Ellery Queen
May. 29th, 2012 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveI finally got hold of a disc of the 1970s series of Ellery Queen Mysteries, due to wanting to see in full an episode with Simon Oakland. While I had the disc, we logically watched the rest of it too.
Overall, I'm not sure what to make of it. The theme song, hands-down, is absolutely awesome and epic. I've still got it in my head now.
But I do have some quibbles. Well, this first one isn't really anything against the series, just something I was personally disappointed about. I suppose this sounds silly, but I was thoroughly convinced that it took place in the present day of its time when I saw part of Simon's episode some time back. I was so extremely convinced of that, that seeing the thing in full and being forced to realize that it takes place in the 1940s was an extreme shock.
I love period pieces, make no doubt about that. But it just wasn't what I was expecting this time. I thought it was a present-day series, one that hence could move to whatever time period you want it to.
And somehow I wasn't always fully convinced of the setting. I don't know if that's just because I believed it was the 1970s at first or if they didn't do such a good job. Yet it seems like they did; cars and women's hairstyles and even the behavior of some of the Girl Fridays all felt very 1940s.
The mysteries were very intense and interesting. Overall, though (and here's where I actually speak against the series), I also felt that the set-up there didn't really work very well. It seemed like the guilty parties came out of nowhere, with little to no prior evidence for their motivations. And before everyone cries out that Perry Mason sometimes fell back on that too, let me elaborate on the differences.
In Perry, we usually see a bunch of people with motives to kill the victim long before the victim is dead. On this show, by contrast, the person usually pops up dead with no or little motives given for anyone until afterwards. Clues are sometimes hard to see on both shows, but Ellery Queen actively and literally invites the audience to participate, so to me it seems ridiculous to set the mysteries up in a way that a majority of the audience may have trouble figuring out the solutions. (Or maybe it's directed more towards brainiacs/die-hard amateur detectives. Hmmm.)
Maybe I'm just comparing it too much to Perry. I don't know; I didn't really like the set-up on Ellery Queen, particularly the stuff involving the guilty parties. I liked the mysteries themselves and the settings (one took place at a rehearsal of the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice in Wonderland, LOL). The characters were alright. Ellery himself was sort of kooky/eccentric/even absent-minded (but very brilliant). I dunno, though; I usually don't care much for the kooky types (even though they give me a good laugh). I'd rather see a more serious, tough detective.
I only got the disc because of Simon, so unless I hear of another episode with someone I'm nuts about, I don't think I care to see more of the series. I can understand why it only ran for one season.
Overall, I'm not sure what to make of it. The theme song, hands-down, is absolutely awesome and epic. I've still got it in my head now.
But I do have some quibbles. Well, this first one isn't really anything against the series, just something I was personally disappointed about. I suppose this sounds silly, but I was thoroughly convinced that it took place in the present day of its time when I saw part of Simon's episode some time back. I was so extremely convinced of that, that seeing the thing in full and being forced to realize that it takes place in the 1940s was an extreme shock.
I love period pieces, make no doubt about that. But it just wasn't what I was expecting this time. I thought it was a present-day series, one that hence could move to whatever time period you want it to.
And somehow I wasn't always fully convinced of the setting. I don't know if that's just because I believed it was the 1970s at first or if they didn't do such a good job. Yet it seems like they did; cars and women's hairstyles and even the behavior of some of the Girl Fridays all felt very 1940s.
The mysteries were very intense and interesting. Overall, though (and here's where I actually speak against the series), I also felt that the set-up there didn't really work very well. It seemed like the guilty parties came out of nowhere, with little to no prior evidence for their motivations. And before everyone cries out that Perry Mason sometimes fell back on that too, let me elaborate on the differences.
In Perry, we usually see a bunch of people with motives to kill the victim long before the victim is dead. On this show, by contrast, the person usually pops up dead with no or little motives given for anyone until afterwards. Clues are sometimes hard to see on both shows, but Ellery Queen actively and literally invites the audience to participate, so to me it seems ridiculous to set the mysteries up in a way that a majority of the audience may have trouble figuring out the solutions. (Or maybe it's directed more towards brainiacs/die-hard amateur detectives. Hmmm.)
Maybe I'm just comparing it too much to Perry. I don't know; I didn't really like the set-up on Ellery Queen, particularly the stuff involving the guilty parties. I liked the mysteries themselves and the settings (one took place at a rehearsal of the Mad Tea Party scene from Alice in Wonderland, LOL). The characters were alright. Ellery himself was sort of kooky/eccentric/even absent-minded (but very brilliant). I dunno, though; I usually don't care much for the kooky types (even though they give me a good laugh). I'd rather see a more serious, tough detective.
I only got the disc because of Simon, so unless I hear of another episode with someone I'm nuts about, I don't think I care to see more of the series. I can understand why it only ran for one season.
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-29 10:51 pm (UTC)But Simon is always awesome. *hugs him*
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Date: 2012-05-30 04:28 am (UTC)And yes! **hugs him too.**
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Date: 2012-05-30 12:41 am (UTC)And by the way, if it was made in the sixties or seventies, it looks it, no matter how hard they'd try. (True of every decade, of course.)
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Date: 2012-05-30 04:27 am (UTC)LOL, that sounds like a funny scene, though. Poor policeman.
Haha, yeah, I was thinking that. I wonder why that is. I think it has something to do with the kind of camera/film they use.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-31 12:30 pm (UTC)Anyway. I've been catching "Hatfields & McCoys" for the last few days (missed the last part, vcr glitch) and I wonder how long it will be until it feels dated-- because they seem to have handled a *lot* of things objectively, down to portraying the women's roles without either pity, condescension, or putting women's- lib speeches in someone's mouth. But even with History Channel and Kevin Costner involved, I don't see any of the principles in the really long, thick beards that were their pride in the days before safety razors. Possibly because they took years to grow, of course-- and it must be impossible to act with half the face hidden, too.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-31 04:51 pm (UTC)LOL, bright orange. Now I'll be curious about that as well.
They probably feel it's more attractive to the ladies to leave out the long, thick beards, too. ;)
It sounds like an interesting series, though!