tek's rating:

A Nero Wolfe Mystery, on A&E
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This show is very good, but I'm afraid I never got a chance to watch it as often as I wanted to. I also want to mention that I don't remember it being called "A Nero Wolfe Mystery" when I saw it; I could have sworn it was just "Nero Wolfe." Although I guess there were a couple of earlier series by that title, which I never saw. So I might as well accept what the internet tells me is this show's title, to avoid confusing it with either of them. Anyway, it's based on a series of Rex Stout novels, which I've never read. But the acting on this show is superb. And it's all very stylized, very 50's detective story.

The title character (played by Maury Chaykin) rarely leaves his home, seems to generally be annoyed at a lot of things and by a lot of people. Everything seems to be quite a bother for him, but he's quite clever and fun to watch, even if he wouldn't likely be much fun to interact with in real life. His assistant is Archie Goodwin (Timothy Hutton), who narrates the stories. He's much more casual, friendly, funny, and generally likable than is Wolfe. And while he's not quite as clever as is his employer, he still seems considerably brighter and more involved and on-the-ball than most classic detectives' sidekicks (e.g., Dr. Watson or Hastings). There is of course also a police detective who predictably doesn't appreciate Wolfe's involvement in various cases, and an excellent chef, Fritz, who works for Wolfe, as well as a few other detectives who work for Wolfe, but not quite as closely as Archie. And the guest cast is always quite good, too. Well, that's about all I can think to say, for the moment.


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