The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Nancy Drew Mysteries Season 1 DVD Review:

Based on the incredibly popular book series, which were created by Edward Stratemeyer under pen names, The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Nancy Drew Mysteries began in 1977 as separate series alternating in the same time slot on ABC. The Season One boxed set captures the twin-series idea at its most ambitious, with adolescent brothers Frank and Joe Hardy sleuthing for clues one week and Carolyn Keene's Nancy Drew investigating crimes the next. Both of the shows followed stories taken from the books themselves, and fans of the series may enjoy watching them played out in each episode.

The Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe played by Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy, is entertaining for the mystery actually involved in the stories. Some of the episodes are sincerely suspenseful, and although many elements of the show are dated, it is easy to get caught up in the mystery and forget. Joe and Frank take after their father, and ex-cop now turned into private detective. Frank and Joe have a knack for sleuthing, even allowing time for Joe to work in a singing career as well. Although it seems a bit hokey watching them ride around on their scooters, or worse yet is the Scooby-Doo van, the show has stories that can be easily watched.

In many of the ways that The Hardy Boys works The Nancy Drew Mysteries doesn’t seem to work as well. Although the Frank and Joe are a bit goofy to watch, their simplicity makes it easy to focus on the mysteries. Nancy, played by Pamela Sue Martin, is such a confused and often man crazed character that it is hard not to be distracted. I often found myself more irritated with the liberated woman who could solve a mystery better than any man that I just didn’t care about the mystery at all. On top of it all the stories weren’t as interesting as the ones thought up for The Hardy Boys either. The one good thing to be said about The Nancy Drew Mysteries is the supporting characters, all of which are intensely more fun to watch than Nancy. There is so much being packed into less than an hour of television that the main character can’t afford to be so confusing. This may be the only instance that I wished a character was more one-dimensional. There is a hokey feeling about the episodes anyways and it would work better to just stay consistent.

The two shows are put together in a box set with a double-sided DVD for each show. The box art looks fitting for what the shows include, and to add to the feeling even more, a poster of The Hardy Boys is included in the package, although I highly doubt to see it being put up in many dorm rooms. Aside from the poster there are no special features to speak of, but it isn’t really expected with a show as brief as this one was. The menus are plain, as much of the DVD seems to be as well.



Ryan Izay