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Show intro for The Mystery of King Tut's Tomb

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is an American television drama, created by Glen A. Larson, based on The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novel series. It was produced by Joyce Brotman and Arlene Sidaris for Universal Television, and originally aired on the ABC Network for three seasons, between January 30, 1977 and January 14, 1979.

The series stared Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, and Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew, until she was replaced by Janet Louise Johnson after season two's 13th episode. Nancy Drew didn't appear in season three, and the series was renamed The Hardy Boys Mysteries.

In the first season, the Hardy boys and Nancy Drew appeared separately on alternating weeks, but the characters teamed-up regularly in season two, paving the way for long-line of crossovers between the characters in multimedia. For the third season Nancy Drew was dropped from the show, and the series went in a new direction, with Frank and Joe becoming professional investigators.[1]


Season one: 1977

Season one premiered on January 30, 1977, and concluded on May 22, 1977, after 14 episodes. The season alternated between title characters each week, so seven episodes focused on the Hardy boys, and the other seven focused on Nancy Drew. In the Hardy boys episodes, Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy stared as Frank and Joe, with Edmund Gilbert recurring as their father, Fenton, Edith Atwater as their aunt, Gertrude, and Lisa Eilbacher as Fenton's office assistant and love interest for Frank, Callie Shaw. In the Nancy Drew episodes, Pamela Sue Martin stared as Nancy Drew, with William Schallert recurring as her father, Carson, and George O'Hanlon Jr. as Nancy's friend Ned Nickerson.

List of season one episodes

# Title Director Writer(s) Airdate
01. "The Mystery of the Haunted House" Glen A. Larson Glen A. Larson January 30, 1977
02. "The Mystery of Pirate's Cove" E.W. Swackhamer Glen A. Larson February 6, 1977
03. "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" Ron Satlof Michael Sloan February 13, 1977
04. "The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle" Noel Black Robert Pirosh February 20, 1977
05. "The Disappearing Floor" Fernando Lamas Larry Alexander March 6, 1977
06. "The Secret of the Whispering Walls" Michael Caffey Joyce Brotman, Keith Walker March 13, 1977
07. "The Flickering Torch Mystery" Ivan Dixon James Henerson March 27, 1977
08. "A Haunting We Will Go" Jack Arnold Glen A. Larson, Michael Sloan April 3, 1977
09. "The Mystery of the Flying Courier" Michael Caffey Gregory S. Dinallo April 10, 1977
10. "The Mystery of the Fallen Angels" Noel Black Lou Shaw April 17, 1977
11. "Wipe Out" Steven Hilliard Stern B.W. Sandefur April 24, 1977
12. "The Mystery of the Ghostwriter's Cruise" Alvin Ganzer Michael Sloan, Susan Woollen May 1, 1977
13. "The Secret of the Jade Kwan Yin" Stuart Margolin Robert Pirosh May 15, 1977
14. "The Mystery of the Solid Gold Kicker" Andy Sidaris Lou Shaw May 22, 1977

Season two: 1977-1978

Season two premiered on September 11, 1977, and concluded on May 6, 1978, after 22 episodes. Frank and Joe meet Nancy Drew in the season premiere, and appear together throughout the rest season, for a total eight crossover episodes. The Hardys appear by themselves in 11 episodes, while Nancy appears by herself in only three. This is a departure from the season one format, where the title characters split the episodes evenly. Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy stared as Frank and Joe, with Edmund Gilbert recurring as Fenton, and William Schallert as Nancy's father. Pamela Sue Martin stared as Nancy Drew for the character's first seven appearances in the season, but was displeased with the character's reduced role in the season, and left the show after the season's 13th episode. Janet Louise Johnson replaced Martin, and debuted as Nancy Drew in episode 17, "Voodoo Doll, part one".

