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Long before Perry Mason and Jessica Fletcher held court as popular television sleuths, another private eye ruled the airwaves. Ellery Queen was the creation of novelists Manfred Bennington Lee and Frederic Dannay, a slightly spaced-out mystery writer whose modus operandi generally involved combing through massive amounts of evidence and endless lists of suspects to somehow unearth the truth. Ellery first cropped up on radio, but by 1950 (with television still a young and fresh medium), he landed his own television series, starring a succession of actors in the title role: first Richard Hart, then Lee Bowman, then Lee Philips, then Jim Hutton, then George Nader. Following the show's cancellation in 1959 and a 16-year delay, Ellery returned to television for a one-season stint, with the title shortened to simply ELLERY QUEEN. The detective was played on this occasion by Jim Hutton, with a supporting cast that included John Hillerman (MAGNUM, P.I.) and David Wayne. Also of note were the program's guest stars during this period, which included such familiar faces as Don Ameche, Roddy McDowall, Ed McMahon and Cesar Romero. The entire 22-episode 1975-76 revival of ELLERY QUEEN appears in this box set, as it originally ran on NBC.
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