April 22, 2001, on A&E. The cast includes: Timothy Hutton (Archie Goodwin) Maury Chaykin (Nero Wolfe) Debra Monk (Rachel Bruner) Francie Swift (Sarah Dacos) Colin Fox (Fritz Brenner) Saul Rubinek (Lon Cohen) Conrad Dunn (Saul Panzer) Fulvio Cecere (Fred Durkin) Trent McMullen (Orrie Cather) Bill Smitrovich (Inspector Cramer) R. D. Reid (Sergeant Purley Stebbins) James Tolkan (Richard Wragg) Nicky Guadagni (Ivana Althaus) "The Doorbell Rang" was filmed in Toronto, with select Manhattan exteriors. Composer Michael Small wrote the jazzy score, including the title music and series theme, "Boss Boogie". The soundtrack also includes music by Ib Glindemann, Alan Moorhouse, Bill Novick and Paul Lenart, and Giuseppe Verdi. In North America, A Nero Wolfe Mystery is available on Region 1 DVD from A&E Home Video (). "The Doorbell Rang" is one of the Nero Wolfe episodes released on Region 4 DVD in Australia in 2008, under license by FremantleMedia Enterprises. In 2009 the film was released on Region 2 DVD in the Netherlands, by Just Entertainment. All of these DVD releases present "The Doorbell Rang" in 4:3 pan and scan rather than its 16:9 aspect ratio for widescreen viewing. The adaptation follows the novel faithfully with the only major change being moving the story to the show's 1950s setting as opposed to the 1960s. Nero Wolfe (Paramount Television) In 1977, Thayer David filmed and starred in Nero Wolfe, a Paramount Television production based on the novel The Doorbell Rang. Written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy, the film costarred Tom Mason (Archie Goodwin), Brooke Adams (Sarah Dacos), Biff McGuire (Inspector Cramer), John Randolph (Lon Cohen), Anne Baxter (Mrs. Bruner), David Hurst (Fritz Brenner), John O'Leary (Theodore Horstmann) and Sarah Cunningham (Mrs. Althaus). Intended as the pilot for a TV series, the made-for-TV movie was shelved due to Thayer David's death in July 1978. Nero Wolfe was finally broadcast December 18–19, 1979, as an ABC TV late show. A year later, Paramount produced Nero Wolfe, a weekly series that ran January 16 – August 25, 1981, on NBC TV. The second episode, "Death on the Doorstep", was an original story by Stephen Downing that also incorporated elements of the novel The Doorbell Rang. William Conrad and Lee Horsley star as Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Other members of the cast include George Voskovec (Fritz Brenner), Robert Coote (Theodore Horstmann), George Wyner (Saul Panzer) and Allan Miller (Inspector Cramer). Directed by George McCowan,