
When the series was announced in June 2000, Variety reported that A&E had been licensed to own Nero Wolfe in the U.S. and Canada for an undisclosed fee. Jaffe/Braunstein Films, which retained ownership of the series in the rest of the world, licensed distribution outside the U.S. to Pearson International Television (now FremantleMedia, Ltd.). Producer Michael Jaffe told Variety that the Nero Wolfe episodes would cost $1 million each; sources said the full production cost would be covered by A&E's and Pearson's licensing fees.[13]
"Jaffe/Braunstein was one of the first to experiment with HD for television," reported the industry publication HiDef Magazine. "Their landmark series 100 Centre Street ... was one of the first hour dramas to use HDCam as the capture medium. ... Jaffe/Braunstein was also producing the A&E series Nero Wolfe with Timothy Hutton in 35mm film. After the success with HD, Michael [Jaffe] decided that he'd like to try it on the single camera hour drama. At first Hutton was a little nervous about it, but after Jaffe brought experienced DP John Berrie to the program, Hutton was convinced. The entire second season was shot in HD, with 15 one hour programs and three two hours. Jaffe says that in addition to saving money, HD also allowed fewer lens changes, no magazine changes, smaller lighting instruments and near instant re-loading of stock. All this added to increased time working with the actors."[14]
A Nero Wolfe Mystery features production design by Lindsey Hermer-Bell [8], and costume design by Christopher Hargadon [9]. Illustrator Aurore Giscard d'Estaing designed title sequences unique to each episode.
Episodes
Awards
- 2002, Nominee, Edgar Award
Best Television Episode
Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, "Prisoner's Base"
Mystery Writers of America - 2002, Nominee, DGC Craft Award
Outstanding Achievement in Direction
Holly Dale, "Christmas Party"
Directors Guild of Canada - 2002, Nominee, DGC Craft Award
Outstanding Achievement in Picture Editing
Stephen Lawrence, "The Doorbell Rang"
Directors Guild of Canada - 2003, Nominee, Golden Reel Award
Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form – Music
Kevin Banks and Richard Martinez, "Death of a Doxy"
Motion Picture Sound Editors - 2003, Nominee, ACTRA Toronto Award
Maury Chaykin, Outstanding Performance – Male
Kari Matchett, Outstanding Performance – Female
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists[15]
Home video releases
United States and Canada
"Nero Wolfe is a beautifully shot series, and its release on DVD is frequently stunning," wrote DVD Talk's Adam Tyner in his comprehensive review [10] of A&E Home Video's "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series":
- Boxed sets of TV series take up quite a bit of space on my DVD shelves, but the majority of them — even series I deeply enjoy — have been watched once and only once. Nero Wolfe is certainly an exception. Not only did I feel compelled to rewatch these episodes, I started to feel that urge as soon as the end credits would flash on the screen. There were several cases where I'd read the original Rex Stout novel and then immediately rewatch the episode while the story was still fresh in my mind. I didn't watch Nero Wolfe so much as devour it, and that this is such a rewatchable series makes it especially worth owning on DVD.
- It's rare for any form of entertainment — be it a television series, a film, or a novel — to so immediately and unrelentingly seize my attention, and I'm left fumbling for the right adjectives to fully describe how much I've enjoyed Nero Wolfe. ... It's worth mentioning that these DVDs present the episodes as they appeared on A&E, and although longer versions aired overseas (several were literally twice as long), none of that additional footage is offered here. ...
- Expertly crafted, masterfully acted, and unlike much of anything else on television, this collection of the entire two season run of Nero Wolfe is very highly recommended.
The feature-length series pilot, The Golden Spiders, is included on two of A&E's DVD box sets — "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series" and "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Second Season." These two box sets also include a 22-minute behind-the-scenes film, "The Making of Nero Wolfe," as well as a bonus 16:9 widescreen version [11] of "The Silent Speaker," written and directed by Michael Jaffe. All of the other episodes are offered in 4:3 pan and scan format.
