The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries: Season 1

Season one of one of my favorite crime fighting duos, is finally on DVD. I wanted to let those who are interested, know that the DVDs aren't perfect. There are a few frames that are a little blurry, but then go right back to virtually perfect again on the next scene. Also, there is a little bit of back ground noise in a few of episodes. Heck, It might just be my player because I noticed it on Remington Steele too. I'd like to go through the episodes for you, at least the Hardy Boys ones, as those are the ones I've seen the most of. However, imperfections or no, it is still a great show to watch for Hardy fans, and I highly recommend.Here are the Seven Hardy Boy Episodes on the discs, and as far as I can see, there's no commentary or extras at all.The Mystery of the Haunted House - this is about my #3 episode on the disk. I really think the only reason they made this the first episode was so that Frank could mention that his dad, who on the show, never hardly ever solves a case, was in the New York Police Department fo over 20 years. But, it is just an episode where, for some reason, the boys are following their father, even though he is supposed to be on a fishing trip. The coolest thing about this episode is the Haunted House Disco they go to. I wish they had one of those around here:)The Mystery of Witches Hollow is about my favorite episode, and it is the 2nd Hardy Episode. It is the most like a HB Book, and I think was written based on The Clue of the Screeching Owl. The boys, Chet, and Callie go to Callie's uncle's house in Witches Hollow to investigate the strange things that have been happening there.The Disappearing Floor is the third HB episode on the disc, and very loosely based on an HB book, I think. I read a rebound edition of this one, as a kid, and I think that older version was an entirely different story than this is. I would rate this as about #4 or #5 of the six HB episodes on the disk...mainly because they just didn't have the CG for it back then.The Mystery of the Flickering Torch is next, and I find myself liking this one more every time I watch it. It still ranks close to #7 of the seven episodes though. It does have Ricky Nelson in it, and is very, very loosely based on one of the books. Don't worry, you can read the book and/or watch the video, and it isn't going to ruin the book or video for you. In this episode the boys are searching for a missing sound technician, who sets up the sound for Ricky Nelson. It is amazing in this one, how Frank comes up with the answer to the mystery just as Ricky is taking off on his plane for London. All of a sudden, Frank seems to have knowledge he didn't have before.Probably my 2nd favorite episode, probably because it debuts Joe as a singer, is the Mystery of the Flying Courier, where Frank spots a girl that his dad had searched for, and failed to find, three years earlier (another failure for Fenton, people should hire the boys), at a teen disco where Joe is singing. This is where the background story of Frank leaving every time Joe sings, begins. Though you'll notice, he stays for Joe's last song of the episode..the entire song. But I like the way the HB's handled this issue. I saw the same issue on Remington Steele, and liked the Hardy's version a lot more.The next episode is "Wipe Out", where Frank has saved for 18 months to go to Hawaii for the Pipeline Surfing Tournament, but while Frank is surfing, the boys' room is "wiped out" by crooks. So, to earn enough money to stay on the island, the boys go undercover to work for the police, to try and catch these guys. Guess what - they never fail:) I will put this episode at about #3 on my list of episodes during the first year.In the final episode, they finally dealt with orientals, which when I was a kid, seemed like they were in about every book. They must have gotten re-written out of most of the stories when they re-wrote the books in the 50's I think, or around 1960? Because, the books I read in the 60s had a lot of Chinese people in them. The name of the episode is The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin. In this one, the boys are helping Callie with a school project, getting something off the ocean floor - they don't really say what she's collecting or doing, or why she's dressed kind of funny. While helping Callie, a Chinese chest just about falls on one of them, on the ocean's floor. It's been dumped by someone on a boat. They take it home, find what is inside, and Callie says she can find where it came from, in China Town. So, they go to China town, Callie does find the item, and they ask the Chinese girl (later to be Miles O'Brien's wife in Star Trek) about it, and she sends them to her Uncle, who is supposed to know all about it. When her uncle meets the boys, he wants to speak with them in private, and the boys end up promising to bring the item to him. But, while the boys were in China Town, the two Chinese crooks, who were going to pick up the Oriental Box originally, break in to the Hardy's home and steal it. The boys give chase, but a van blocks their way. This is the one episode that the boys really don't solve, but end up winners in the end - one of the few times they don't solve the crime totally. I'd rate this one in the 4 or 5 range of the 7 HB episodes on the disk. It has one of my favorite parts, when the Chinese guy attacks the boys, and Joe moves a gong behind a curtain in the next room, and the Chinese guy goes through the curtains, and gets a heck of a headache!The first season was the best...I can only think of about 3 episodes that measure up in the 2nd season, and you can't even compare the 3rd season to the first. They made some strange choices after the first year, perhaps they were to help keep Nancy Drew alive, I don't know. But, they pretty much abandon Bayport in the rest of the series. You see about a minute of Bayport in the 2nd season. And, because of that, they write Callie out of the show, and I thought Callie was a valuable member of the show, and also wrote Chet out of the show...but he wasn't in it much - only two episodes, I think. And Witches Hollow is the episode that he spends the most