The A&E Network Series (2001-2002)

A witty, beguiling, colorful, pulse-pounding hoot of a weekly series set in the ‘50s. ... The greatest of fun... From straw hat to natty black-and-white wingtips, Archie is the swaggering, milk-drinking, street-savvy legman of this unequal union, Wolfe the cultured closer who rakes in big fees while rarely venturing outdoors on business. The "oversized genius," as Archie irreverently titles him, is 275 pounds of authoritarian harrumph packed into a custom-made three-piece suit. A derrick couldn't budge him from that ornately furnished brownstone, where he is an antique among antiques, hovering over his personal chef while cultivating his gourmandize ("I must see about those cutlets") as assiduously as he does his beloved orchids in a glassed-in plant room. ... Archie is the only man on TV who wears a snap-brim hat like he means it.
HOWARD ROSENBERG  |  LOS ANGELES TIMES

Timothy Hutton is just brilliant as Archie Goodwin, managing to express the gumshoe's toughness (which I had been rather skeptical of his ability to do) as effectively as he shows his moral strength and emotional complexity. ... Maury Chaykin is just perfect as Wolfe, gliding effortlessly from thoughtful contemplation to manipulative cajoling to momentary perplexity to blustering contempt for his adversaries' stupidity. Chaykin quite simply is Nero Wolfe... The A&E TV series is bringing out the complexities of this relationship as effectively as the books did. ... What a stunner it is to find them translated so effectively to television.
S.T. KARNICK  |  NATIONAL REVIEW  |  

Hutton has such a romping good time in his zippy suits, his snap-brim fedoras, and his spectator shoes, we suddenly realize that Archie, the comic relief of the novels, has also always been their moral compass, their Huck Finn.
JOHN LEONARD  |  NEW YORK MAGAZINE   | MORE

The production quality here is top shelf, and every element, from the cars and wardrobe to jazzy soundtrack and locations, is dead on. The scripts have been carefully and faithfully adapted to retain the all-important atmosphere of Rex Stout's original works. Nero Wolfe is so good, it's criminal.
MICHAEL ROGERS  |  LIBRARY JOURNAL  |  MORE

Criminally overlooked during its original run on cable, perhaps Nero Wolfe will have a chance to expand its fanbase with its release on DVD. Expertly crafted, masterfully acted, and unlike much of anything else on television.
ADAM TYNER  |  DVD TALK  |  MORE  |  MORE

Exceptional craftsmanship... There is a brief list of things the series creators got wrong, balanced by one-seventh of a ton's worth of things they got right. Nero Wolfe is a rare television series that will enthrall almost any audience.
ROB LINEBERGER  |  DVD VERDICT  |  MORE

Hutton has found a series of which he can be proud. Most actors would kill to be a part of such a witty and classy production.
LAURA URBANI  |  PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW  |  MORE

A sleuth who has flair (and maybe a thesaurus).
JULIE SALAMON  | THE NEW YORK TIMES  |  MORE

Fast-paced and stylish, there's no mystery why it's so much fun to watch. The music swings like a night at the Stork Club.
AMARILLO GLOBE-NEWS | FRAZIER MOORE  |  ASSOC. PRESS  |  MORE

Like so many characters in noir-ish films of the '40s and '50s, Wolfe and Goodwin are ebulliently over the top: loud, proud and full of themselves. It's a bit much for anyone expecting the less theatrical performances of today. And yet it fits remarkably well with today's style of reality programming. Wolfe, after all, is ruder than anyone on "Survivor."
JOHN LEVESQUE  |  SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER  |  MORE

Wolfe takes us back to a time (or maybe just transports us to a new one) where television could be good. The bad guys lose, the good guys win, and the suits are sharper than a razor. Nero Wolfe is good television.
CAREY HENDERSON  |  SPEAKEASY  |

Timothy Hutton is so good as Archie, a combination of Huck Finn, Sancho Panza, John Garfield and Dennis Day, that he must have been genetically engineered to play the part.
JOHN LEONARD  |  CBS SUNDAY MORNING  |  MORE 

Timothy Hutton, Maury Chaykin and a stellar ensemble deliver one juicy moment after another. ... Chaykin is wonderfully petulant as Wolfe, and Hutton shows a surprising comedic charm that reveals an as-yet undiscovered range.
STEVE OXMAN  |  VARIETY  |

Good as the leads are -- and even the most ardent Rex Stout fans could hardly ask for better realizations -- it is the Wolfe regular "irregulars" who really put the shine on these shows. ...
WES PHILLIPS  |  HOME THEATER AND SOUND  |  MORE

Nero Wolfe, with Maury Chaykin as the great detective and Timothy Hutton as his smart-mouth sidekick Archie, re-created Rex Stout's world of fine food, imported beer, rare orchids, strong opinions, and vile acts almost perfectly in one of the year's best series.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE  |  TOP 10 TV SHOWS OF 2001

