"Ellery Queen Mysteries" was a Detective television series that had a genuine sense of mystery about it, as the identity of the murderer wasn't revealed until the end. This worked to the shows favour. Wisely, the setting was that of the 1940s as that was when the Ellery Queen character first surfaced. Jim Hutton as the title character and his father played by David Wayne, would investigate various crimes of homicide. A group of suspects and red herrings would be assembled by the end of the episode, so that Queen could give his deliberations. The series only lasted one season which I think is a bit of a shame. There were 22 episodes altogether and whilst they are very good, I feel that more could have been made. Once again, "Universal" was the studio behind this show.

I remember watching Ellery Queen back in 1975 which introduced a brand new whodunit mystery murder each week. Then in the last ten (10) minutes of the show, mystery writer Ellery Queen (Jim Hutton) would always look directly in to the camera lens at his viewing audience, and as if we were all participating in a stage play Ellery Queen would provide a recap of all the clues and prospective suspects who may be guilty of the murder(s) and Ellery would invite us the TV audience to try and solve the murder(s) along with him. Much like the very popular decades old board game "Clue" there are usually five (5) or six (6) murder suspects introduced in each weekly episode and as the clues are gradually provided to the audience we are challenged along side Ellery Queen to figure out who murdered the victim who gets knocked off within the first five minutes of the weekly episode and with which weapon did the murderer use? There are numerous cameo appearances by stars such as Don Ameche, Joan Collins, Ray Milland, Jim Backus, Lynda Day George, Eva Gabor, Rhonda Fleming, and Betty White to name but a few of the cameo appearances.Not only was the concept of watching a murder unfold before our very eyes interesting but so were the changing cast of characters each week and Ellery's interaction with his TV audience. Mrs. Shullivan and I were engaged in the program and enjoyed playing along side in determining how the mystery writer Ellery Queen and his detective father Inspector Richard Queen (David Wayne) would gather clues and they would interview the ensemble of movie stars who provided cameo appearances to a successful conclusion within the hour. Ellery himself plays a successful mystery writer, who although in his late 30's still lives with his father the Inspector Richard Queen. Ellery appears to be a bumbling and forgetful individual on the surface who always seems to have his nose buried in a book, but his unique ability to assist his father in solving murders and the warm on screen relationship he has with his father shows through seamlessly on this small screen TV series.I was fortunate to recently purchase the 1975 Ellery Queen TV series on DVD format at a very reasonable price and so Mrs. Shullivan and I are in the process of watching this excellent TV mystery series commercial free. We have been reminiscing about the series regulars such as gumshoe detective sidekick Sergeant Thomas Velie (played by Tom Reese) and radio host Simon Brimmer (John Hillerman) who are also trying to match wits with Ellery Queen and his father Inspector Richard Queen in finding the killer(s).In case you have not seen this wonderful mystery series it was the pre-cursor to the more successful 1984 Murder She Wrote TV series. I am not sure why the series was cancelled after the first season other than during the 1970's TV audiences may have found some other action/drama series that were more violent, sex infused and drug infested more appealing.As for Mrs. Shullivan and I this 1975 weekly mystery series that was set after World War 2 in the 1940's with vintage cars and like scenery provided us with 22 episodes of high caliber entertainment and intrigue that challenges your recollection for what appear to be minor incidents but in fact if you pay close attention these details will provide all the clues necessary to help solve the weekly murder(s).It is too bad we only have one (1) season of 22 episodes of Ellery Queen available and even more unfortunate that the series star Jim Hutton sadly passed away from liver cancer at the young age of only 45. Maybe Jim Hutton's own son 1981 Academy Award winner, Timothy Hutton who is now aged 56 will consider resurrecting this terrific mystery series in a remake. Wouldn't that be great?I give this excellent but short-lived mystery series a 9 out of 10 rating.

This is available on DVD, from NBC Universal/Entertainment1.Netflix has the entire series. I just received disc 1 today. The recording quality is good, and each disc contains three or four episodes."In a few minutes, this woman will be dead. The question is, who killed her? Was it the philandering . . . ." That is how each episode begins. As a kid, I loved this show and couldn't wait to hear that line each week. I remember thinking that the show was smart and sophisticated. Watching it now, 35 years later, it is still quality viewing.I would give it a 10 if it weren't for the anachronistic clothes, hairstyles, etc. It is supposed to be 1946, but it looks more like 1976.

Ellery Queen was one of the greatest television programs of the seventies, and given the short history of the medium, that makes it one of the greatest of all time. Splendid atmosphere, above-average acting and writing, and a wonderful gimmick -- the way Ellery (Jim Hutton) would turn to the camera and tell viewers that they'd already seen all the clues that were necessary to solve the mystery. What separated Ellery Queen from shows like Perry Mason was the fact that it played fair -- everything you needed to know was presented during the first 45 minutes, and if you were smart enough you could figure it out yourself. Perhaps my view is colored by nostalgia -- I was 13 years old when the show aired. The show is rarely repeated -- the last time I caught a rerun was more than 20 years ago. It's hard to know whether my viewpoint would be different today, though I certainly wish I had the opportunity to find out. (Universal Studios, take note: Here's one guy who would buy the DVD box set.)Let me add a story here. I remember going door to door one night in 1976, collecting payments for my newspaper route, and I noticed that a family was gathered in the living room, watching "Ellery Queen." "Heck," I said. "I started watching that show, but it was so easy to figure out, I decided I might as well go around banging on doors instead."They looked at me, a little dumbfounded. "You figured it out?""Sure," I said. "The killer had to be someone who had a copy of the updated movie script. There was only one person who had the copy, and that was..."Well, I can't remember the actual name of the villain, not all these years later. But I remember these people looking at each other, and saying it made sense, and darned if I might be right, and they'd have to stay tuned to see if I really did figure it out. And of course I was right. For weeks, every time I saw these people, it was all they could talk about. How on earth could I have figured it out? Of all people, their 13-year-old paperboy? I never did tell them the episode was a repeat.