Nero Wolfe: The Complete Series

Rex Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 novellas featuring his rotund private detective, yet the big screen depictions have been minimal. Several television projects struggled to find a network despite serious actors such as Orson Welles lining up to play the title character. I suspect that if Stout had been british and wrote the quirky Nero as living in London’s west end he would have been as beloved as Christie’s Poirot has proven to be over the years. But, the truth is that we americans seem to like our televised private detectives to be either con artist charmers (Jim Rockford / Thomas Magnum) or hard nosed tough guys who brawl and shoot there way through a case (Travis McGee / Lew Archer / Mike Hammer, etc.). Dealing with an orchid loving gourmand who is a borderline agoraphobic, questionably misogynistic, and generally quarrelsome with everyone he encounters is a tough way to draw in a weekly audience.... tough that is until 2001 when A&E put their Nero Wolfe on Sunday nights.The series stars the late Maury Chaykin as Nero and Tim Hutton as Archie Goodwin. The balance of the cast is built around a small, but talented ensemble that play both recurring and one off characters as the stories dictate. Nero and Archie get on each other's nerves on more than a few occasions and their relationship verges from employee / employer to a sort of domestic cold war that bubbles just under the surface. The rest of the household consists of Fritz Brenner, the chef / housekeeper and Theo Horstmann, the unseen (in this series) gardener, who tends Wolfe's rooftop orchid house. A few guest stars show up, but their roles tend to be interesting minor characters rather than overplayed ego trips designed to drive ratings. A typical example would be that of the late Carrie Fisher playing a frumpy button maker who thwarts Archie’s best efforts to track her whereabouts.All told this 8 disc set includes nine 90 minute feature films including the pilot, “The Golden Spiders”, along with twelve 45 minute episodes from the novellas. Three of the feature length films are shown in two parts of 45 minutes each while the balance are an un-interrupted 90 minutes each. Additionally, there’s a reprise of “The Silent Speaker” shown in 16 x 9 format and a 20 minute short on the making of the series. The pilot is on the last disc which is unusual, but I suspect it was done for a purpose as there was some shuffling of characters and actors from those in the pilot to the roles they ultimately played in the series. The pilot was filmed at least a year before the series was picked up and many details had not yet been brought up to the high standard set in the series. In addition a couple of the actors play multiple characters within a given film while others play multiple characters within the series which sounds chaotic but is not uncommon for small performing companies in the theatre world, which is what this cast most resembles.Despite it’s NYC backdrop these were filmed in LA and Toronto and done at a time when A&E was still producing quality material. Unlike the William Conrad series from 1981 this collection is true to the source literature and is set in the 40's, 50's, and 60's with convincing time period authenticity, elaborate sets, and great attention to detail. A number of the episodes were directed by Tim Hutton who clearly has a flair for this sort of period perfect reading. It’s noteworthy that his father, the late Jim Hutton, starred in a rather good “Ellery Queen” series in the 1970’s that was innovative in it's own right. As much as I admire Hutton's directorial contribution I reserve my singular negative comment to his often over the top wise-cracking dialogue which mars an otherwise stellar performance. I have both the Conrad set and this production, and though they share a few episode titles there really is no comparison between the two. Some of the disparity stems from the 20 years between when each was made, but the biggest difference boils down to good writing, a budget sufficient to produce a convincing backdrop, and a top notch ensemble cast. While I consider this to be amongst the top tier of network television series of the last 20 years I should point out that it's a highly produced theatrical production done more in the style of a BBC series than the usual american network fare, so if you don't like witty dialogue and character driven plots this might not be your cup of tea. But to my mind the only real flaw is that A&E ran out of money long before the series ran out of original stories to film.