"The episodes look excellent — clear and colorful — in their broadcast full-frame presentation," wrote Scarlet Street magazine. "The extras are skimpy to the point of frustration, however. ... For that matter, why is "The Silent Speaker" the only episode presented in widescreen format?"[16]
Title Media Type Release Date Approximate Length ISBN Nero Wolfe:
The Complete Classic
Whodunit SeriesRegion 1 DVD
Eight-disc box set[17]April 25, 2006 24 hours,
56 minutes
+ extrasISBN 076708893X The Doorbell Rang:
A Nero Wolfe MysteryRegion 1 DVD+R
(A&E Store exclusive)October 2004 100 minutes ISBN 0767067215 The Golden Spiders:
A Nero Wolfe MysteryRegion 1 DVD+R
(A&E Store exclusive)October 2004 94 minutes ISBN 0767067193 Nero Wolfe:
The Complete Second SeasonRegion 1 DVD
Five-disc box set[18]June 28, 2005[19] 13 hours,
20 minutesISBN 076705508X Nero Wolfe:
The Complete First SeasonRegion 1 DVD
Three-disc box set[20]July 27, 2004[21] 10 hours ISBN 0767054997 The Doorbell Rang:
A Nero Wolfe MysteryVHS videotape
(NTSC)August 20, 2001 100 minutes ISBN 0767037669 The Golden Spiders:
A Nero Wolfe MysteryVHS videotape
(NTSC)May 30, 2000 94 minutes ISBN 0767025512 International
Fritz (Colin Fox) serves a rum and Coke to Priscilla Eads (Shauna Black) in a scene from "Prisoner's Base" seen only in the international version of A Nero Wolfe MysteryAs DVD Talk's 2006 review of Nero Wolfe reported, "longer versions aired overseas (several were literally twice as long)."[22] Nero Wolfe saw its first international DVD release in August 2008, when "Nero Wolfe – Collection One" was offered for sale in Australia by FremantleMedia Enterprises. Distributed by Magna Pacific, "Nero Wolfe — Collection Two" (December 2008) was the first release of an episode containing scenes not available on the A&E Home Video release. The Pearson Television International version presents "Prisoner's Base" as a 90-minute film with a single set of titles and credits, and it includes three scenes (3.5 minutes) found on pp. 3–5, 21 and 27–28 of the script written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin.[23]
A Nero Wolfe Mystery began to be released on Region 2 DVD in December 2009, marketed in the Netherlands by Just Entertainment.[24] Like the collections that were sold in Australia, these DVD sets presented the episodes in 4:3 pan and scan rather than their 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing. The third collection released in April 2010 made the 90-minute features "Wolfe Goes Out" and "Wolfe Stays In" available on home video for the first time; until then, the linked episodes "Door to Death"/ "Christmas Party" and "Eeny Meeny Murder Moe"/"Disguise for Murder" were available only in the abbreviated form sold by A&E Home Video.
Title Media Type Release Date Approximate Length Numeric Identifier Nero Wolfe — Collection One Region 4 DVD
Three-disc set[25]August 13, 2008 276 minutes ISBN 9316797427038 Nero Wolfe — Collection Two Region 4 DVD
Two-disc set[26]December 5, 2008 178 minutes ISBN 9315842036140 A Nero Wolfe Mystery — Serie 1 Region 2 DVD
Three-disc set[27]December 11, 2009 270 minutes EAN 8717344739221 A Nero Wolfe Mystery — Serie 2 Region 2 DVD
Two-disc set[28]February 11, 2010 180 minutes EAN 8717344739801 A Nero Wolfe Mystery — Serie 3 Region 2 DVD
Two-disc set[29]April 13, 2010 180 minutes EAN 8717344739481 Adapting the stories for the A&E series
"It was a screenwriting assignment unlike any other that my writing partner, William Rabkin, and I had ever been involved with," wrote screenwriter Lee Goldberg in the November 2002 issue of Mystery Scene magazine. "Because Nero Wolfe, starring Maury Chaykin as Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as Archie, was unlike any other series on television. It was, as far as I know, the first TV series without a single original script — each and every episode was based on a Rex Stout novel, novella, or short story. That's not to say there wasn't original writing involved, but it was Stout who did all the hard work."
Goldberg and Rabkin adapted four Nero Wolfe stories — Champagne for One, Prisoner's Base, "Murder Is Corny" and "Poison à la Carte" — for A Nero Wolfe Mystery. In his article "Writing Nero Wolfe," Goldberg provides a unique inside look at the process of adapting Rex Stout for the A&E TV series:
- Everyone who wrote for Nero Wolfe was collaborating with Rex Stout. The mandate from executive producers Michael Jaffe and Timothy Hutton (who also directed episodes) was to "do the books," even if that meant violating some of the hard-and-fast rules of screenwriting. Your typical hour-long teleplay follows what's known as a four-act structure. ... But Nero Wolfe ignored the formula, forgoing the traditional mini-cliffhangers and plot-reversals that precede the commercial breaks. Instead, we stuck to the structure of the book, replicating as closely as possible the experience of reading a Rex Stout novel...
- "It's amazing how many writers got it wrong," says Sharon Elizabeth Doyle, who was head writer for Nero Wolfe. "I mean very good writers, too. Either you get it or you don't. It's so important to have the relationships right, and the tone of the relationships right, to get that it's about the language and not the story. The characters in these books aren't modern human beings. You have to believe in the characters and respect the formality of the way they are characterized. ... There is a pleasure in Wolfe's speeches, what we call the arias," says Doyle. "Wolfe has lots of them, the trick is isolating that one aria you can't live without."[30]
The filmmakers have remained as scrupulously faithful to the original stories as possible, even to the point of retaining the different time settings — this season's episodes have jumped from the 1940s to the 1960s and back without a care. ... What a stunner it is to find them translated so effectively to television.
