Editing Nero Wolfe (section)

===Television===
====''Omnibus'', "The Fine Art of Murder" (ABC)====
Rex Stout appeared in the December 9, 1956, episode of ''[[Omnibus (US TV series)|Omnibus]]'', a cultural anthology series that epitomized the golden age of television. Hosted by [[Alistair Cooke]] and directed by [[Paul Bogart]], "The Fine Art of Murder" was a 40-minute segment described by ''Time'' magazine as "a homicide as Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]] [and] Rex Stout would variously present it".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081210024132/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808743,00.html?promoid=go Program Preview], ''Time'', December 10, 1956</ref> The author is credited as appearing along with [[Gene Reynolds]] (Archie Goodwin), Robert Eckles (Nero Wolfe), James Daly (narrator), [[Dennis Hoey]] (Arthur Conan Doyle), Felix Munro (Edgar Allan Poe), Herbert Voland ([[C. Auguste Dupin|M. Dupin]]) and Jack Sydow.<ref>''[[TV Guide (magazine)|TV Guide]]'', December 8–14, 1956 (p. A-18); {{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/omnibus/the-fine-art-of-murder/episode/794825/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;9|title=''Omnibus'', "The Fine Art of Murder"|website=TV.com}}</ref> Writer [[Sidney Carroll]] received the 1957 [[Edgar Award]] for Best Episode in a TV Series.<ref>[http://theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php Edgar Awards Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404232840/http://theedgars.com/edgarsDB/index.php |date=2019-04-04 }}; retrieved December 3, 2011</ref> "The Fine Art of Murder" is in the collection of the Library of Congress (VBE 2397–2398) and screened in its [[Mary Pickford Theater]] February 15, 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/mopic/pickford/2000-archive.html |title=Mary Pickford Theater, Archive of past screenings: 2000 Schedule |publisher=Loc.gov |access-date=2012-01-04}}</ref>

====''Nero Wolfe'' (CBS)====
[[File:Nero-Wolfe-CBS-1959.jpg|right|thumb|[[William Shatner]] as [[Archie Goodwin (character)|Archie Goodwin]] and [[Kurt Kasznar]] as Nero Wolfe in the aborted 1959 CBS-TV series]]
On September 15, 1949, Rex Stout wrote a confidential memo to Edwin Fadiman, who represented his radio, film and television interests. The memo provided detailed character descriptions of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and a physical description and diagram of Wolfe's office. Stout's biographer John McAleer inferred the memo was guidance for the [[The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe|NBC Nero Wolfe radio series]] that began in October 1950, but in summarizing the memo's unique revelations he remarked, "A TV producer could not have hoped for more specifics."<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|383–384}}{{efn|Rex Stout's confidential memo of September 15, 1949, describing Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin and Wolfe's office, is reprinted in the back matter of the 1992 Bantam Crimeline edition of ''Fer-de-Lance'' ({{ISBN|0-553-27819-3}}).}}

On October 22, 1949, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' reported that Fadiman Associates was packaging a television series featuring Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe characters.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=October 22, 1949 |title=Brief and Important |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lg4EAAAAMBAJ&q=Billboard |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|The Billboard]] |volume=61 |issue=43 |page=5 |access-date=2015-11-01}}</ref> When CBS-TV's ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' went into production, Stout received some 50 offers from film and TV producers hoping to follow up on its success with a Nero Wolfe series.<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|488}} By April 1957 [[CBS]] had purchased the rights and was pitching a Nero Wolfe TV series to advertisers.<ref>{{cite journal |date=April 27, 1957 |title=Revlon Eyeing Comedy Series |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FSAEAAAAMBAJ |journal=The Billboard |volume=69 |issue=17 |page=3 |access-date=2015-11-01 |quote=The other mysteries being mulled by the advertiser have been 'Nero Wolfe,' a CBS-produced series based on the Rex Stout stories ...}}</ref> The series had Stout's enthusiastic cooperation.<ref name="Kirkley"/>