time in, by far.What I don't understand, is why they don't ever film these shows the way they were originally portrayed in the book. I got a partial answer during an interview on youtube with Parker Stevenson (who I also thought had such a classy sounding name, only to find that his last name is really Parker, and his middle name was really Stevenson.) But, Parker said during the interview that they decided to do things, like write their own mysteries due to the constraints of television. You know, each episode is approximately 48 minutes long, and they have a commercial break approximately every 6 minutes. And, if you've noticed, on shows like this, they like to break for commercials on brief cliffhangers.Now he didn't explain why Lisa Eilbacher wasn't his favorite girl in the show, like she was in the books. I'm guessing it is because they wanted to have each story available for Frank to have a love interest. Frank and Joe didn't have girlfriends in every show, but, in probably 75% of them. The same goes for Joe, no steady girl - in fact no Iola at all. No wife for Fenton, even though Mrs. Hardy played a small part even in the books.But, IMO, the best season is the first, so don't miss it. A few of the episodes have titles either exactly like or similar to HB books. But, the only book that I could see that was quite a bit like an episode is "The Mystery of Witches Hollow", which is built on the story "The Clue of the Screeching Owl". Even if you've read the book, the episode is still worth watching. It is one of Chet's only two episodes in the entire show, and true to form, he's always eating something. Chet is also in the "Mystery of the Flying Courier", briefly. In his brief roles, he's actually pretty funny. So, those are the only characters from the books who are in the TV Show - Chet, Aunt Gertrude, Callie Shaw, the Hardy boys, and Fenton Hardy, Oh and Chief Colig, who is always grousing about something.. I don't know why Callie was removed from the series after season 1, I would have liked to have seen her go on through more of the rest of the show. But, I'm guessing she wasn't in the show much after the 1st season, because the show wasn't in Bayport hardly at all, after the first season.As Parker said, I'm not sure how close they came to emulating the actual Hardy Boys, but it was an enjoyable show, and a show you could watch with your kids.Also, in Season 1 is where they begin the myth that Frank doesn't want to hear Joe sing, and therefore runs off every time he sings. But, Frank is largely innocent, and circumstances cause him to have to miss Joe sing, more than anything else. And, he doesn't run off the last time Joe Sings in the Flying Courier.I haven't written about Nancy Drew, as I've only read about 4 of her books. So, I'm just not sure how well it matches up to the books. I know that Bess doesn't show up until season 2, and she's supposed to be blonde and slightly pudgy. But, IMO, Ruth Cox, who played Bess, was blonde and very attractive - certainly not pudgy. Joe ended up getting a smooch or two from her while they were trying to build a romance between ND and Frank. But, again I'll say, the stories in Season 1 of ND are probably the best, whether you've read ND or not. And, they eventually phase her out in season 2 - or she phases herself out. I'm just guessing her Season 1 ratings weren't nearly as good as the Boys. They also change George Fayne in the 2nd season, and I liked the first one. And, the first Ned was nothing like the real Ned. They change Ned for one episode, and replace him with Rick Springfield? (I think). Anyway, he was much more like Ned in the 2nd season. Plus, no housekeeper in the series. And, if you are an ND fan, make sure you watch the 3 or 4 old movies with Bonita Granville playing the part. They are really good!Anyway, don't miss this DVD, if your a fan. I you aren't a fan, then entertain yourself with something else, I guess.I think I liked the first season the most because it was the only season that was set predominantly in Bayport, or the Bayport area.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries DVD features 14 episodes in this 2-disc set. Seven Nancy Drew episodes are on one disc, while the seven Hardy Boys episodes are on the other.I've been a fan of the Nancy Drew books since I was a little girl. In fact, I read them all by the time I hit Junior High. I read a handful of the Hardy Boys books, as well.When this show hit TV, I wasn't able to watch it clearly. I lived in a rural area, and the station that was airing the episodes was very fuzzy. But I was oh-so-intrigued by the haunting theme song! As a fan of the books, I yearned to be able watch the TV show-and squinted my eyes to try to make out the dialogue and the action.I was delighted to find the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries on DVD, and purchased it from Amazon.com Surprisingly, I enjoy the Hardy Boys episodes *much* more than the Nancy Drew ones. In fact, the glaring discrepancies between the Nancy Drew books and the TV episodes are downright irritating. For example, in the books, Ned Nickerson is an athletic college student that Nancy dates when he's in town; Ned sometimes joins Nancy and her friends for sleuthing, but isn't in every book. Hannah Gruen, the beloved Drew housekeeper who serves as a mother figure to Nancy, makes an appearance in every book. Bess Marvin and George Fayne are two female cousins who accompany Nancy on her adventures.Yet, in the episodes on this DVD, Ned is now a shy, serious, bespectacled geek who works for Nancy's attorney father, Carson Drew. With way too much air-time, he's in every episode. Bess Marvin isn't in any episodes (in fact, she's never mentioned)-and fearless tomboy George, who is paired with Nancy (played by Pamela Sue Martin) in every episode-is a girly scaredy-cat. (In the books, Bess is actually the scaredy cat.) And housekeeper Hannah Gruen? Nowhere to be seen.The Hardy Boy episodes are a bit more faithful to the original books, with the fearful character Chet Morton making the occasional appearance. Aunt Gertrude, the stern but loving older sister of Fenton Hardy (the father), is also featured. Feeling the need to "balance" the Yin/Yang element (I suppose), there is another character added for the TV show: Callie Shaw, a young female assistant to private detective Fenton Hardy.On the DVD, each episode is 41 minutes long. There are no extras, save for a Parker Stevenson/Shaun Cassidy pin-up from Dynamite! Magazine. (Remember that one, gals?! Gosh, I had a huge crush on Shaun Cassidy, and was so jealous when my childhood friend got his lunch box AND album.) Another irritation is that the Hardy Boys DVD includes trashy previous of Miami Vice and other shows; I have to usher my 6 year old son out of the room or tell him to close his eyes! Sheesh.There are some goofs in the episodes, as well. For example, the Hardy boys will be driving a van at night, but then the camera pans to a scene of them driving in broad daylight...then back to a night shot! In the Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin, one close-up focuses on a jade statuette. In another close-up, the statue looks completely different...as if it were made of plastic. In Wipe-Out, the boys go undercover and cleverly hide jewelry in an ice tray. One shot shows the jewelry encased in ice, while another one (a few seconds later) shows them dumping a mass of dry jewelry out of a completely dry ice tray. Still, I was utterly delighted with most of the episodes, especially the Pilot and The House With the Disappearing Floors.Here are the 14 episodes and a short synopsis:HARDY BOYSDisc 1 Side A1. The Mystery of the Haunted House (Pilot) - In this pilot episode, Joe and Frank Hardy (played by Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson) find themselves involved with an amnesiac ex-soldier and the many people who are out to get him. The chase takes them to a club called The Haunted House, where they find mazes, mirrored rooms, trapdoors-and a killer.2. The Mystery of Witches' Hollow - When the brothers travel to visit a family friend, a strange woman claims the man has disappeared and is the latest victim of the mysterious forest known as Witches' Hollow. The brothers are in for the fright of their lives as they try to rescue the man from the eerie shadows of a place said to be haunted.3. The Disappearing Floor - This sci-fi adventure finds the boys doing research work for their P.I. father, which leads them into a case involving a mystifying house, a missing Russian scientist and a UFO. Even in another dimension, Joe and Frank must crack the case-or else.4. The Flickering Torch Mystery - While doing routine investigation for their detective father, Joe and Frank uncover a part to murder a famous pop star. When the singer's sound engineer suddenly disappears, the young detectives become body guards in a race against the clock to save two lives. (Ricky Nelson guest stars as Tony Eagle)Disc 2 Side B5. The Mystery of the Flying Courier - Joe's singing debut hits a sour note when Frank recognizes a girl at the club who's been missing for years. What begins as a record piracy case leads a motley crew of shady music industry personalities-and maybe even murder.6. Wipe-Out - When the brothers hit the beaches of Hawaii for a surfing contest, they find themselves victims in an outbreak of hotel robberies. The two join forces with local police and everyone's in for a surprise when the duo finally uncovers the truth. (Shaun Cassidy sings "Surfin' USA" in this episode)7. The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin - While snorkeling, Frank and Joe discover a wooden box containing a priceless-and stolen-Chinese treasure. What starts out as just another day at the beach leads into a dangerous smuggling ring where their lives are on the line.NANCY DREWDisc 1 Side A8. The Mystery of Pirate's Cove (Pilot) - In the pilot episode, Nancy investigates a mysterious beam of light coming from a supposedly haunted lighthouse. When a "ghost hunter" and a curious professor try to stop her clue gathering, it's up to Nancy to throw a little light on the crime surrounding the desolate place.9. The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle - Nancy witnesses an accident from a sail plane that ends with a car plunging into a ravine, but when she reports the tragedy to the sheriff, no one believes her since there's no evidence and the road has been closed for years. Nancy investigates, driven to find the secret to the missing accident scene.10. The Secret of the Whispering Walls - Terror strikes close to home when a thief steals important documents from Nancy's aging aunts. But when does some sleuthing, a series of strange events-and even stranger neighbors-reveal that there may be even more danger lurking around the corner.11. A Haunting We Will Go - The stage is set for mystery when Nancy and her friends decide to launch a 20 year old play for charity at the allegedly haunted Palace Theatre. Surprisingly, all the original cast members volunteer for the production, but when tragedy strikes backstage, it's up to Nancy to read between the lines.Disc 2 Side B12. Mystery of the Fallen Angels - A case of missing jewels leads Nancy to a rebellious biker gang. In order to crack this case, she's going to have to go undercover for the ride of her life. (Guest stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Robert Englund a.k.a. Freddy Krueger)13. A luxury cruise gets turbulent when a world-famous mystery writer and his daughter are attacked on-board. With trouble mounting on the high seas, it's up to Nancy and George to stay one step ahead of the mystery assailant.14. Mystery of the Sold Gold Kicker - There's danger on the playing field when a start quarterback (guest star Mark Harmon) is accused of murder. Now Nancy must kick-off an investigation of the crime before Chip is benched for good.Too bad this DVD set doesn't include interviews with Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson, and Pamela Sue Martin-or, at least, a documentary about the amazing popularity of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mystery books.If the Nancy Drew episodes were as good as the Hardy Boys, I'd give this DVD series 4 stars. But with the cheesy acting of the Nancy Drew episodes and departure from the book characterizations-as well as the lack of extras-I must award this DVD series only 3 stars.