List of season two episodes

# Title Director Writer(s) Airdate
15. "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula, part one" September 11, 1977
16. "The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Meet Dracula, part two" September 18, 1977
17. "The Mystery of King Tut's Tomb" September 25, 1977
18. "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom, part one" October 2, 1977
19. "The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom, part two" October 9, 1977
20. "The Mystery of the African Safari" October 16, 1977
21. "The Creatures Who Came on Sunday" October 30, 1977
22. "The Strange Fate of Flight 608" November 6, 1977
23. "Acapulco Spies" November 13, 1977
24. "Nancy Drew's Love Match" November 20, 1977
25. "The Mystery of the Silent Scream" November 27, 1977
26. "Will the Real Santa Claus..?" December 18, 1977
27. "The Lady on Thursday at Ten" January 1, 1978
28. "Oh Say Can You Sing" January 8, 1978
29. "The House on Possessed Hill" January 22, 1978
30. "Sole Survivor" January 29, 1978
31. "Voodoo Doll, part one" February 12, 1978
32. "Voodoo Doll, part two" February 19, 1978
33. "Mystery of the Avalanche Express" February 26, 1978
34. "Death Surf" March 12, 1978
35. "Arson & Old Lace" March 31, 1978
36. "The Campus Terror" May 6, 1978

Season three: 1978-1979

Season three premiered on October 2, 1978, and concluded on January 14, 1979, after only 10 episodes. In the season premiere Joe's fiancée is killed by a drunk driver, and after they manage to prove the culprit's guilt, the Hardys are offered jobs by a government agency called the Justice Department. The Hardys accept and they work for the Department for the rest of the season, teaming-up with government agents Harry Gibbon and Harry Hammond along the way. Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy stared as Frank and Joe, with Edmund Gilbert recurring as Fenton, Phillip R. Allen as Gibbon, and Jack Kelly as Hammond. Nancy Drew didn't appear in any of this season's episodes, and the series was renamed The Hardy Boys Mysteries.

List of season three episodes

# Title Director Writer(s) Airdate
37. "The Last Kiss of Summer, part one" October 2, 1978
38. "The Last Kiss of Summer, part two" October 8, 1978
39. "Assault on the Tower" October 15, 1978
40. "Search for Atlantis" October 22, 1978
41. "Dangerous Waters" October 29, 1978
42. "Scorpion's Sting" November 5, 1978
43. "Defection to Paradise, part one" November 19, 1978
44. "Defection to Paradise, part two" November 26, 1978
45. "Game Plan" December 3, 1978
46. "Life on the Line" January 14, 1979

Home Video Releases

Laserdisc Releases

The pilot episode for the series and the Hardy Boys, The Mystery of the Haunted House, on Laserdisc under the Disco Vision moniker in 1979-1980. It appears as though this episode on Disco Vision went out of print in 1980, with no reissues on VHS, however, it has been reissued on DVD.

VHS & Betamax Releases

In 1985 MCA Universal released 8 of The Hardy Boys episodes- The Mystery of Witches Hollow, The Flickering Torch Mystery, The Mystery of The Flying Courier, Wipe Out, The Secret Of The Jade Kwan Yin, The Mystery of King Tut's Tomb, The Mystery of The African Safari & Acapulco Spies on VHS and Betamax. The Betamax releases went out of print in the late 1980's when the Betamax format was discontinued, while the VHS releases remained in print till around 2005 when the VHS format was discontinued. The VHS releases were recorded in SP 2-channel Hi-Fi Mono. All of these VHS releases have since been reissued on DVD. MCA Universal also released 8 of the Nancy Drew episodes- The Mystery of Pirate's Cove, The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle, The Secret of the Whispering Walls, A Haunting We Will Go, The Mystery of the Fallen Angels, The Mystery of the Ghostwriter's Cruise, The Mystery of the Solid Gold Kicker and Nancy Drew's Love Match. (All 7 of the Season 1 Nancy Drew episodes were released to video along with one of the few Nancy Drew solo episodes of Season 2.)

1987 saw the release of the 3rd season episode Search For Atlantis on VHS from Goodtimes Home Video. However this release was only on the market till around 1989 and is very difficult to locate, often commanding high prices on the used market. Goodtimes released this episode on SP 1-channel Mono VHS tape. So far there is no plan for this or any other 3rd season episode to be re-released on DVD. Goodtimes Home Video also released another of the Season 2 Nancy Drew episodes in 1987- The Lady on Thursday at Ten. All of the Nancy Drew episodes released on VHS have since been released on DVD. Hopefully the remaining 10 Season 3 Hardy Boys episodes will soon follow to DVD.

DVD and Blu-ray releases

The first season of the series was released on DVD by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on March 22, 2005. Almost two years later, on June 12, 2007, season two was released. On November 9, 2012, tvshowsondvd.com announced that Season 3 of the show would be hitting DVD in February 2013, courtesy of Shout! Factory. In 2008, Netflix made Season 3 available to watch through their subscription service.[2]

References

  1. Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Article[1]
  2. Netflix.com

External links

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