In March 1959, ''The New York Times'' reported that [[Kurt Kasznar]] and [[William Shatner]] would portray Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin in the CBS-TV series. Both actors were then starring on Broadway—the Vienna-born Kasznar in Noel Coward's ''[[Look After Lulu!]]'' and Shatner in ''[[The World of Suzie Wong (play)|The World of Suzie Wong]]''.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 14, 1959 |title=Two Stage Actors Signed by CBS-TV; Kasznar and Shatner to Play in 'Nero Wolfe' Pilot Film |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/03/14/archives/two-stage-actors-signed-by-cbstv-kasznar-and-shatner-to-play-in.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-11-01 }}</ref>

''Nero Wolfe'' was co-produced by Gordon Duff and [[Otis Guernsey Jr.|Otis L. Guernsey, Jr.]],<ref>''Publishers Weekly'', Volume 175, February 2, 1959</ref> with Edwin Fadiman as executive producer. The theme music was composed by [[Alex North]].<ref>{{cite magazine|date=April 20, 1959 |title='Wolfe' TV-er Jazz Theme |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VyEEAAAAMBAJ |magazine=The Billboard |volume=71 |issue=19 |page=40 |access-date=2015-11-01}}</ref>{{efn|Film score researcher Bill Wrobel located [[Alex North]]'s unheard score for ''Nero Wolfe'' and six recorded tracks on digital audio tape in the UCLA Music Library Special Collections.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmscorerundowns.net/other/cbs_collection.pdf |title=CBS Collection 072 |last1=Wrobel |first1=Bill |date=June 25, 2010 |website=Film Score Rundowns |access-date=2015-11-01 }}</ref> He identifies 30 CBS digital audio tapes (p. 168), with tracks 86–91 of DAT #11 being the ''Nero Wolfe'' music of Alex North (p. 174). The score, CPN5912, is in Box #105 (p. 51).}}

The pilot episode, "Count the Man Down", written by [[Sidney Carroll]]{{efn|Dated December 31, 1958, the first draft script for ''Nero Wolfe'' is in the Performing Arts Special Collections at UCLA, in Box 27, Folder 6 of the Sidney Carroll Papers 1957–1981.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt2g5036xx;style=oac4;view=dsc |title=Finding Aid for the Sidney Carroll papers, 1957–1981 |website=UCLA, Library Special Collections, Performing Arts |publisher=Online Archive of California |access-date=2015-11-01 |quote=Unidentified Projects.}}</ref>}} and directed by Tom Donovan, was filmed in Manhattan in March 1959.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ewald |first=William F. |date=March 10, 1959 |title=On the Air  |newspaper=[[The Herald Bulletin|Anderson Daily Bulletin]] |agency=United Press International}}</ref> The half-hour program concerned the mysterious death of a scientist during a guided missile launch at [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Robinson |first=Johnny |date=March 20, 1959 |title=Video Versions |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19590320&id=NuQ0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4692,1787282&hl=en |newspaper=Lewiston Evening Journal |location=[[Lewiston, Maine]] |access-date=2015-11-01 }}</ref> Guest stars include [[Alexander Scourby]] (Mr. Belson), [[Phyllis Hill]] (Leslie Gear), [[George Voskovec]] (Dr. Wohlgang), Eva Seregni (Mrs. Lowenberg), [[Frank Marth]] (Ernest Petchen), [[John McLiam]] (Professor Adams), [[John C. Becher]] (Mr. Faversham), [[Eileen Fulton]] (Receptionist), and Rene Paul (Christian Lowenberg).<ref>{{cite AV media |date=2018 |title=Television's Lost Classics: Volume Two |medium=DVD |publisher=VCI Entertainment |asin=B07D3KSS69 }}</ref>

The series was to air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET beginning in September 1959.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ewald |first=William F. |date=April 8, 1959 |title=Television in Review  |newspaper=United Press International }}</ref> But in April, CBS announced that the new comedy series ''[[Hennesey]]'' would occupy the time slot.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ewald |first=William F. |date=April 9, 1959 |title=Television in Review  |newspaper=United Press International }}</ref>

