What Might've Been: Ellery Queen (1975)

Ellery Queen, one of the best known names in mysteries, has been adapted for television on a couple of occasions, the last being in 1975 in a short-lived series for NBC, four years after the network had aired a TV-movie, "Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You". Series creators William Link & Richard Levinson had established a solid pedigree, having previously created Mannix (for CBS) & Columbo, the latter a stablemate of Ellery Queen at Universal. The two were also the masterminds behind "Don't Look Behind You", and were rewarded for their patience with Queen, as well as the success of Columbo, with Queen being finally green-lighted as a series in 1975, airing as a lead-in, as a matter of fact, to Columbo and the other components of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie.

Jim Hutton was cast as the cerebral Queen, presented here as a bit of a klutz for comic effect, and aiding his father, NYPD Inspector Richard Queen (David Wayne) in solving cases. The fact that this was not a full adaptation of the character, but rather a more loose one, might've been what led to the series being cancelled after 1 season.

Sadly, Hutton passed away three years after the series ended. Wayne would land one more series gig, the sitcom House Calls, in the 80's, again for Universal, and airing on CBS, before he passed on.

Edit, 10/12/22: Had to change the video. Right now, we have a sample open/close:

With all the procedural crime dramas out there now, it's unfortunate that Ellery Queen isn't being given another chance. Then again, Levinson & Link retooled their concept, getting rid of the protagonist talking to the audience to set up the ending, and scored one final hit more than a decade later-----Murder, She Wrote, with Angela Lansbury.

Rating: A.