— S.T. Karnick, National Review[31]
"There's something so dynamic and wonderful about Wolfe and Archie, Fritz and their whole world," Sharon Elizabeth Doyle told Scarlet Street magazine in 2002. Consulting producer for A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Doyle was the show's only full-time writer — overseeing the work of freelance screenwriters, and writing 11 of the teleplays herself:
- "I do the most work on the dialogue," she says. "What Stout writes actually sounds good when you say it out loud, but the stuff that makes you laugh out loud and fall on the floor in the books doesn't work most of the time when you transpose it directly into actors' mouths. Frequently I end up moving words — tenderly and respectfully — but retaining as much of the language as possible. I feel a great belief in Rex Stout. I see the script process as writing his second draft."[10]
Relationship to literary source
In the preface to the second edition of his book At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout, J. Kenneth Van Dover assessed the fidelity of A Nero Wolfe Mystery to its literary source:
- A quarter century after his death, the Nero Wolfe books remain in print (on, it is reported, "a rotating basis") and, as a result of a very popular A&E television series which premiered in 2000, their continuing presence seems assured. ... The success of the series is significant especially because the scripts remained remarkably faithful to the novels. The programs are set in the period, and much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the novel. Effective novelistic dialogue is not usually effective screen dialogue, as Raymond Chandler discovered when he worked on the script for the 1944 film of James M. Cain's Double Indemnity. The A&E series was able to adopt verbatim both the sharp exchanges between Wolfe and Archie, and as well Archie's narration in voiceover. Credit certainly goes to the skills of the repertory actors who played the roles, and especially to Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton; but it was Stout who supplied the language and the characters who speak it. And it was Stout who created in words the real pleasures of the novels: the voices and ideas, the rooms and the routines. Producer Michael Jaffe realized this, and with great care recreated those pleasures on film.[32]
"That Nero Wolfe should be so pleasing has at least as much to do with the casting as the scripts," wrote cultural critic Terry Teachout in the National Review:
- Timothy Hutton plays Archie Goodwin, and I can't see how anyone could do a better job. Not only does he catch Archie's snap-brim Thirties tone with sharp-eared precision, but he also bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the dapper detective-narrator I've been envisioning all these years. No sooner did Hutton make his first entrance in The Golden Spiders than he melded completely with the Archie of my mind's eye. I can no longer read a Stout novel without seeing him, or hearing his voice.
- Still, Archie could have wandered out of any number of screwball comedies; Nero Wolfe is a far more complicated proposition. ... Maury Chaykin has doubtless immersed himself in the Wolfe novels, for he brings to his interpretation of the part both a detailed knowledge of what Stout wrote and an unexpectedly personal touch of insight. He plays Wolfe as a fearful genius, an aesthete turned hermit who has withdrawn from the world (and from the opposite sex) in order to shield himself — against what? Stout never answers that question, giving Chaykin plenty of room to maneuver, which he uses with enviable skill.[33]
BookFinder.com — a web-search service that reports the most-sought out-of-print titles — documents that the production of A Nero Wolfe Mystery coincides with Rex Stout's becoming a top-selling author some 30 years after his death. In March 2003, the top four most-wanted mysteries listed by BookFinder.com were all Nero Wolfe novels: Where There's a Will (1940), The Rubber Band (1936), The Red Box (1937) and The League of Frightened Men (1935). The Red Box was the most-searched mystery title in August 2003, and the novel remained as number two on the list in 2004. In 2006, Too Many Women (1947) was fifth on BookFinder.com's list of most-sought out-of-print thrillers, whodunits, classics and modern mystery titles. In 2007, The Black Mountain was in the number five position.[34]
Most of the Nero Wolfe stories adapted for A Nero Wolfe Mystery are available through Bantam's Rex Stout Library, a series of paperbacks featuring new introductions by today's best writers and never-before published Rex Stout memorabilia. Some Bantam volumes, like Prisoner's Base, are emblazoned with the words, "as seen on TV." The Audio Partners Publishing Corporation promoted its bestselling line of Rex Stout audiobooks, unabridged on CD and audiocassette, "as seen on A&E TV."