In June 1959, ''[[The Baltimore Sun|Baltimore Sun]]'' critic Donald Kirkley reported that the ''Nero Wolfe'' pilot had been "in a way, too successful ... Everything seemed to point to a sale of the series. A facsimile of the brownstone house in which Wolfe lives in the novels ... was found in [[Gramercy Park|Grammercy]] {{sic}} Square. But when the film was made and shown around, it was considered too good to be confined to half an hour."<ref name="Kirkley">{{cite news |last=Kirkley |first=Donald |date=June 26, 1959 |title=Look and Listen with Donald Kirkley |newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]  }}</ref> In October 1960, William Shatner was reportedly still working to sell the first television adaptation of Nero Wolfe to the networks.<ref>{{cite news |last=Witte |first=Lawrence |date=October 26, 1960 |title=TV-Radio News Bits  |newspaper=The Evening Independent |location=Massillon, Ohio }}</ref>

The 1959 ''Nero Wolfe'' pilot episode was released on DVD and Blu-ray in October 2018 by VCI Entertainment, in ''Television's Lost Classics: Volume 2''. The four rare pilots on the release were digitally restored in high definition by SabuCat Productions from the best archival film elements available.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mvdb2b.com/s/TelevisionsLostClassicsVolume2RarePilots/VCI9042 |title=Television's Lost Classics Volume 2: Rare Pilots |publisher=[[MVD Entertainment Group]] |access-date=2018-10-18 }}</ref>

====''Nero Wolfe'' (Paramount Television)====
In an interview May 27, 1967,<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|479–480}} Rex Stout told author Dick Lochte that [[Orson Welles]] had once wanted to make a series of Nero Wolfe movies, and Stout had turned him down.<ref name="Lochte">{{cite news |last=Lochte |first=Dick |date=January 30, 1977 |title=TV finally tunes in Nero Wolfe |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref>{{efn|Dick Lochte discussed the Stout interview in an online post March 8, 2000.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/archives/200003/0149.html |title=Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe movies|last1=Lochte |first1=Dick |date=March 8, 2000 |website=Rara-Avis |access-date=2015-11-01 }}</ref>}} Disappointed with the Nero Wolfe movies of the 1930s, Stout was leery of Nero Wolfe film and TV projects in America during his lifetime: "That's something my heirs can fool around with, if they've a mind to", he said.<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|487–488}} In 1976, a year after Stout's death, [[Paramount Television]] purchased the rights for the entire set of Nero Wolfe stories for Orson Welles.<ref name="Lochte"/><ref name="Kleiner">{{cite news |last1=Kleiner |first1=Dick |last2=Crosby |first2=Joan |date=December 30, 1976 |title=TV Scout: Some New Series in the Bullpen |newspaper=[[Oakland Tribune]]  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Liz |author-link=Liz Smith (journalist) |date=March 7, 1977 |title=Brando, Streisand, Peters Finagling? |newspaper=[[The Gazette (Colorado Springs)|Colorado Springs Gazette]] |quote=Paramount bought the entire set of Nero Wolfe stories for Orson Welles, who is enjoying a renaissance of popularity in Hollywood and the world.}}</ref>{{efn|Pre-production materials for Welles's unrealized ''Nero Wolfe'' (1976) are contained in the Orson Welles – Oja Kodar Papers 1910–1998 (Box 17) at the [[University of Michigan]] Special Collections Library.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/s/sclead/umich-scl-welleskodar?byte=7322760;focusrgn=C01;subview=standard;view=reslist |title=Television |website=Orson Welles – Oja Kodar Papers 1910–1998 |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] Special Collections Library |access-date=2015-11-03}}</ref>}} Paramount paid $200,000 for the TV rights to eight hours of Nero Wolfe.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosenfield |first=Paul |date=March 4, 1979 |title=Have You Seen Any Good Novels Lately? |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref> The producers planned to begin with an [[Nero Wolfe (film)|ABC-TV movie]] and hoped to persuade Welles to continue the role in a mini-series.<ref name="Kleiner"/> [[Frank D. Gilroy]] was signed to write the television script ("The Doorbell Rang") and direct the TV movie on the assurance that Welles would star, but by April 1977 Welles had bowed out. [[Thayer David]] was cast as Wolfe in the [[Nero Wolfe (film)|1977 TV movie]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilroy |first=Frank D. |author-link=Frank Gilroy |date=1993 |title=I Wake Up Screening |url=https://archive.org/details/iwakeupscreening0000gilr/page/ |location=Carbondale, Illinois |publisher=[[Southern Illinois University Press]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/iwakeupscreening0000gilr/page/ ii, 147] |isbn=0-8093-1856-3 }}</ref>

