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When a dame's been murdered and the inspector's trail has gone cold, who can get to the bottom of the case: Nero Wolfe.
The hefty, high-class detective and his loyal cohort are reopening their files for the A&E series, "Nero Wolfe," based on novelist Rex Stout's popular mystery series, set from the 1930s to the '60s. The second season begins tonight with a two-hour premier, marking the return of Timothy Hutton as Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's loyal legman, and Maury Chaykin as the clever detective.
Wolfe remains safely tucked in his W. 35th St. brownstone in Manhattan, tending to his prize orchids and dining on the finest fare. Archie, meanwhile, is out on the streets gathering clues. They're an unlikely duo, for sure, but that's the charm of the Wolfe series.
"The two characters complement one another," says Hutton. "There's a little bit on an odd couple kind of thing about them. They're always at each other's throats and know how to push each other's buttons, but they always manage to get there before everyone else."
Indeed, Wolfe's sharp mind and Archie's eternal amusement at watching people trying to penetrate it make for a curious scene.
"Archie depends on him for a livelihood," says Chaykin, who calls his character crabby, fascinating and aloof. "But they need each other. I don't think Archie is the type of person who would open up his own detective agency...but I don't think Wolfe could do it without him. It would take years and years to build up that kind of trust with someone."
Not that he isn't worried.
"Wolfe is terrified that Archie's going to leave," says Chaykin. "I think he's convinced he's going to fall in love and get married."
Surrounding the pair is an equally eclectic cast of characters, including the eccentric Swiss housekeeper Fritz (Colin Fox), and brassy, bullish Police Inspector Cramer (Bill Smitrovich).
"These people are lunatics, all of them," says Hutton, referring to Archie as well.
Last year, Hutton, who serves as the show's executive producer, brought in a repertory cast, so the character-driven series works much like a stage play.
"A person who might have played a bartender in one book, in the next book plays the part of an ambassador," explains Hutton. They'll also have guest spots by George Plimpton, Penelope Ann Miller, Carrie Fisher and Griffin Dunne.
The premiere episode is "Death of a Doxy." Hutton says it "is the first one set in the '60s, so it has kind of a loungy, go-go club feel to it." As usual, someone's gone dead--this time a call-girl--and Wolfe and Archie are sure the wrong man is in jail for the crime.
Hutton directed half of last season's episodes and this season's premiere as well, but he plans to step back now and lighten his load.
"I didn't want to be facing double duty down the road," says Hutton. His family is the reason. His son, Milo, was born on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, in Paris. Nine days later, Hutton returned to Toronto, where the series is being filmed, to begin preproduction. His wife and new son followed, when they were ready to travel. But Hutton decided he was happy to let other directors take the helm.
Chaykin, too, found the series a bit trying initially, but now that his character has started to become second nature, it's getting to be much easier.
"I was really kind of terrified that [signing on with the series] was a big mistake," says Chaykin, who has previously done only feature films, working on more than 100 movies. "I realized my worst fear: It was a big mistake. Then gradually, I started to have fun doing it after we all relaxed a bit.."
But the actors need energy--Stout wrote 73 Nero Wolfe mysteries, making the tales perfect for an ongoing series.
"I was always interested in the idea of doing a group of books," says Hutton, envisioning a DVD library of the series. "And there are no real parameters with material like this."
Hutton has become a true Stout fan (has has read all of the author's novels), and realizes the best approach is to keep with the program.
"It would be insane not to stick close to the books," says Hutton. "The dialogue is great; you could never improve on it."
And he has elected not to go the film-noir route, with settings of black and white or dark grays and browns. Instead, he has been influenced by the '50s Dashiell Hammett television series "The Thin Man"--and has let the show define itself. The result is lots of bright colors, like reds, yellows and blues, much like Wolfe's orchids.
And what is this obsession with orchids about anyway"
"They're kind of oddities, kind of strange," says Chaykin. "They're finicky--sort of like Wolfe."