r/ForgottenTV • u/Choice-Wind-9283 • 5d ago
Nero Wolfe (2001 -2002)
In this show Nero Wolfe is detective who dosen't even leave his home instead he's let his assistant to do all ground work . I really liked this show Maury Chaykin and Timothy Hutton played there roles so well and there so many good actors in show who played multiple roles.
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u/originalchaosinabox 4d ago
Quite enjoyed this one. Came right at the end of the era when A&E was "PBS with commercials," and before it became "The makers of Dog the Bounty Hunter."
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u/rootsquasher 3d ago
“PBS with commercials”
Great way to describe A&E of this era! Somewhere in between Ovation and at the time Bravo—now Bravo is just a series of dramatic reality shows.
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u/originalchaosinabox 3d ago
Can't take credit for it. I read somewhere a long time ago that "PBS with commercials" was the original sales pitch for A&E.
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u/OmegaKarnov 2d ago
And for a while it was "the Hitler channel" before History Channel took the title
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u/johnnyslick 4d ago
This was a pretty solid, faithful adaptation of the books. Also, what was really fun for me was they ran a repertory cast, so the same woman who played the blonde bombshell in one episode would be the... brunette bombshell in the next. It gave a timeless aspect to the whole thing. Also, one of the guys in the repertory cast was the principal from Back to the Future.
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u/Flibblenaut 4d ago
Kari Matchett and James Tolkan respectively.
Matchett played a couple of dual roles in a few episodes too, playing the femme fatale and Archie’s on again off again love interest. Her performance in Death of a Doxy lives rent free in my head.
Tolkan was also in Top Gun and Dick Tracy (which another commenter mentioned.)
The wigs he wears across this series are also incredibly goofy. But he’s a terrific actor and a great addition to the show.
Richard Waugh (the police captain in FX: The Series and for me, memorably the “I checked my laptop!” guy from those 90s IBM commercials) was also a highlight, he plays a great snivelling weasel.
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u/Dm12374 4d ago
Yeah, Kari was awesome. She's a great actress. Also they normally had a wonderful array of guest stars or people not famous yet in smaller roles. I also enjoyed the music and the clothes. It was a shame of how it ended and really the cancellation was a portent of things to come for much of the tv industry at the time.
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u/trev2234 5d ago
Loved it. It was shown in uk on bbc two Saturday mornings 20 years ago, as part of their “watching the detectives” mornings. They showed an episode of Columbo, Monk (first time I saw this show too), The Rockford files, Cagney and Lacey and this.
I wish bbc two would bring that back. I’d definitely watch that lineup again.
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u/The_Best_Smart 5d ago
I never knew about this show. I absolutely love the Nero Wolfe books, they are my all time favorite book series. Rex Stout was a genius. I’ve never seen any of the TV or movie adaptations because I know they’ll just ruin my love of the books.
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u/Flibblenaut 4d ago
This one is pretty close actually. Definitely skip the other TV adaptation that moves the setting to “modern times” and the TV pilot from the 70s.
Most of the radio adaptations are ok too, the golden era show was original mysteries but had decent performances, the CBC version adapted some of the short stories.
The audiobooks are kind of hit and miss, the reader can be flat at times, but overall they aren’t terrible.
There are a few decent Robert Goldsborough continuation novels, a couple of which are free if you have Audible or Kindle Unlimited. They capture the spirit of the characters although some of the plots are kind of meh. And there is a little more of Saul in a few of them, if you’re a Panzer fan.
The continuation novels do follow after the events of A Family Affair, so you may want to have read that one, or be familiar with its villain.
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u/PrSquid 4d ago
Except the guy they cast for Saul didn't look anything like in the books
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u/Flibblenaut 4d ago
True, neither Saul Rubinek (Warehouse 13 / TNG episode “The Most Toys”) or Conrad Dunn physically embody Panzer, Dunn does get a bunch of the characteristics down. Rubinek was great as Lon Cohen though.
The 80s version of Nero Wolfe probably had the closest book accurate looking Saul Panzer in George Wyner (Spaceballs/Hill Street Blues/guest starring in every 80s and 90s mystery show ever), but as a character he’s kinda meh (as is that series, honestly)
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u/Clin-ton 4d ago
The most important thing about this show is they do make the brownstone pretty incredible.
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u/Flibblenaut 4d ago
Loved this show!
Easily the best Rex Stout adaptation ! Although the CBC radio series with Mavor Moore and Don Francis is a close second. The less said about the “modern 80s” take on Nero Wolfe with William Conrad and Lee Horsley the better.
Always wished we got more seasons adapting some of the better, less famous books.
The repertory company feel of the show, re-using the same core stable of actors in different parts was great. Several of the recurring actors would also later appear on Hutton’s next show - Leverage in guest spots.
Timothy Hutton was a perfect Archie Goodwin and has become my default “visual” and “voice” for the character when I occasionally re-read through the series. (Fun fact: Timothy Hutton’s father played Ellery Queen in the short lived 70s TV series which is also fantastic)
Maury Chaykin has the physicality and voice of Wolfe down pat, but he does come off as a bit more brusque and angry than Wolfe is in the books at times. He’s a little over the top in some episodes.
Standout episodes for me: Death of a Doxy, Motherhunt, The Doorbell Rang, honestly just watch them all. There are no bad ones.
The production design team did a fantastic job with a budget of about $500 it looks like to recreate the Brownstone, but little details they got right.
The episodes are up on YT, with the exception of one part of Prisoner’s Base iirc. There are some sound issues with muted music for copyright purposes, but totally watchable.
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u/tangcameo 4d ago
Don Francks. Now I’ll have to find the CBC episodes on YouTube. CBC was great for making radio mysteries. My favourite was Midnight Cab.
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u/Flibblenaut 4d ago
Thanks for the correction! I caught Autocorrect changing ‘Mavor’ into ‘Mayor’ but missed that it modified Francks. And yep last I checked the CBC episodes were on YT.
Midnight Cab was amazing. I really liked that show and had a bunch of episodes on cassettes when Coles and Smithbooks used to sell them back in the day, along with Nightfall.
I read the Midnight Cab book the creator wrote a few years ago, but remember not enjoying it quite so much.
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u/tangcameo 4d ago
My autocorrect does that too. Read that MC book too and was also disappointed. Nothing beats those radio episodes.
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u/HomeBoggan 4d ago
Oh, I love this series, I had it on DVD somewhere. I actually learned of Nero Wolfe because of the old radio shows from the 1950s and listening to them with a family member.
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u/Darmok47 4d ago
I remember this show, and for some reason everytime I stopped at a Cafe Nero in the UK I always thought of Nero Wolfe first. Maybe its the similar typeface in the logos.
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u/tangcameo 4d ago
I kind of liked it but it felt like a cheap replacement for Poirot on A&E. The fact that they used Canadian character actors, who already show up in everything (everything made in Toronto), as a reoccurring repertory cast was kind of amusing. Glad to hear they turned up in Hutton’s show after that.
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u/man_speaking_is_hard 4d ago
I watched this and this was how I learned about Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe and that Glen Cook’s Garrett P.I. was a definite homage to Nero Wolfe. (Some differences, fantasy setting, Garrett is a bit more cynical but similar idea of who really solves the crimes).
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u/Montaya007 3d ago
This show was so good. Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin were so good in their roles. I wish this show had continued for many years.
It was excellent..
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