In March 1980, Paramount was planning a weekly [[Nero Wolfe (1981 TV series)|NBC-TV series]] as a starring vehicle for Welles; Leon Tokatyan (''[[Lou Grant (TV series)|Lou Grant]]'') was to write the pilot.<ref>{{cite news |last=Deeb |first=Gary |date=March 26, 1980 |title=Tempo TV |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> Welles again declined because he wanted to do a series of 90-minute specials, perhaps two or three a year, instead of a weekly series. [[William Conrad]] was cast as Wolfe in the [[Nero Wolfe (1981 TV series)|1981 TV series]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Winfrey |first=Lee |date=January 21, 1981 |title=Conrad gets 'his' part |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yDxUAAAAIBAJ&pg=2108,3980261&dq=nero-wolfe+welles&hl=en |newspaper=[[Boca Raton News]]  |access-date=2015-11-03 }}</ref>

=====''Nero Wolfe'' (1977)=====
{{Main|Nero Wolfe (film)}}
In 1977, [[Paramount Television]] filmed ''[[Nero Wolfe (film)|Nero Wolfe]]'', an adaptation of Stout's novel ''[[The Doorbell Rang]]''. [[Thayer David]] and [[Tom Mason (actor, born 1949)|Tom Mason]] starred as Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin; [[Anne Baxter]] costarred as Mrs. Rachel Bruner. Written and directed by [[Frank D. Gilroy]], the made-for-TV movie was produced as a pilot for a possible upcoming series<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bawden |first=J. E. A. |date=October 1977 |title=Anne Baxter|journal=Films in Review |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |volume=28 |issue=8 |page=462 }}</ref>—but the film had not yet aired at the time of Thayer David's death in July 1978. ''Nero Wolfe'' was finally broadcast December 18, 1979, as an [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC-TV]] late show.<ref>{{cite book |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |date=1981 |title=Television 1970–1980 |location=San Diego, California |publisher=A.S. Barnes & Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/television1970190000terr/page/266 266] |isbn=0-498-02539-X |url=https://archive.org/details/television1970190000terr/page/266 }}</ref>

=====''Nero Wolfe'' (1981)=====
{{Main|Nero Wolfe (1981 TV series)}}
Paramount Television remounted ''[[Nero Wolfe (1981 TV series)|Nero Wolfe]]'' as a weekly one-hour series that ran on [[NBC]] TV from January through August 1981. The project was recast with [[William Conrad]] stepping into the role of Nero Wolfe and [[Lee Horsley]] portraying Archie Goodwin. Although it was titled "Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe", the production departed considerably from the originals. All 14 episodes were set in contemporary New York City.

====''Nero Wolfe'' (A&E Network)====
{{Main|Nero Wolfe (2001 TV series)}}
Independent producer [[Michael Jaffe]]'s efforts to secure the rights to the Nero Wolfe stories date back to his earliest days in the business. In the mid-1970s he was working with his father, Henry Jaffe, a successful attorney turned producer, when the Nero Wolfe rights came on the market. Warner Bros. wanted to adapt the [[Nero Wolfe supporting characters#Arnold Zeck|Zeck trilogy]] for a feature film and approached Henry Jaffe, who traveled to New York to negotiate with the agent for Rex Stout's estate but lost out to Paramount Television.

