Remember When The Audience Had Wits To Match?

A long, long time ago - - - When the top songs for the nation were being sung by The Carpenters (Please Mr. Postman), Barry Manilow (Mandy) and Frankie Valli (My Eyes Adored You) - - - When Johnny Bench was still playing baseball, and Nate Archibald still thrilled people on the basketball court - - - and John Wayne was making a film with Katharine Hepburn (finally!), I was enjoying a show that I caught each and every week.  The narrator invited us to "match wits with Ellery Queen."  I'd rush to the television without fail, and of course, never be able to guess who the killer was.  And the network did what they always did with my favorite shows . . . they cancelled it

After one season.  Not the way to endear oneself to an eleven-year-old, but I persevered.  Yet, I never forgot 'Ellery Queen,' for some odd reason.  It made me a fan of Jim Hutton, whose teaming with David Wayne seemed to be magical.  As Hutton says when he 'breaks the fourth wall' each episode, the clues are always there in front of us, so we should always be ahead of them.  Yet the episodes can be complex and hard to figure out - - - until you see how Ellery solves them. 

In short, the show was brilliant.  It was also tasteful, and something you could watch with the children.

We don't have anything like that on television anymore.  Or in the movies. 



The show wasn't above anyone's head.  Like I said, I was eleven, and loved the show.  When the one season came out on DVD earlier this year, I discovered a good amount of people who enjoyed it as well. (If that's true, why was it cancelled?)  It was entertaining, with a good amount of humor, yet made you think without tackling your brain too much.  All you had to do was watch.

And the guest stars was literally a Who's Who:  Anyone who's interested in film history needs to watch this show.  Watching the guest stars makes a film buff wish they'd been on the set with an autograph book. 

The gentlemen in charge of the show created 'Columbo,' and 'Murder, She Wrote,' among other TV staples.  But 'Ellery Queen' will always be their crowning achievement as far as I'm concerned.

The entertainment world needs 'Ellery Queen' today.