Ellery Queen Mysteries - Complete Series

For those of you who were too young to read Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine as a child, you're in for a real treat w/ these DVD's based on those short stories. Like a true mystery, the viewer is introduced to the suspects at the beginning as well as the victim. Then throughout the hour the viewer is presented w/ clues, some obvious, some more subtle. Then Ellery (Jim Hutton) faces the camera reviews the clues and challenges the viewer to solve the mystery, before him. Finally, the suspects are gathered in a room and like Poirot, one by one they are eliminated until the murderer is revealed. Suddenly the clues seem obvious and the mystery ridiculously easy to solve. This set is fun and a real brain-teaser.!

This is the 3rd and best adeptation of Ellery Queen brought to TV and the most irrisistable. First heard on the radio in the '30's, the series came to TV during the war and this final series featured on the small screen from 1975-76 is set in 1947. For some there is the air of nostalga about the setting others a (painless) lesson in history of post-war New York.

Ellery (Jim Hutchinson) is portrayed as an absent-minded, but brillian sleuth who helps his father Inspector Queen (David Wayne) to solve murders. As well as the cast of characters from the E. Q. novels and short stories, there is a famous supporting cast including Vincent Price, Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, George Burns, Vera Miles, Eva Gabor, Roddy McDowall, Ed McMahon, Sal Mineo, Donald O'Conner, Ida Lupino, Cesar Romaro, Eve Arden, Ray Milland, Betty White, Joan Collins and many others.

DVD set contains 6 discs, digitally remastered and includes a booklet outlining the authors, history of Ellery Queen, pictures of the cast and a synopsis of each story. There is also a special feature by the co-producer, William Link who with his partner Levison will go on to create Columbo and Murder She Wrote.

must be taken with a grain of salt, actually several grains of salt. First the good: It's very watchable, has all the elements of a classic whodunit - the murder, the introduction of suspects, carefully laid out clues, and then the gathering of all the suspects to finally reveal the culprit. Jim Hutton is awesome as the absent minded, acutely observant, brilliantly dot-connecting, good natured Ellery Queen. Simon Brimmer is his pretentious, ascot wearing, always wrong rival, hilariously portrayed by John Hillerman. The relationship between Ellery and his dad (David Wayne) is always fun to watch..."why don't you go burn yourself some lunch?" Ha! Ha!

Now here are the list of things that make this show quite silly (and thus unrealistic):

(These are not spoilers, no worries.)

1. Why is Inspector Queen so inept and clueless? I am sure he wasn't always like this, or he would have been fired from the force a long time ago. You almost think that he tries to mask his inability to figure out the clues, and the fact that he uses his son shamelessly, with a whole lot of sass and pointy, pointy remarks.

2. How does almost every one of the victims manage to leave a dying clue? Now if I were the murderer, you can bet that I would stick around long enough to finish the job. For crying out loud - just shoot/stab/smash in the head.

3. After Ellery points out the culprit, half of them break down and confess while the other half tries to bolt, even though the only exit is being flanked by cops. Now you would think the murderers, after being accused, would say - "I am not saying another word, I want my damn lawyer."

4. Ellery is NOT a member of the police force. The suspects DO NOT have to answer his questions or let him in the house or accommodate him anyway!

5. How long will it take and how much humiliation must Simon suffer before he figures out that he is ALWAYS wrong and that Ellery is ALWAYS right? Give it up dude.

6. Two words: Rosh Kaleel. (Seriously?)

7. Why does all the episode names start with "The Adventure of...", what adventure, questioning suspects? They should be called "The Mystery of..." Try it out: which sounds better? "The Adventure of the Judas Tree?" or "The Mystery of the Judas Tree?"

You will notice that I have only taken out one star for all the silliness, because the show is really that good and a pleasure to watch. Another plus is the gorgeous DVD case. It's red and shiny and comes with a neat little episode guide.

Get it now! Or wait till the price drops, whichever suits you more.

This is a series I never saw when it originally ran on TV as it was only broadcast on NBC, and we didn't have cable. I had seen it listed on Amazon and in some shops, but despite the many good reviews it had, I was reluctant to buy it sight unseen. Eventually, I spotted it at my local library and borrowed it. I enjoyed the series so much as a rental, I bought it a couple of weeks later, and watched the entire series again. I have watched many of the episodes three or four times since 2011. The series is really that good. I especially like the rapport between Ellery and his father. There is genuine chemistry between Jim Hutton as Ellery and David Wayne as his father. The mysteries themselves are mostly quite engaging, and this armchair detective usually had to wait until the end when Ellery unraveled it for me. A special mention also needs to be made to two supporting characters: Simon Brimmer and Frank Flanagan. They are hilarious and bring a lot of humour to the series. This series is perfect family entertainment. As the series is set in 1947 and was made in the mid 1970s, it is not dated. As many others have expessed, this wonderful series lasted only one season, apparently because of Hutton's health. Such a shame that we lost Jim Hutton at such a young age and that this series never went beyond a single season.