"We finally got this opportunity", said Michael Jaffe. "I had chased the rights numerous times. One of the reasons that I never actually tried to make it as a series was that I didn't believe a network would ever let us make it the right way. Then A&E came along, and Allen Sabinson. I've known him for years and years. He swore he'd let me make it the right way.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jaffe |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Jaffe |date=December 2001 |chapter=A Labor of Love: The Nero Wolfe Television Series |editor-last=Kaye |editor-first=Marvin |title=The Nero Wolfe Files |location=Maryland |publisher=[[Wildside Press]] |publication-date=2005 |pages=86–91 |isbn=0-8095-4494-6 }}</ref>{{Rp|88}}{{efn|Allen Sabinson became a programming consultant for A&E in 1999, and was named the network's senior vice president for programming in spring 2001.}}{{efn|Jaffe/Braunstein Films, Ltd., secured the rights to the Nero Wolfe stories in 1998. (U.S. Copyright Office Document Number V3412D882, recorded March 13, 1998.)}}

In March 2000, [[Maury Chaykin]] (as Nero Wolfe) and [[Timothy Hutton]] (as Archie Goodwin) starred in ''[[The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery]]'', a Jaffe/Braunstein Films co-production with the [[A&E Network]]. High ratings led to the original series, ''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–2002), most often called ''[[Nero Wolfe (2001 TV series)|Nero Wolfe]]''.

Hutton served as an executive producer and directed four telefilms. ''Nero Wolfe'' adapted the plots and dialogue of the Stout originals closely; unlike previous Wolfe adaptations, the series retained Archie Goodwin's first-person narration and did not update the stories to contemporary times. The episodes were colorful period pieces, set primarily in the 1940s–1950s.<ref name="Scarlet Street">{{cite journal |last=Vitaris |first=Paula |date=2002 |title=Miracle on 35th Street: Nero Wolfe on Television |journal=[[Scarlet Street (magazine)|Scarlet Street]] |issue=45 |pages=28–30, 34, 36–37, 76–77 }}</ref>{{Rp|37}}{{efn|The exception is the second-season premiere directed by Timothy Hutton. "For ''[[Death of a Doxy#A Nero Wolfe Mystery (A&E Network)|Death of a Doxy]]'', Tim decided to play it in the early sixties", producer [[Michael Jaffe]] said. "If you look at that episode, it's really fun, because everything—the wardrobe, the art direction—is different, since it's a different generation. It breaks our mold."<ref name="Scarlet Street"/>{{Rp|37}}}} The production values were exceptional and critics responded favorably.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/AE_tv_series/reviews.htm |title=Wolfe Pack – Official Site of the Nero Wolfe Society |publisher=Nerowolfe.org |access-date=2012-01-04}}</ref>

Other members of the principal cast were [[Colin Fox (actor)|Colin Fox]] (Fritz Brenner), [[Conrad Dunn]] (Saul Panzer), [[Fulvio Cecere]] (Fred Durkin), Trent McMullen (Orrie Cather), [[Saul Rubinek]] (Lon Cohen), [[Bill Smitrovich]] (Inspector Cramer) and [[R.D. Reid]] (Sergeant Purley Stebbins). In a practice reminiscent of the mystery movie series of the 1930s and 1940s, the show rarely used guest stars in the roles of victims, killers and suspects, but instead used the same ensemble of supporting actors each week. An actor who had been "killed off" in one show might portray the murderer in the next. Actress [[Kari Matchett]] was a member of this repertory group while also having a recurring role in the series as Archie Goodwin's girlfriend Lily Rowan; other frequent members of the troupe included [[Nicky Guadagni]], [[Debra Monk]], [[George Plimpton]], [[Ron Rifkin]], [[Francie Swift]], and [[James Tolkan]].

Production of ''Nero Wolfe'' coincided with Rex Stout's becoming a top-selling author some 30 years after his death. A&E released the series on Region 1 DVD as two sets (''The Golden Spiders'' bundled with the second season), and as a single eight-disc thinpack set.