Broadcast history
United States and Canada
Distributed by the A&E Television Networks in the United States and Canada, A Nero Wolfe Mystery first aired on the A&E Network April 22, 2001. The second season premiered April 14, 2002. The series ran Sundays at 8 p.m. ET and was rebroadcast at midnight. The last original broadcast was Sunday, August 18, 2002. Nero Wolfe continued to air regularly in repeat through 2002 and sporadically in early 2003 before leaving the A&E schedule altogether.[35]
From March 2004 to May 2006, Nero Wolfe appeared Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET on another of the A&E Networks, The Biography Channel.[36]
International
FremantleMedia, Ltd., distributes A Nero Wolfe Mystery outside the U.S. and Canada. The series has been broadcast on public and commercial networks, cable television and satellite systems throughout the world, and was presented throughout Europe and Africa on the Hallmark Channel.[37]
- Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation [12]
- Australia, Movie Plus
- Estonia, Kanal 2 , as Nero Wolfe [13]
- Finland, as Nero Wolfe [14]
- France, Paris Première, as Les Enquêtes de Nero Wolfe [15] [16]
- Israel, Hot[38]
- Italy, Mediaset (Rete 4), as Nero Wolfe [17]
- Japan, Movie Plus, AXN Mystery [18]
- Japan, WOWOW[39] (March 2004 schedule PDF)
- Lithuania, Lietuvos Televizija, as Detektyvas Niras Vulfas[40]
- Mexico, Televisa, as Un Misterio de Nero Wolfe [19] [20]
- Poland, Polsat (Echo Miasta June 26, 2006, schedule PDF)
- Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, as Um Mistério de Nero Wolfe [21]
- Romania, Naţional TV [22] (Pro TV December 2006 schedule PDF)
- Turkey, Digiturk [23]
- UK, BBC Two, as The Nero Wolfe Mysteries [24]
- UK, Sky Movies [25]
Reception
In its debut season on A&E, A Nero Wolfe Mystery averaged a 1.9 rating.[41] The first three weeks (April 14–28, 2002) of the second season of Nero Wolfe averaged a solid 1.9 rating in cable homes, Variety reported.[42] Broadcasting and Cable reported that Nero Wolfe had averaged a 1.7 rating for the month of May 2002, while viewing levels for the A&E Network overall were 1.1.[43] In mid-June 2002 Multichannel News wrote, "Nero Wolfe, in its second cycle of episodes, is drawing solid ratings in the 1.5 to 2.0 Nielsen Media Research range."[44]
A Nero Wolfe Mystery was one of the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for 2002.[2]
Reviews and commentary
- John Leonard, New York Magazine (April 16, 2001) — Imperious and mysterious, Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe was always a natural for television. Finally, A&E got him right.[45]
- Diane Holloway, Cox News Service (April 20, 2001) — The music is big-band smooth, the cars are shiny with tail fins and the dialogue is snappy, almost musical. At times conversations sound like fingers rhythmically popping. ... The antithesis of today's gritty cop dramas, A&E's new Nero Wolfe series is slick and classy. Nobody spinning the dial will mistake the lavish sets, fabulous period costumes and moody lighting for NYPD Blue. The camera doesn't jiggle; it glides.
- John Levesque, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (April 20, 2001) — Like so many characters in noir-ish films of the 1940s and 1950s, Wolfe and Goodwin are ebulliently over the top: loud, proud and full of themselves. It's a bit much for anyone expecting the less theatrical performances of today. And yet it fits remarkably well with today's reality programming. Wolfe, after all, is ruder than anyone on Survivor.[46]
- Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times (April 20, 2001) — Style is exactly what drives Nero Wolfe. That and deft acting by Chaykin and executive producer Hutton — who also grandly directs the first two episodes — make it the greatest of fun.[47]
- Julie Salamon, The New York Times (April 20, 2001) — The charming A&E series is an expansion of last year's Nero Wolfe movie special, starring Maury Chaykin as the massive Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as skinny Archie Goodwin, his investigator and sidekick. ... This actor has retained his lanky boyishness. Sometimes his big-shouldered, baggy suits seem to be gliding along by themselves.[48]
- Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch (April 22, 2001) — The series is actually better than the movie — stylish, well-acted and backed by a compelling retro-jazz theme ... What it lacks in shoot'em-up action, Nero Wolfe makes up for in style.
- David Kronke, The Daily News of Los Angeles (April 22, 2001) — Nero Wolfe, alas, is undone by uneven performances and a sense that it's more witty and urbane than it really is. Hutton is too antic — he seems to be playing the sassy newsroom copy boy in a '30s B-picture — and his narration tries far too hard to push jokes that just aren't funny. Maury Chaykin, a normally reliable character actor, is alternately flat or rudderlessly blustery as Wolfe.
- Laura Urbani, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (April 22, 2001) — Hutton has found a series of which he can be proud. Most actors would kill to be a part of such a witty and classy production.[49]
- James Vance, Tulsa World (April 22, 2001) — Stout's books are mysteries, but they're invariably more about the people involved than the mysteries themselves. Hutton, an Academy Award–winning actor (for 1980's Ordinary People), is ideal casting for Archie, and the lesser-known Chaykin is a surprisingly satisfactory choice to flesh out the combination of growls and tics that make up Nero Wolfe. To that mix Hutton and his partners in production have added the concept of repertory casting that will see the same nucleus of performers returning in different roles each week.[50]
- Frazier Moore, Associated Press (May 3, 2001) — Fast-paced and stylish, there's no mystery why it's so much fun to watch. ... The series' look is bright and plushly appointed. The music swings like a night at the Stork Club.
- Gene Amole, Rocky Mountain News (May 11, 2001) — Maury Chaykin is perfect as Wolfe, and Timothy Hutton, who also produces and directs the series, is the ideal Archie. Somehow, they have reproduced with unerring accuracy Wolfe's four-story brownstone mansion ... What wonderful, campy scripts!
