Tim stars as Archie Goodwin, the dapper, fast-talking assistant to genius dectective, Nero Wolfe.

A&E finally has an official release date for the series and has updated its website. Check it out for pictures, news, information and an interview with Tim. There's also a fan forum and many links to other Nero Wolfe and author Rex Stout pages.

Expect updates here, as I get more news about the future of the series. Here's information culled from Winnifred Louis' most excellent Nero Wolfe site. I've taken info pertinet to Tim, but go to http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8907/wolfe_tv.html for lots more great stuff about Nero Wolfe and the show. Anything in red is a direct quote from Winnifred Louis' site.

Click Here for pictures from the show!

Filming for the show started September 11th in Toronto and ran until February. The series will air on A&E, debuting April 22 at 8 p.m. EST.

According to Louis' site the shooting schedule for is as follows: The Doorbell Rang; Prisoner's Base; Champagne for One; Over My Dead Body; Xmas Party Murders; followed by Door to Death; Eeeny Meeny Murder Mo and Disguise for Murder.

So head out to the library or bookstore and pick up those books before the shows air.

Cast: Most of the main actors are back with the exception of Saul Rubinek as Saul Panzer. Rubinek is shifting over to play Lon Cohen in this series. He has fewer scenes than before but more lines. Conrad Dunn plays the new Saul Panzer. Aside from Tim and Maury Chaykin, the rest of the cast is as follows:

Cramer: Bill Smitrovich

Fred: Fulvio Cecere

Orrie: Trent McMullen

Saul: Conrad Dunn

Lon: Saul Rubinek.

Mrs. Bruner: Deborah Monk.

Many of the supporting cast are also going to come back, and are also going to be recurring through the episodes.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Tim's co-star from Substance of Fire, is lined up as a possibility for Sarah Jaffe for the episode, "The Prisoner's Base."

Directing: Tim directed the first installment, The Doorbell Rang and is to direct every second episode, including Champagne for One. This one was handpicked by Timothy Hutton, presumably because he likes the Archie moments.

"I asked the crew I was talking to whether they had any views about Hutton as director, they seemed unfazed by the issue."

Most Tim fans know he's directed before, including videos for the Cars and Neil Young, and his movie "Digging To China." And the diehard fans probably also know about the amount of research he does and his acute attention to detail for almost all his roles. [Those of us who analyzed his bookshelf (http://www.geocities.com/tamsinrm/instyle.html) and noticed the Nero Wolfe book know this.)]

"I was told by the director that he wanted to bring out the "cinematographic qualities" of the novel (The Doorbell Rang). I had no idea what he meant by this ominous phrase, though naturally I told him I approved fully. ;) But as I saw it over the next 2 days, and in conversations with crew, this focus on "cinematographic qualities" was a positive development. One of the things that most struck me was that care was being taken to bring out the bright colours of Wolfe's life: not just with the yellow shirts, but even with details like Fritz's clothes and even the colours of the cars on the street. So that was exciting. And on other levels as well: there was a whole drama, as Hutton explained it to me, with the Evers building set -- he told me that he had personally selected as a set the brick factory where the scene was being filmed, and seemed excited to explain the vistas that would be afforded to the camera by the brick facade, and the black-and-grey walls, and the old freight elevator. It was nice to observe his level of excitement and commitment to the project -- but then, as he reminded me when I asked him whether he was happy with how things were going, it was only Day 2 of the filming."

"...(Tim) is a huge fan of the novels, and so is better able to appreciate the importance of nitpicking details fans obsess about [Hutton assured me he is fully invested in the concept of Wolfe's yellow shirts]."

Neill Fearnley will direct Prisoner's Base, which will start filming October 16th.

Producing: Tim serves as executive producer along with Jaffe and Braunstein. The producer is Sue Murdoch and production manager is David Till. Lindsey Hermer-Bell is production designer.

More Shows? The producers are feeling very good about the prospects for a second and even third season of the show. It would depend on ratings for the first season, but apparently the cumulative viewers for The Golden Spiders -- around 4.3 million -- puts it in the top five ever of A&E TV movies.

Writing: The Prisoner's Base script was written by Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin. The Over My Dead Body script is written by Janet Roach.

Trivia: Look for a scene in (The Doorbell Rang) where Archie falls down the stairs. Apparantly, it really is Tim hurtling down the stairs.

"This is one of the rare scenes in which, as Hutton put it to me, Archie totally fails to achieve his goals; it was great fun to see filmed and I hope it comes across as well in the final cut...It was an impressive sequence, and provoked mild wonder from some of the makeup & hair people I was hanging out with at the time that he hadn't used a stunt guy."