This box is the second time the series has been released on DVD.Contents are identical to the 2006 release on the A&E label. *Order whichever version is cheapest (usually this one).The box under review was actually manufactured in Australia, but don't worry - it is region-free NTSC, which means it is compatible with all North American DVD players and televisions.Eight DVDs in four standard-size double-DVD plastic cases; all in a cardboard slipcase.CONTENTS:- The 2000 pilot "Golden Spiders" (90 minutes)+ Season One (2001) complete = Eight episodes (four are double-length)+ Season Two (2002) complete = Twelve episodes (four are double-length)+ Bonus: "The Making of Nero Wolfe", a 22 minute introduction to the series (2001)(see end of this review for the titles of each episode)HOW TO VIEW THIS SERIES:-- Step One: Insert DVD number 8 (Volume 4, Disc 2) into your player.Watch the pilot: "Golden Spiders".-- Step Two: Watch the 22 minute bonus "The Making of Nero Wolfe" (also on DVD 8), an excellent introduction to the remaining episodes in the series (no spoilers).-- Step Three: Watch DVDs 1 through 7 in that order. When you come to DVD 7, you have a choice of aspect ratio for watching "The Silent Speaker" -The series is presented in the 4:3 aspect ration which was standard for televisions in 2001.Apparently it was also filmed in the wide-screen aspect ratio of 16:9, common to modern televisions.But only one episode is presented in wide-screen, "The Silent Speaker" on DVD 8."The Silent Speaker" can also viewed in the old 4:3 format on DVD 7.If you have a modern TV set, by all means view it in wide-screen on DVD 8.The pilot, "Golden Spiders", is rated M for Mature audiences, because of violence (Archie Goodwin actually tortures one of the bad guys to make him talk).It is the best film in the series, and darker than the rest.The remaining episodes (rated PG for Parental Guidance) are a bit flippant in tone, almost campy at times, but still rewarding for mystery buffs.[a surprising number of Wolfe's clients are murdered after hiring him - seems like this would be bad for business.]With Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe, and Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin,this TV series was originally produced by the cable network A&E.Hard to believe,A&E has gone down-market considerably since then.Back in 2000 they spent a lot of money and produced a quality product.Set in 1950's New York, it was filmed in Toronto.No problem. 2001 Toronto looked a lot like 1955 New York. Beautiful cinematography, sets, automobiles and costumes.SUBTITLES?Not actual subtitles, but the DVDs are closed-captioned in English.Closed-Captioning is activated while the disc is playing by pressing a button on your TV's remote."Subtitling" is activated by pressing a button on your DVD player's remote."Closed-Captioning" is obsolete, but it's better than nothing.Unfortunately closed captioning will not work if your DVD player is connected to the TV using the preferred modern method of HDMI cable.You have to use the three-cable (red-white-yellow) method to connect your player to the TV.[a lot of the less expensive DVD players do not even give you the option of a three-cable output - one tip: DVD/VCR combo players always include a three-cable output.](old-fashioned coaxial cable also will work with closed captioning)The remastering on these DVDs is pretty old, but looks gorgeous.I think they would look even better on blu-ray, with everything in 16:9 widescreen.Whenever it is released on blu-ray, I hope we will have subtitles instead of closed captioning.* Earlier A&E DVD release:  Nero Wolfe: The Complete Classic Whodunit Series  (this is usually more expensive, though the contents are identical - including the bonus feature)The A&E version is also available in separate volumes for Seasons 1 and 2, but that is really expensive.------------------------------------------------------------CONTENTS:Pilot (2000)- The Golden Spiders *Season 1 (2001):- The Doorbell Rang *- Champagne for One *- Prisoner's Base *- Eeny Meeny Murder Moe- Disguise for Murder- Door to Death- Christmas Party- Over My Dead Body *Season 2 (2002):- Death of a Doxy *- The Next Witness- Die Like a Dog- Murder Is Corny- Motherhunt *- Poison à la Carte- Too Many Clients *- Before I Die- Help Wanted, Male- The Silent Speaker *- Cop Killer- Immune to Murder* 90 minute episodes, the rest are 45 minutes long (give or take a minute)-----------------------------------------------------------------------P.S. An earlier "Nero Wolfe" series (14 episodes) aired on NBC in 1981 starring William Conrad as Nero Wolfe.It was preceded by a 1977 pilot starring Thayer David who passed away before filming on the series started.Neither is commercially available at the present time,nor are the two movies that Columbia Pictures made in the 1930s:- "Meet Nero Wolfe" (1936) starring Edward Arnold- "The League of Frightened Men" (1937) starring Walter Connolly(but see my comment dated March 19)

Wonderful acting ensemble, music and sets. A pleasure to the eyes and ears.

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For such an old program the video quality is great.

If you watched this series when A&E had truly quality programming, you’ll love it again. If you haven’t seen it, you’re in for a treat! It is high quality throughout, from the punchy writing, great acting of the recurring ensemble cast, the tremendous production value (including period sets, beautiful cinematography, and music), and transfer to DVD. Can’t say enough good things. Buy it!

The series itself is excellent. Definitely buy the dvd for the show!I gave it three stars because when we initially purchased it, the dvd case arrived cracked, with big pieces of plastic missing - it had clearly been broken before it had packaged, and then sent to us anyway! We had to get a refund and send it right back. We bought another one, and the second was much better with no damage. Very strange.

I bought a a set of Nero Wolfe mysteries a few years ago. This was not a complete set, but was so good I wanted the complete set. The cast is excellent and the stories original. The costumes and settings were superb. I understand the series was cancelled due to high production costs. Such a pity, but that is what makes this series unique. Would recommend to anyone.

Contains all episodes of series but not all the full versions? I bought this on the expectation that what I was getting was what I’d seen on the BBC, I.e. the 90 minute versions of the films? Not so. You get two or three full versions, the rest being 45 mins or so which I gather wasn’t the case. Also no subs. Excellent series nevertheless. Just spoiled for a ha’porth of tar by A&E

I absolutely love this production the colours of the costumes and set are beautiful.The cast put in some fabulous performances and the characters are true to the books.What a shame the the quality of the dvd was poorPixel quality at the top of the screen was distorted!

As everyone has said this is a very good series that should have spurned more episodes but for whatever reasons it was cancelled. The acting by everyone concerned from Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe, Timothy Hutton as Archie, Bill Smitrovich to all the wonderful array of actors that play different roles in all the series.The actors do ham it up a bit but you can tell they are all having a good time and its beautifully acted.I guess the only reason that I did not give it 5 stars was because of the editing that I have never been a fan of. In a number of the episodes for some reason that I cannot fathom some of the scenes have been deleted.Apart from the deleted scenes in some of the episodes, this is very good value for money