- Don Dale, Style Weekly (May 21, 2001) — Maury Chaykin makes an excellent Nero Wolfe in A&E’s new series based on Stout’s books. And Timothy Hutton is nicely cast as Goodwin. ... The soundtrack of the series gets an A+: It’s full of hot '30s and '40s club jazz. So do the writers, especially for capturing the exquisite subtleties of the complex relationship between Wolfe and Goodwin, most often expressed in the conversational games they’re so fond of — and so good at.[51]
- Molly Haskell, The New York Observer (December 23, 2001) — The A&E television show based on Rex Stout's mystery novels, with Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin, is a class act, a witty and playful take on the 30's that never overdoes it.[52]
- Martin Sieff, United Press International (December 25, 2001) — The great veteran actor Maury Chaykin was born to play Nero. And Timothy Hutton is equally perfect as his leg-man and always squabbling employee/amanuensis/Dr. Watson/Captain Hastings sidekick, Archie Goodwin. ... Hutton, an Oscar winner, and Chaykin are at the heart of it all. They have done many prestigious things in their careers and no doubt will do many more. But it is clear they know they will never have more fun than doing this.[53]
- Robert Bianco, USA Today (April 12, 2002) — For reasons I can't explain, A&E is dedicated to preserving Nero Wolfe, its thuddingly mediocre series starring Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin as Rex Stout's famed detective team. The stars are miscast, the production is chintzy and the books defy adaptation, but A&E keeps plugging.
- S. T. Karnick, National Review (May 10, 2002) — Timothy Hutton, who also serves as executive producer for the show, is just brilliant as Archie Goodwin, managing to express the gumshoe's toughness (which I had been rather skeptical of his ability to do) as effectively as he shows his moral strength and emotional complexity. ... Chaykin quite simply is Nero Wolfe, playing the role with impressive confidence and subtlety.[54]
- Jonathan Storm, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (June 11, 2002) — One of TV's most stylish shows.
- John Doyle, The Globe and Mail (July 12, 2002) — An absolute delight ... What's fun here is that everybody is having a great time with the arch dialogue, fabulous clothes and general silliness. It's all done with such flair and good humour that you can't help being absorbed. Most of the guys are "saps," all of the women are "dames" and, as Archie Goodwin, Timothy Hutton obviously adores saying things like, "The hell of it was, she was beautiful."
- Terry Teachout, National Review (August 12, 2002) — Chaykin and Hutton are as good in tandem as they are separately, for they understand that the Wolfe books are less mystery stories than domestic comedies, the continuing saga of two iron-willed codependents engaged in an endless game of one-upmanship. ... At least half the fun of the Wolfe books comes from the way in which Stout plays this struggle for laughs, and Chaykin and Hutton make the most of it, sniping at each other with naughty glee.[55]
- Carey Henderson, Speakeasy (November 5, 2002) — Timothy Hutton, along with the ever pompous Maury Chaykin, stars in — and directs — this amazing weekly 'who done it' on A&E. ... Wolfe takes us back to a time (or maybe just transports us to a new one) where television could be good. The bad guys lose, the good guys win, and the suits are sharper than a razor.[56]
- Robert Fidgeon, Herald Sun (November 12, 2003) — For those who enjoy stylish, well-written and superbly performed television, you won't get much better than this series.
- Tom Keogh, Amazon.com (2004) — The Complete First Season includes all the pleasures and surprises of the show's first mysteries, above all the tempestuous, symbiotic, and highly entertaining relationship between Wolfe (Maury Chaykin), a corpulent recluse who grows orchids and analyzes clues from a distance, and the acerbic knight-errant, Goodwin (Timothy Hutton, also an executive producer on the series), Wolfe's underpaid eyes and ears on the world. Hutton also directs the two-part "Champagne for One" with a snap and verve reminiscent of old Howard Hawks comedies, but it is on "Prisoner's Base" that all of the series' best elements are firing at once … All in all, Nero Wolfe refreshes the television detective genre.[57]
- Stephen Lackey, Cinegeek (2004) — Take one part Crime Story, one part Sherlock Holmes, and a lot of smart quick-witted and sarcastic humor and you have A&E's gone-before-its-time television adaptation of Nero Wolfe. I can't recommend this series enough.[58]
- Michael Rogers, Library Journal (December 2004) — A&E’s Nero Wolfe is so good, it’s criminal. Highly recommended.
- Stuart Kaminsky, Publishers Weekly (December 19, 2005) — I ended up writing the last episode, "Immune to Murder," based on one of Rex Stout's short stories. I thought it was a terrific series, by the way. I don't know for sure why it didn't continue.
