History Series / ElleryQueen

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. Created by [[Creator/LevinsonAndLink Richard Levinson & William Link]], it starred Creator/JimHutton as Ellery Queen and Creator/DavidWayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Creator/TomReese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.

* WheelProgram: After a decade and a half of obscurity, the OneSeasonWonder program found a new audience as cable channel A&E included it in its Mystery Wheel in the early 90s alongside fellow 70's shows ''Series/{{Delveccio}}'', ''Series/MrsColumbo'', and ''OharaUSTreasury''

* {{Foil}}: The two rival detectives who appear in the show, Frank Flannigan and Simon Brimmer. Both are capable of ferreting out useful information about the case and often wrong about who the killer is, and are kind of glory hounds but the similarities end there. Brimmer is a thin, well-dressed snob on the radio who is constantly trying to build up his own profile through the cases, rarely tries to hide his disdain for Ellery (although he doesn’t try to defame him or anything) has a strong sense of AlwaysSomeoneBetter, continuously tries to steal the credit and is always humiliated over it. Flannigan is more slobbish and brash, slightly pot-bellied, is more willing to work with the police (once tipping them off to make an arrest before he ran a story), cares more about getting a story than getting the credit for solving it, doesn't fall flat on his face in all of his episodes, and depending on the episode gets along with the Queens a little (although he is willing to embarrass or inconvenience them with some of his headlines).

Set in post-World War II New York, the show closely followed the format of the early Creator/ElleryQueen mystery novels, where just prior to the presentation of the solution to the mystery, a "Challenge to the Reader" was issued, in which the suspects and clues were reviewed and the reader challenged to guess the solution to the crime. In the show, this tradition was preserved by having Ellery Queen break the fourth wall and speak directly to the viewer prior to the commercial break that led into the final act. The final act always employed the time-honored detective cliché of calling together all the suspects, with Ellery Queen presenting the solution to the group, frequently upstaging and skewering the solution proposed by whichever rival sleuth was also in the episode.

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. It starred Creator/JimHutton as Ellery Queen and Creator/DavidWayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Creator/TomReese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.

* FashionDesigner: In the pilot episode the victim is a successful fashion designer who is killed at home while working on her latest annual line of clothes. Not only does this career give her the wealth to realistically live in her expensive apartment, it also gives the detectives her sketches to serve as clues to her personal history and help them solve the case.

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. It starred Creator/JimHutton as Ellery Queen and Creator/DavidWayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Tom Reese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. It starred Creator/JimHutton as Ellery Queen, and Creator/DavidWayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Tom Reese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.

** In "The Adventure of the Pharoah's Curse", Ellery realizes Norris' pills were in the wrong pocket because Norris was a right-handed man. In the story-within-a-story, Ellery mistakenly writes a murderer as right-handed when he early wrote him as left-handed.

* AdaptionDecay: Unlike Ellery in the original stories, Jim Hutton and the writers portray Ellery as absent-minded and vague. In the original stories, Ellery is more of a cipher.

* TheKillerWasLeftHanded: Ellery says this after surveying the crime scene in "The Adventure of the Judas Tree".

* The gun that is used to kill Bud in "The Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader" is a prop, but later loaded with real bullets.

* MisplacedVegetation: {{Lampshaded}} in "the Adventure of the Comic Book Crusader" episode where a cartoon magnate chews out his backgrounds man for drawing palm trees in Wisconsin. He was apparently supposed to draw ''elm'' trees.

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. It starred Creator/JimHutton as Ellery Queen, and David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Tom Reese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.

** The opening narration of "The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne" lists Guy Lombardo (who is shown leading the orchestra but plays no actual role in the episode's plot) amongst the suspects.

* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: In "The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario", Inspector Queen and Ellery go to Hollywood to watch the filming of movie based on one of Elley's novels that features both of them as characters. Neither is impressed with the casting, and Ellery takes issue with the director's frequent changes to the source material.

''Ellery Queen'' was an American television detective mystery series that ran for one season (1975–76) on Creator/{{NBC}}. It starred Jim Hutton as Ellery Queen, and David Wayne as his father, Inspector Richard Queen. Other characters include Sgt. Thomas Velie (Tom Reese), Inspector Queen's right-hand man; Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman), a radio sleuth who tries to solve the crimes before Ellery does (and always fails); and Frank Flannigan (Ken Swofford), a newspaper columnist who greatly annoys Inspector Queen by inserting himself into murder investigations looking for the latest developments.