The art direction in this series is absolutely wonderful ...The style of the drama’s narrative is superb.
ADAM M ANKLEWICZ  |  BEING THERE MAGAZINE  |  MORE

The soundtrack of the series gets an A+: It’s full of hot ’30s and ’40s club jazz. So do the writers, especially for capturing the exquisite subtleties of the complex relationship between Wolfe and Goodwin, most often expressed in the conversational games they’re so fond of -- and so good at.
DON DALE  |  STYLE WEEKLY  |  MORE

Chaykin and Hutton are as good in tandem as they are separately, for they understand that the Wolfe books are less mystery stories than domestic comedies, the continuing saga of two iron-willed co-dependents engaged in an endless game of one-upmanship. ... At least half the fun of the Wolfe books comes from the way in which Stout plays this struggle for laughs, and Chaykin and Hutton make the most of it, sniping at each other with naughty glee.
TERRY TEACHOUT  |  NATIONAL REVIEW  |  MORE

Maury Chaykin is perfect as Wolfe, and Timothy Hutton is the ideal Archie. ... What wonderful, campy scripts! Every detail is perfect, right down to Archie's two-tone, wingtip shoes and Wolfe's yellow shirts.
GENE AMOLE  |  ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS  |  MORE 

A lot like reading a good mystery you can't put down.
CAROLYN PATRICIA SCOTT  |  LOS ANGELES TIMES  |  MORE

Once upon a time there was an extraordinary group of people who made extraordinary television for the A&E network.
DJ JOHNSON  |  COSMIK DEBRIS MAGAZINE  |  MORE

The smart adaptation by Sharon Elizabeth-Doyle, combined with the classy, jazzy background music of Michael Small and the convincing '50s look and feel, makes this movie faithful to Stout's colorful characters but unequivocally fun for a contemporary audience.
BARRY GARRON  |  HOLLYWOOD REPORTER  |  MORE

Delightfully arch...
MICHAEL R. FARKASH  |  HOLLYWOOD REPORTER  |  MORE

Nero Wolfe is a genuine treasure ... almost literally, perfect.
SHELDON E. WIEBE  |  ECLIPSE MAGAZINE  |

Network television has rarely seen such a combination of eye candy and brain food... On all counts, Nero Wolfe is a class act.
CLARKE BUSTARD  |  RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH  |  MORE

A superb television series ...They are the living embodiments of their characters.
CHRIS CHAN  |  THE LAWRENTIAN  |  MORE

Take one part Crime Story, one part Sherlock Holmes, and a lot of smart quick witted and sarcastic humor and you have A&E's gone-before-its-time television adaptation of Nero Wolfe. I can't recommend this series enough.
STEPHEN LACKEY  |  CINEGEEK  |

If you have read any of the 70 or so books that Stout wrote between the mid- 30s and 1975, when he died  -- and if you treasured each and every one, as most Stout/Wolfe fans do  -- here’s your chance to see your favorites come alive ...With any luck, younger viewers won over by the series will discover the enjoyable books it’s based on.
AIRWAVES

Series has incomparable ensemble cast
THE SUN HERALD [MISSISSIPPI]  |  JEAN PRESCOTT  |  MORE

Nero Wolfe joins A&E cast of characters: TV series promises to be full of colour, wit and charm
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN  |  LUAINE LEE  |  KNIGHT RIDDER  |  MORE

A&E To Produce Its Second Weekly Hour-Long Drama Series, Nero Wolfe
BUSINESS WIRE  |  JUNE 21, 2000  |  PRESS RELEASE

For all the thought and research that Chaykin has put into his portrayal of the brilliant and maddening Nero Wolfe, the actor feels that he has "just scratched the surface" of his enigmatic character.
THE NEW YORK TIMES  |  MARILYN STASIO  |  MORE

Smart, witty, and eminently watchable...
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE [NEW ORLEANS]  |  DAVID CUTHBERT  |  MORE

A&E Will Adapt Nero Wolfe Mystery Classic, The Golden Spiders
BUSINESS WIRE  |  JULY 6, 1999  |  PRESS RELEASE

To save you the trouble of looking it up, a doxy is a sweetheart or mistress. That some brilliant marketing executive hasn't changed the title of this Nero Wolfe movie to get rid of the archaic word is more evidence -- if any were needed -- that this series of original movies intends to stay true to its roots and its heritage.
HOLLYWOODE REPORTER  |  BARRY GARRON  |  MORE

The scripting by writer-director (and executive producer) Michael Jaffe is pretty darned entertaining, with plenty of tough talk and feuding between the great detective and the police. The delicate tonal balance between comedy and moments of drama is well maintained.
HOLLYWOODE REPORTER  |  MICHAEL R. FARKASH  |  MORE