I absolutely love the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries. I would highly recommend buying and watching with your kids. Complete innocence. My 13 year old loves it! She thinks Shawn Cassidy is awesome! I would love if there was a show like this on today. I own the 2nd season in this series and it's my favorite. I would recommend. The only thing I don't like about the discs is the box nor the disc offer a list of the episodes. You have to put the disc in to see what's on it.

I got my movie on time. It wasn't damaged or anything like that and and the viewing of it was really good compared to trying to watch it on YouTube

I had to wait for season 1 because of a shortage of stock. By the time I managed to get a copy I received the repackaged latest incarnation. After having received the original packaged season 2 I was a tad disappointed that there is no continuity in terms of the box. The latest version is a regular amaray plastic 4 disc set. There are no extras - as per season 2.All the episodes are there however so I'm glad I bought it all the same. Had the same problem with the new vs older packaging with 'Miami Vice' the series. It's also worth noting that the rights to season 3 of The Hardy Boys belong to 'The ShoutFactory' and they have no intention of releasing that season 3 in region2 for Europe. Shame...

I thought there would be more of Nancy, she's much better than the Hardy Boys! It's extremely dated but in an amusing way. I think they should have made some of the more well-known stories that were actually mysteries instead of quite boring every-day 'detecting'

There are four disks in this set - two Nancy Drew and two Hardy Boys. They are obviously dated but I will enjoyed watching them, in particular Parker Stevenson! Could have well done without Shaun Cassidy trying to imitate his brother in singing though! Give me David any day!All in all a nice trip down memory lane.

My sister and I read all the Hardy Boys book A as kids and it was great to be able to get a dvd. The quality was great.

I love this series to much! The acting is really good, and it is great to hear Shaun Cassidy sing occasionally! Pamela Sue Martin is good as Nancy Drew, but plays her very differently to Emma Roberts. This is an amazing series, definitely worth the money!