Stout despised film and never authorized any cinematic or televised versions of Nero Wolfe.

For a television series, there was a two-hour pilot episode, loosely based on The Doorbell Rang, starring Thayer David as Nero Wolfe and Tom Mason as Archie Goodwin. Written and directed by Frank Gilroy, it was shown on ABC on December 18, 1979. The series eventually ran for one season on NBC: thirteen episodes, January 16, 1981 to August 25, 1981, with William Conrad as Wolfe and Lee Horsley as Archie.