Make way for the reluctant detective. It's Ellery Queen, the suave, debonair and brilliant hero of the new, live, full-hour detective show. George Nader plays the stalwart writer turned investigator.
Episode 1
Ellery visits a cousin in a tiny town. His aunt, a sprightly, lovable artist at age 91, is murdered. A tramp, John Kowalsyzk, is a suspect, and a posse is organized against Ellery’s wishes and forces him to take quick action to prove his own solution to the crime.
Episode 2
Ellery and Inspector Queen are approached by Abel Bendigo, a member of the powerful Bendigo munitions company family, when the life of brother King is threatened. Ellery refuses the case until he learns that the government is anxious that no harm come to King. He and the Inspector then agree to go to the island where the munitions factory is located and the Bendigo family make their home.
Episode 3
Ellery goes to a New England estate al the request of neurotic young sculptor Van Horn who fears he has committed terrible crimes during amnesia attacks.
Episode 4
The story deals with the mysterious death of a well-known writer which takes place while a girl believed to be the daughter of her fiancé is in the next room. Karen Leith is found dead by the girl, Eva, who is then accused of murder. Ellery Queen had met Dr. McClure—the girl's supposed father, and the fiancé of Karen—on board ship, where they learn of the killing. EIIery takes over the case when they land. A mysterious missing sister of Karen's is the possible key to the baffling death.
Episode 5
The deserted mother of a 10-year-old, Gene Taylor, agrees to bait a trap for the guy who was the insurance beneficiary of seven dead wives.
Episode 6
Ellery Queen (George Nader) is called in by the mayor of a big city to investigate a series of murders by a killer called “The Cat” who strangles his victims with a silk cord.
Episode 7
Ellery is invited to spend a weekend at the home of U. S. Senator Leander Rhodes by the latter's daughter, Ellen, a capricious cutie.
Episode 8
George Nader is reading anonymously sent clippings about a series of accidental deaths when the daughter of one of the victims arrives and begs him to investigate.
Episode 9
Eva Gabor joins George Nader for the story of a rather loathsome heiress to a mining fortune. Many suitors seek a share of the wealth, but one by one they are murdered. The pattern points toward Eva, but Ellery finds the real motive.
Episode 10
Ellery is forced by a notorious smuggler, James Garvin, to accept a gift of a typewriter. Garvin is murdered and the suspects are: His daughter, his current girlfriend, his former wife, and an English diamond merchant.
Episode 11
Pretty young Jennifer Phillips asks Ellery to save her father from electrocution for a crime she says he didn't commit and sets off a race against time to save him. Ellery is menaced by Jennifer with a gun who wants him to phone the governor to request a stay of execution for her condemned father.
Episode 12
Ellery Queen (George Nader) discovers that a statue he has recently received is eagerly sought after by a secret agent and the daughter of a deposed Middle East dictator.
Episode 13
The storyline: A man is murdered, two people are beaten and two attempts are made to kill Ellery Queen (George Nader) during the search for a missing prize fighter.
Episode 14
Ellery Queen (George Nader) finds murder in his own apartment. Returning to his sublet apartment, Ellery finds a girl who has obviously had too much to drink. She soon dies and Ellery believes the poison found in her drink was really meant for him.
Episode 15
An old man tells Ellery that an innocent man is being railroaded on a murder charge, then slips a newspaper into Ellery's hands, and disappears into the fog. Ellery opens the paper and finds a $10,000 bill pinned to it with the old man's address and sets out to find him.
Episode 16
The locale of the story is a small Oriental principality in which Queen must discover whether Chips (Jim Bridges) is really heir to the throne.
Episode 17
A hysterical art director calls on Ellery Queen to help him find a stolen Cezanne. Before he can locate the painting, Ellery must first track down a missing corpse, identify a mysterious third person and smoke out a murderer.
Episode 18
A hunch by Ellery Queen (George Nader) about a mysterious swimming death proves to have foundation. A former girlfriend pleads with Queen for $15,000, scribbles the name of a small Key West hotel on a napkin and vanishes. Queen catches up with her at the hotel only to find her happy, carefree, and no longer in need of money. But when a man she knows dies in a swimming accident, Ellery orders an autopsy and uncovers a murder
Episode 19
The case into which Ellery “happens” tonight concerns an ex-Soviet official named Papa George whose public outbursts against communism result in his being kidnaped and readied for return to Russia. Ellery's search for Papa George provides some spine-tingling moments.
Episode 20
This whodunit is the last one starring George Nader. Ellery Queen (Nader) takes a job as a chauffeur with a wealthy family, one of whose daughters is “confined” to her room. The girl had been in an auto accident and no one, not even her fiancé, is permitted to see her. When the body of an unidentified girl is found in the river, the local detective asks Ellery’s help in solving the mystery.
Episode 21
The new Ellery Queen, Lee Philips, takes over tonight in a drama about the murder of a slum rent collector. Ellery Queen (Phillips) helps a rookie cop, whose prospective father-in-law Otto Meier, a slum rent collector, has been mysteriously slain. The cop had promised his fiancée Christine to find the killer.
Episode 22
Ellery’s neighbor, toy manufacturer Amos Roeburt (Nagel) solicits his help when a quantity of children’s chemistry sets is found to contain a dangerous explosive compound. Ellery works with a young chemist Laura Benson (Donnell) and they recover all but one of the sets.
Episode 23
Drama about the mysterious death of a financier. At first, it seems to be a suicide case, until glamorous model Joan Foster, daughter of the dead man, goes to Ellery for help.
Episode 24
Ellery takes a girl with him to visit a carnival. At the carnival he meets a friend, who warns him that there is trouble brewing on the midway.
Episode 25
Tonight's mystery deals with the murder of a penniless, alcoholic factory janitor. Queen and his girlfriend are present when police come to check on facts about the dead employe. Several red herrings are thrown in to confuse the issue—a poor artist, a 12-year-old blind girl, a factory worker.
Episode 26
Drama about a lecture room which suddenly goes dark and becomes the scene of a murder. Although death is the result of poisoning, Ellery Queen contends that one of the guests is guilty.
Episode 27
An ex-pugilist, Kid Duffy (Wayne Morris), seeks the help of Ellery Queer (Lee Philips) in a robbery and killing in a slum neighborhood. Young Tommy Barrett has made a voluntary confession of robbery and homicide, even at the risk of being held for murder. Duffy believes the confession is false and asks Ellery’s help.
Episode 28
An elderly man who has lived in seclusion is found dead on Staten Island. Noticing an unusual crest on the dead man's ring, Ellery begins an investigation which leads him to a New York Society family.
Episode 29
Ellery Queen (Lee Philips) is called in by the police to help solve the murder of a butler. Julie Adams as magazine writer Blair Fadden accompanies Ellery on his search.
Episode 30
So, happens that the evening Ellery Queen (Lee Philips) goes to the ballet, the prima ballerina is killed right in front of his eyes. Without further ado, our hero starts to investigate the bizarre incident.
Episode 31
Tonight's excitement springs from the murder trial of Jeff Jordan (Robert Webber). Ellery becomes involved when he is called to serve on the jury and voices an opinion that the defendant is innocent.
Episode 32
The story concerns a murder that takes place on the air during a panel discussion program. Ben Hecht has the role of poet Alonzo Christian who appears on the program and is murdered right on the air. The off-the-air antagonisms of the panel members and the unpleasant character of the program host when he is off-mike provide the background for the mystery. Ellery Queen (Lee Philips) has come to the program to watch his friend Christian. (Last episode of the series.)