====International productions====
=====German TV miniseries (1961)=====
A German TV adaption of ''Too Many Cooks''—''[[Too Many Cooks (novel)#Zu viele Köche (NWRV)|Zu viele Köche]]'' (1961)—starred Heinz Klevenow as Nero Wolfe, and [[Joachim Fuchsberger]] as Archie Goodwin. After he protested that his story was used without permission, Rex Stout received a $3,500 settlement.<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|488|date=October 2013}}

=====Italian TV series (1969–1971)=====
"The name Nero Wolfe has magic in Italy," wrote Rex Stout's biographer John McAleer. In 1968, the Italian television network [[RAI]] paid Stout $80,000 for the rights to produce 12 Nero Wolfe stories. "He agreed only because he would never see them," McAleer wrote.

From February 1969 to February 1971, Italian television broadcast 10 Nero Wolfe TV movies. These are the episodes in order of appearance:

# ''[[The Red Box#Veleno in sartoria (1969)|Veleno in sartoria]]'' (''[[The Red Box]]'')
# ''[[If Death Ever Slept#Circuito chiuso (1969)|Circuito chiuso]]'' (''[[If Death Ever Slept]]'')
# ''[[Some Buried Caesar#Per la fama di Cesare (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|Per la fama di Cesare]]'' (''[[Some Buried Caesar]]'')
# ''[[The Doorbell Rang#Il pesce più grosso (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|Il Pesce più grosso]]'' (''[[The Doorbell Rang]]'')
# ''[[Where There's a Will (novel)#Un incidente di caccia (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|Un incidente di caccia]]'' (''[[Where There's a Will (novel)|Where There's a Will]]'')
# ''[[The Rubber Band#Il patto dei sei (1969)|Il patto dei sei]]'' (''[[The Rubber Band]]'')
# ''[[Counterfeit for Murder#La casa degli attori (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|La casa degli attori]]'' (''[[Counterfeit for Murder]]'')
# ''[[Murder Is Corny#La bella bugiarda (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|La bella bugiarda]]'' (''[[Murder Is Corny#Adaptations|Murder Is Corny]]'')
# ''[[Gambit (novel)#Sfida al cioccolato (1971)|Sfida al cioccolato]]'' (''[[Gambit (novel)|Gambit]]'')
# ''[[Too Many Cooks (novel)#Salsicce 'Mezzanotte' (Radiotelevisione Italiana)|Salsicce 'Mezzanotte']]'' (''[[Too Many Cooks (novel)|Too Many Cooks]]'')

''[[In the Best Families]]'' and ''[[The Final Deduction]]'' were among the titles for which RAI also bought the rights, but were not filmed.

The successful series of black-and-white telemovies star [[Tino Buazzelli]] (Nero Wolfe), [[Paolo Ferrari (actor)|Paolo Ferrari]] (Archie Goodwin), [[Pupo De Luca]] (Fritz Brenner), [[Renzo Palmer]] (Inspector Cramer), Roberto Pistone (Saul Panzer), Mario Righetti (Orrie Cather) and Gianfranco Varetto (Fred Durkin). The whole series became available on DVD in 2007.<ref name="McAleer"/>{{Rp|488|date=October 2013}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/miscmedia/tv_ital.htm |title=Nero Wolfe Italian TV Series |publisher=[[The Wolfe Pack]] |access-date=2012-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102090231/http://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/miscmedia/tv_ital.htm |archive-date=2012-01-02 }}</ref>

=====Russian TV series (2001–02, 2005)=====
A series of Russian Nero Wolfe TV movies was made from 2001 to 2005. One of the adaptations, ''Poka ya ne umer'' ("Before I Die") ({{langx|ru|Пока я не умер}}), was written by Vladimir Valutsky, screenwriter for a Russian Sherlock Holmes television series in the 1980s. Nero Wolfe is played by [[Donatas Banionis]], and Archie Goodwin by [[Sergey Zhigunov|Sergei Zhigunov]].<ref name="Russian TV Series WP">{{cite web |url=http://www.nerowolfe.org/htm/misc_media/tv_russian.htm |title=Nero Wolfe Russian TV Series (2001–2002 & 2005) |publisher=[[The Wolfe Pack]] |access-date=2017-01-14}}</ref>