- Steve Lewis, Mystery*File (February 5, 2009) — The finest TV series ever based on the works of an American mystery writer.[59]
Cancellation
The cancellation of Nero Wolfe was announced in August 2002. Although nothing official was ever said, it is rumored that the reason the A&E Network ended the series was due to high production costs. To address the cancellation, A&E took the unusual step of posting an "Important Message" on its Web site:
We at A&E remain extremely proud of Nero Wolfe. It is a high quality, beautifully produced and entertaining show, unlike anything else currently on the television landscape. Although it performed moderately well amongst tough competition for two seasons, it simply did not do well enough for us to be able to go on making it, given the current television climate.[60]
The New York Times recalled that television climate, and A&E's response to it, in June 2004: "Two years ago Nick Davatzes, president and chief executive of A&E Television Networks, called his executives to a retreat, to 'wallow in the mud,' as he described the exercise. From that wallowing emerged an overhaul in management and outlook, including the conclusion that reality television could not be ignored if the network wanted younger viewers."[61]
Maury Chaykin reflected on the cancellation of Nero Wolfe in a 2008 interview. "I'm a bit jaded and cynical about which shows succeed on television. I worked on a fantastic show once called Nero Wolfe, but at the time A&E was transforming from the premiere intellectual cable network in America to one that airs Dog the Bounty Hunter on repeat, so it was never promoted and eventually went off the air."[62]
References
- ^ "Since Stout spanned four decades, I just arbitrarily picked the early fifties, because I thought there was so much style that people could identify with and that we could play off," executive producer Michael Jaffe told Paula Vitaris of Scarlet Street magazine (Issue No. 45, p. 37). "Ultimately, the most important thing is that the audience remain removed from the show by three or four decades. You can't do what Paramount did and update it and make the language modern. The whole thing doesn't make sense, because the tonal idiom doesn't play in the modern world. You have to separate it; you have to create that proscenium arch; you have to create poetic distance—otherwise there's no art in it."
- ^ a b Multichannel News, February 24, 2003
- ^ Rosenberg, Howard, "The Dueling Detectives: In a Sunday night matchup, A&E's 'Nero Wolfe' easily defeats CBS' 'Murder on the Orient Express' on style points alone"; Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2001
- ^ The exception is the second-season premiere directed by Timothy Hutton, set in the decade in which it was written. "For 'Death of a Doxy,' Tim decided to play it in the early sixties," executive producer Michael Jaffe told Scarlet Street magazine (Issue No. 45, p. 37). "If you look at that episode, it's really fun, because everything — the wardrobe, the art direction — is different, since it's a different generation. It breaks our mold." The source material for Nero Wolfe was written between 1940 (Over My Dead Body) and 1966 (Death of a Doxy), with most stories written in the 1950s.
- ^ Gorman, Brian, "Series revives classic gumshoe style." Winnipeg Free Press (Tribune Media Services), August 17, 2002
- ^ Beck, David L., "Staying faithful to Wolfe produces a dandy mystery"; San Jose Mercury News, March 5, 2000
- ^ Dempsey, John, "A&E embarks on ambitious mystery plan"; Daily Variety, January 15, 1999
- ^ Dempsey, John, "Wolfe series at the door for A&E"; Variety, June 26, 2000; "A&E packs 'Wolfe'"; Variety, June 22, 2000
- ^ Stark, Steven J., "A&E cries for more 'Wolfe': 1-hour series"; The Hollywood Reporter, June 22, 2000
- ^ a b Vitaris, Paula, "Miracle on 35th Street: Nero Wolfe on Television"; Scarlet Street, issue #45, 2002, p. 76
- ^ "And Hutton, bless him, took pains to make sure that the stoop, meticulously recreated in a freezing Ontario warehouse soundstage really did have seven steps." Sieff, Martin, "Happy Christmas, Santa Wolfe"; United Press International (December 25, 2001)
- ^ WireImage (image numbers 253302 – 253308) and Getty Images (image number 1302172) document the location photography directed by Timothy Hutton on October 15, 2000, also seen in the A&E documentary, "The Making of Nero Wolfe"
- ^ Dempsey, John, "A&E packs 'Wolfe'"; Variety, June 22, 2000
- ^ Denke, Conrad, "Jaffe/Braunstein — HD Reaches the MOW Mainstream"; Hi Def Magazine, Vol. 7, Issue 2 (2005 pdf), pp. 8–12
- ^ ACTRA Award Revived in Honour of 60th Anniversary: Ten Award Nominees Announced by ACTRA Toronto (February 3, 2003); The ACTRA Awards in Toronto; retrieved 7-1-08
- ^ Vitaris, Paula, review of "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Second Season" in Scarlet Street, issue number 54 (2005), p. 30. "There isn't anything collected in this box set besides the episodes themselves, plus bios and filmographies for Hutton and Chaykin," Vitaris wrote in her earlier review of the first-season DVD set (issue 51, 2004, pp. 25-26). "No commentaries, no interviews, no behind-the-scenes footage, no info about Rex Stout and his work. Nothing."
