History Series / ANeroWolfeMystery

%% The commented out example is a ZeroContextExample, you must provide context for tropes.

A series of TV adaptations of the Literature/NeroWolfe mystery novels and short stories written by Rex Stout, broadcast on A&E between 2001-2002 and starring Maury Chaykin as Wolfe and Timothy Hutton as his legman Archie Goodwin.

* ComicBookTime: A rare TV example. The episodes are set in roughly the same period as the novels and stories they were based on were published with, as in the original stories, the characters always remaining the same age., This meant that the series might be set in the early 1960s one week and in the 1940s the next, with Wolfe, Archie and the other recurring characters never ageing. This is often quite subtle, with an eagle-eyed viewer only able to tell through the fashions, cars and music roughly when it's set.

* NoSmoking: Wolfe ofter orders visitors to his office who are about to light up to extinguish their cigarettes or go outside to the stoop to do so. This is in contrast to the novels where, while not exactly SmokingIsCool or EverybodySmokes, often reflected the prevailing attitude towards cigarette smoking of the times they were written, and Archie often mentions either lighting up or the presence of ashtrays in the office. This actually works quite well, however, since in context of the time it just comes across as another example of Wolfe's fussy and slightly out-of-touch nature.

%% * LargeHam:

* HamToHamCombat: Any time Wolfe and Inspector Cramer start bellowing at each other. Which is often.

* AnachronismStew: Given that the original novels cover a span of time from the 1930's to 70's, this is unavoidable. Nevertheless, the series is quite graceful in marrying elements from disparate decades.

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* ShownTheirWork: Episodes set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII feature women who, rather than wearing stockings, but have lines drawn up the backs of their bare legs to simulate stocking seams. This was an actual practice done during the war as silk and nylon were needed for parachutes and other military uses but it was still considered unseemly for women to have bare legs in public.

* LargeHam:

* CriticalDissonance: Critics adored the series (and many still do), but this unfortunately didn't translate into ratings.

* CriticalDissonace: Critics adored the series (and many still do), but this unfortunately didn't translate into ratings.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: The adaptation of ''Too Many Clients'' has this to a degree. The original novel has Archie seemingly approve of a man who, after he learns his wife has been cheating on him, beats her in response (although it can be argued that there's some ambiguity). When presented with the same situation in the TV adaptation, Archie is visibly angered and disgusted at the man and concerned for the wife.

* ComicBookTime: A rare TV example. The episodes are set in roughly the same period as the novels and stories they were based on were published, meaning that the series might be set in the early 1960s one week and in the 1940s the next, with Wolfe, Archie and the other recurring characters never ageing. This is often quite subtle, with an eagle-eyed viewer only able to tell through the fashions, cars and music roughly when it's set.

Provides examples of:

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognise: Neatly played with. You will recognise most of the cast from something or other... however, the repertory nature of the cast means that the actor who played the murderer last week might be the victim this week and then might just be some schlub who turns up for a few minutes the next week, so it's not quite that easy to determine who did it based on this.

* ComicBookTime: A rare TV example. The episodes are set in roughly the same period as the novels and stories they were based on were published, meaning that the series might be set in the early 1960s one week and in the 1940s the next, with Wolfe, Archie and the other recurring characters never ageing. This is often quite subtle, with an eagle-eyed viewer only able to tell through the fashions and music roughly when it's set.

The series is incredibly faithful to the original stories, remaining firmly set in the amorphous mid-40's-to-60's of the books while lifting large portions of Archie's narration directly from the text. The show was notable for its approach to guest casting — as from Chaykin, Hutton and a handful of other recurring characters, one-shot characters would often be played by the same core group of actors, much like a repertory theater, so that the murder victim one episode might be the murderer the next.

* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognise: Neatly played with. You will recognise most of the cast from something or other... however, the repertory nature of the cast means that one week