The first season (''Niro Vulf i Archi Gudvin'') ({{langx|ru|Ниро Вульф и Арчи Гудвин}}) comprises five episodes, listed in order of appearance:<ref name="Russian TV Series WP"/>
# ''[[Poka ya ne umer]]'' ''([[Before I Die (short story)|Before I Die]])''
# ''[[Letayuschiy pistolet]]'' ''([[The Gun with Wings]])''
# ''[[Golos s togo sveta]]'' ''([[The Silent Speaker]])''
# ''[[Delo v shlyape]]'' ''([[Disguise for Murder]])''
# ''[[Voskresnut` chtoby umeret`]]'' ''([[Man Alive (short story)|Man Alive]])''

The second season (''Noviye Priklucheniya Niro Vulfa i Archi Gudvina'') ({{langx|ru|Новые приключения Ниро Вульфа и Арчи Гудвина}}) comprises four episodes, listed in order of appearance:<ref name="Russian TV Series WP"/>
# ''[[Podarok dlya Lili]]'' ''([[Black Orchids]])''
# ''[[Poslednyaya volya Marko]]'' ''([[The Black Mountain (novel)|The Black Mountain]])''
# ''[[Shlishkom mnogo zhenschin]]'' ''([[Too Many Women (novel)|Too Many Women]])''
# ''[[Taina krasnoy shkatulki]]'' ''([[The Red Box]])''

=====Italian TV series (2012)=====
On April 5, 2012, the [[RAI]] network in Italy began a new ''Nero Wolfe'' series starring [[Francesco Pannofino]] as Nero Wolfe and [[Pietro Sermonti]] as Archie Goodwin. Produced by Casanova Multimedia and Rai Fiction, the eight-episode series, which ran for a single season, began with "La traccia del serpente", an adaptation of ''[[Fer-de-Lance (novel)|Fer-de-Lance]]'' set in 1959 in Rome, where Wolfe and Archie reside after leaving the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casanovamultimedia.it/produzioni/nero-wolfe/ |title=Nero Wolfe |publisher=Casanova Multimedia |access-date=2013-10-19}}</ref><ref>[[:it:Nero Wolfe (serie televisiva 2012)|''Nero Wolfe'' (series televisiva 2012)]], Italian Wikipedia.</ref>

[[MHz Networks|MHz Choice]] began streaming the series with English subtitles in North America in November 2017<ref>{{cite web|last=Aridi|first=Sara|title=What's on TV Tuesday: 'Future Man' and 'The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/arts/television/whats-on-tv-tuesday-future-man-and-the-hunt-for-the-zodiac-killer.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 14, 2017|access-date=2018-02-04}}</ref> and released it on DVD in January 2018.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://shopmhz.com/products/nero-wolfe |title=Nero Wolfe (Region 1 NTSC For US DVD Players) |publisher=[[MHz Networks]] |access-date=2018-02-04 }}</ref>

The series comprises eight episodes, listed in order of appearance:
# ''[[Fer-de-Lance (novel)#Nero Wolfe (Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A.)|La traccia del serpente]]'' ''([[Fer-de-Lance (novel)|The Trail of the Snake – based on Fer-de-Lance]])''
# ''[[Champagne for One#Nero Wolfe (Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A.)|Champagne per uno]]'' ''([[Champagne for One]])''
# ''[[The Golden Spiders#Nero Wolfe (Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A.)|La principessa Orchidea]]'' ''([[Princess Orchid - based on The Golden Spiders]])''
# ''[[The Rubber Band#Il patto dei sei (2012)|Il patto dei sei]]'' ''([[The Pact of Six - based on The Rubber Band]])''
# ''[[Gambit (novel)#Scacco al Re (2012)|Scacco al Re]]'' ''([[Gambit (novel)|Checkmate to the King – based on Gambit]])''
# ''[[If Death Ever Slept#Parassiti (2012)|Parassiti]]'' ''([[Parasites - based on If Death Ever Slept]])''
# ''[[The Red Box#La scatola rossa (2012)|La scatola rossa]]'' ''([[The Red Box]])''
# ''[[Over My Dead Body (novel)#Nero Wolfe (Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A.)|Coppia di spade]]'' ''([[Over My Dead Body (novel)|Pair of Swords – based on Over My Dead Body]])''