- ^ Features include the following. Disc 1: "The Doorbell Rang," "Champagne for One" parts 1 + 2. Disc 2: "Prisoner's Base" parts 1 + 2, "Eeny Meeny Murder Moe," "Disguise for Murder." Disc 3: "Door to Death," "Christmas Party," "Over My Dead Body" parts 1 + 2. Disc 4: "Death of a Doxy" double episode (one set of titles and credits), "The Next Witness," "Die Like a Dog." Disc 5: "Murder Is Corny," "Motherhunt" double episode, "Poison à la Carte." Disc 6: "Too Many Clients" double episode, "Before I Die," "Help Wanted, Male." Disc 7: "The Silent Speaker" double episode, "Cop Killer," "Immune to Murder." Disc 8: "The Golden Spiders," "The Making of Nero Wolfe," "The Silent Speaker" double episode in 16:9 letterbox format.
- ^ Features include the following. Disc 1: "Death of a Doxy" double episode (one set of titles and credits), "The Next Witness," "Die Like a Dog." Disc 2: "Murder Is Corny," "Motherhunt" double episode, "Poison à la Carte." Disc 3: "Too Many Clients" double episode, "Before I Die," "Help Wanted, Male." Disc 4: "The Silent Speaker" double episode, "Cop Killer," "Immune to Murder." Disc 8: "The Golden Spiders," "The Making of Nero Wolfe," "The Silent Speaker" double episode in 16:9 letterbox format.
- ^ Actually released in June 2004 for exclusive sale by A&E Store and select outlets
- ^ Features include the following. Disc 1: "The Doorbell Rang," "Champagne for One" parts 1 + 2. Disc 2: "Prisoner's Base" parts 1 + 2, "Eeny Meeny Murder Moe," "Disguise for Murder." Disc 3: "Door to Death," "Christmas Party," "Over My Dead Body" parts 1 + 2.
- ^ Actually released in June 2003 for exclusive sale by A&E Store and select outlets
- ^ Tyner, Adam, DVD Talk, "Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series" (April 25, 2006)
- ^ The "Prisoner's Base" script is available for PDF download on Lee Goldberg's Web site. The three longer scenes are transcribed in an FAQ at the Internet Movie Database, and available in a PDF document on the Wolfe Pack web site.
- ^ Just Entertainment, accessed April 6, 2010
- ^ Features include "The Golden Spiders," "The Doorbell Rang" and "Champagne for One." Each 90-minute film is presented with a single set of titles and credits. Screen format is 4:3 full frame. Rated M (mild crime themes and mild violence) by the Commonwealth of Australia. (Retrieved December 31, 2010)
- ^ Features include "Prisoner's Base" (presented as a 90-minute film with a single set of titles and credits), "Eeny Meeny Murder Moe" and "Disguise for Murder." Screen format is 4:3 full frame. Rated PG (mild violence) by the Commonwealth of Australia. (Retrieved December 31, 2010)
- ^ Features include "The Golden Spiders," "The Doorbell Rang" and "Champagne for One." Screen format is 4:3 full frame. Dutch subtitles. Recommended for age 12 and over. [1] [2]
- ^ Features include "Over My Dead Body" and "Death of a Doxy." Screen format is 4:3 full frame. Dutch subtitles. Recommended for age 12 and over. [3] [4]
- ^ Features include "Wolfe Goes Out" ("Door to Death" and "Christmas Party" linked as a 90-minute feature) and "Wolfe Stays In" ("Eeny Meeny Murder Moe" and "Disguise for Murder" linked as a 90-minute feature). Screen format is 4:3 full frame. Dutch subtitles. Recommended for age 12 and over. [5] [6]
- ^ Goldberg, Lee, "Writing Nero Wolfe"; Mystery Scene, issue #77, Holiday 2002 (published November 2002), pp. 27–28 and 30
- ^ Karnick, S.T., "Wolfe a la Tube: An A&E series loyal to its source"; National Review, May 10, 2002
- ^ Van Dover, J. Kenneth, At Wolfe's Door: The Nero Wolfe Novels of Rex Stout; 1991, Borgo Press, Mitford Series; second edition 2003, p. vii (James A. Rock & Co., Publishers; Hardcover ISBN 091873651X / Paperback ISBN 0918736528)
- ^ Teachout, Terry, "A Nero as Hero"; National Review, August 12, 2002
- ^ BookFinder.com reports for March 2003, August 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007
- ^ A&E home page of August 17, 2002, retrieved from the Internet Archive. "The Doorbell Rang" aired Sunday, December 29, 2002. In 2003, A&E presented "The Golden Spiders" February 23, and "Death of a Doxy" February 20 and April 13.
- ^ Biography Channel schedule of May 13, 2006, retrieved from the Internet Archive
- ^ Hallmark Channel international sites in April 2003 recorded episodes of both seasons of A Nero Wolfe Mystery airing in 36 countries: Angola, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Czech Republic, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Finland, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Iceland, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- ^ Screen captures of the Pearson Television International version of "The Silent Speaker" broadcast on Hot Action, subtitled in Hebrew
- ^ "グルメ探偵 ネロ・ウルフ −A Nero Wolfe Mystery−". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23. http://www.webcitation.org/5kkmm5Ac2.
