Richard Levinson and William Link had previously written a pilot based on the "Ellery Queen" character, "", also produced by Universal. The pilot, directed by Barry Shear, aired as a television movie on NBC on November 19, 1971. Peter Lawford and Harry Morgan had portrayed Ellery and Inspector McQueen, respectively, with E. G. Marshall and Stefanie Powers in co-starring roles, and Bill Zuckert as Sgt. Velie. However, Levinson and Link did not like the changes to the script made by producer Leonard Ackerman, and used the pseudonym “Ted Leighton” as the credited writer. NBC did not order a series from the pilot.