unaired pilot - Ellery Queen (1975) Discussion

[–] psoules 16 years ago

I thought that Too Many Suspects was the pilot. There is another episode?

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[–] ghostfan 16 years ago

Yeah, there was an earlier pilot try - I think it was supposed to be a pilot! Had Peter Lawford as Ellery, and Harry Morgan (MASH) as Ellery's uncle, not father (that was odd) and Lawford played it much more swinging, went after the girls, etc. and the story was indirectly based on the Ellery Queen novel, Cat Of Many Tails, only for some reason they changed it to be a snake that kept gaining heads. I believe Stefanie Powers was the girl in danger.

The opening credits (and a bit) are currently up on Youtube.

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[–] LindaY 16 years ago

The Peter Lawford/Harry Morgan Queen movie WAS aired...it just hasn't been rerun in years (at least that I know of).

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[–] ghostfan 16 years ago

Nope -- I only saw it once, years and years ago before even VCRS were common, at least for ordinary folks!

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] arthurblock 15 years ago

"Too Many Suspects" was the pilot of the Jim Hutton series. I saw it when it originally aired, but never as part of the syndicated package of EQ episodes. This had the same producers and the same cast (i.e., Hutton, Wayne, John Hillerman, and Tom Reese) as the rest of the series. If there's ever a DVD release of the series (still no word as of this posting), I hope it includes this one.

Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You was a TV movie that served as a pilot for a different Ellery Queen series. This was proposed as a rotating series under the "NBC Mystery Movie" umbrella. (I guess the slot it would have had went to Banacek or Hec Ramsey instead.) This had a completely different cast, including Lawford as Ellery and Harry Morgan as his uncle(!), Inspector Queen. It was produced by Universal - Levinson and Link were not involved. I recall seeing this in my youth and not being particularly impressed, although a few years later I loved the Hutton version.

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[–] hachmom-1 15 years ago

I saw the Ellery Queen dont LookBehind You also....Harry Morgan was an excellent choice for Inspector Queen, Peter Lawford was wrong (and by then too old) for Ellery. I watched it first long after i fell in love with Jim Hutton in high school watching this so i could be biased

It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices

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[–] MsELLERYqueen2 13 years ago

"I saw the Ellery Queen dont LookBehind You also....Harry Morgan was an excellent choice for Inspector Queen, Peter Lawford was wrong (and by then too old) for Ellery. I watched it first long after i fell in love with Jim Hutton in high school watching this so i could be biased."

Tee hee. :)
I can't imagine anyone but Jim Hutton (or maybe his son) playing Ellery. :)
I'm sure that Jim Hutton made a lot of ladies look twice when he appeared as Ellery Queen. :) I was born around the time that the show was on the air, but I have certainly noticed him recently. :)

Ellery Queen (Jim Hutton) = sexiest man ever!

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[–] arthurblock 14 years ago

Updating my previous post: the Ellery Queen series did finally come out as a DVD set later in 2010. Disc 1 has "Too Many Suspects", plus the first two regular episodes.

I'd forgotten that the pilot aired as an "NBC Mystery Movie" presentation, with a different opening that used the theme music of that umbrella series. The body of the episode and closing credits had Elmer Bernstein's familiar theme.

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[–] ZoneFighter 13 years ago

I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the Mystery Movie theme on that DVD. The theme is never included on the other Mystery Movie series (Columbo, McClound, McMillan & Wife) series DvDs. Its my favorite TV theme. I'm renting the Ellery Queen DVDs from Netflix.

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[–] Thomas_Veil 10 years ago

I like the Mystery Movie theme too. It was released years ago on a Henry Mancini album called "Big Screen, Little Screen". You can find it on iTunes. You might notice that the orchestration in the :30 second sample provided in the store doesn't sound exactly right, but that's because this is an extended version and the sample is from the second stanza. The first part sounds to me pretty much like the one on TV.

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[–] JAMessick 14 years ago

The Peter Lawford work was aired as a made for television motion picture that came out in 1971, a full 4 years before the series. So I don't think it could be rightly called a pilot. See the entry for Lawford in this database.

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[–] seachanter 14 years ago

The full Jim Hutton 'Ellery Queen' was recently added to iTunes TV shows.
I MUST have seen the made for TV movie and forgotten about it because I actually saw Harry Morgan as Inspector Queen and was suprised it was David Wayne.

How strange the mind and memory play tricks on onesself )

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[–] ghostfan 13 years ago

I remember seeing that show when it originally ran - in retrospect, I really don't think Harry was bad as Richard - might even been able to pull it off on the series (but I like David Wayne better) but Lawford was all wrong for Ellery).

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] ghostfan 10 years ago

I'm not sure if you were offering this to me, but I thought I would respond anyway if you don't mind -- I think I will pass. I saw some of it on Youtube, and Lawford was so cringeworthy, I just couldn't get through it.

Seen Lawford in other things, and enjoyed his work, but he is just so wrong for Ellery! but thanks for the offer.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.

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[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I saw it awhile back on youtube. I had no problems with Lawford, but there was something else about the film which really annoyed me. Now I can't remember what it was.

~~
💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍

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