- ^ Broadcast listing for October 17, 2005, in 15 min Vilnius, No. 33; archived at Scribd; retrieved March 23, 2010
- ^ Ulmstead, R. Thomas, "A&E Cans Nero Wolfe", Multichannel News, August 25, 2002
- ^ Dempsey, John, "View shifts; A&E moves talker, nabs good ratings on Wolfe", Variety, May 5, 2002
- ^ Milano, Allison, "The ubiquitous Biography", Broadcasting and Cable, May 27, 2002
- ^ Applebaum, Simon, "Fremantle catching on with cable", Multichannel News, June 16, 2002. The A&E Network ended 2002 with a 1.0 rating, reported Multichannel News (January 5, 2003).
- ^ Leonard, John, "Super Nero", New York Magazine, April 16, 2001
- ^ Levesque, John, "Wolfe back on the case in jolly, stylish 'Doorbell Rang'"; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 20, 2001
- ^ Rosenberg, Harold, "The Dueling Detectives"; Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2001
- ^ Salamon, Julie, "A Sleuth Who Has Flair (And Maybe a Thesaurus"; The New York Times, April 20, 2001
- ^ Urbani, Laura, A&E's new series brings top talent to television"; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 22, 2001
- ^ Vance, James, "Timothy Hutton, Leader of the (Wolfe) Pack"; Tulsa World, April 22, 2001
- ^ Dale, Don, "The Thinking Man's Mystery"; Style Weekly, May 21, 2001
- ^ Haskell, Molly, "Beware a Brand-New Kind of Man"; The New York Observer, December 23, 2001
- ^ Sieff, Martin, "Happy Christmas, Santa Wolfe"; United Press International, December 25, 2001
- ^ Karnick, S. T., "Wolfe a la Tube: An A&E series loyal to its source"; National Review, May 10, 2002
- ^ Teachout, Terry, "A Nero as Hero"; National Review, August 12, 2002
- ^ Henderson, Carey, "Nero Wolfe: An A&E original Series"; Speakeasy, November 5, 2002
- ^ Keogh, Tom, Amazon.com editorial review, Nero Wolfe: The Complete First Season, June 2004
- ^ Lackey, Stephen, DVD Review: Nero Wolfe The Complete First Season; Cinegeek, 2004
- ^ Lewis, Steve, TV Review: A Nero Wolfe Mystery: The Doorbell Rang (2001); Mystery*File, February 5, 2009
- ^ "Important Message about Nero Wolfe from A&E" at the Internet Archive
- ^ Salamon, Julie, "When Group Therapy Means Coming Clean on TV"; The New York Times, June 22, 2004
- ^ Farquharson, Vanessa, "Whole lot of Chaykin going on"; National Post, August 21, 2008. "After some initial advertising for the April second season premiere, A&E stopped publicizing the show," Scarlet Street magazine (No. 46, p. 20) reported in late 2002.
External links
- A Nero Wolfe Mystery at the Internet Movie Database
- A Nero Wolfe Mystery at AllRovi
- A Nero Wolfe Mystery at TV Guide
- A Nero Wolfe Mystery at TV.com
- A Nero Wolfe Mystery at The Wolfe Pack, official site of the Nero Wolfe Society
- Writing Nero Wolfe by Lee Goldberg, on Mystery*File
- Small-screen version of the great man, consultant Winnifred Louis' reflections on a visit to the set of The Golden Spiders (September 1999)
- Doorbells Ringing, consultant Winnifred Louis' notes on the A&E TV series and "The Doorbell Rang" (September 2000)
- Three scripts (PDF) for A Nero Wolfe Mystery that were written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin: "In Bad Taste," combining "Poison a la Carte" and "Murder Is Corny"; "Champagne for One"; and "Prisoner's Base," nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America.
- Nero Wolfe: An A&E Original Series, official site at the Internet Archive
Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout Novels Fer-de-Lance · The League of Frightened Men · The Rubber Band · The Red Box · Too Many Cooks · Some Buried Caesar · Over My Dead Body · Where There's a Will · The Silent Speaker · Too Many Women · And Be a Villain · The Second Confession · In the Best Families · Murder by the Book · Prisoner's Base · The Golden Spiders · The Black Mountain · Before Midnight · Might as Well Be Dead · If Death Ever Slept · Champagne for One · Plot It Yourself · Too Many Clients · The Final Deduction · Gambit · The Mother Hunt · A Right to Die · The Doorbell Rang · Death of a Doxy · The Father Hunt · Death of a Dude · Please Pass the Guilt · A Family AffairShort story
collectionsCategories:- Crime television series
- A&E shows
- Television series by FremantleMedia
- Nero Wolfe
- 2000s American television series
- 2001 American television series debuts
- 2002 American television series endings
- Television programs based on novels
- Television series set in the 1950s
- 2002, Nominee, Edgar Award
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