Pet Peeves about HB

[hardygirl847]

When reading the various series of Hardy Boys, do you have your own pet peeves about how Frank and Joe are characterized, plots, villains, or anything else?

This can include fanfiction as well.

Personally, one of my pet peeves is when people say Frank's full name is Francis. That only happens once in awhile in fanfic but it still bugs me.

[Bigfootman]

Lack Of Action: The main reason why I hate the recent UBs.

OC only chapters (OC means original characters): This happens a lot in fanfics. When I read a HB fanfic I want to see Frank and Joe, not just some random dude who appears out of nowhere, and I certainly do NOT want to be reading WHOLE chapters with only OCs in them, with no Frank and Joe ! This is the HARDY BOYS not THE RANDOM OCs WHO APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE! It's fine to have OCs with major parts, just please have Frank and Joe there!

The other type of this, which happens in the later casefiles (Deadman In Deadwood and Shock Jock come to mind) , is when Frank and Joe are in every scene, but the reader is forced to read through tons of boring dialoge (that has NOTHING to do with the case!) between an OC and another OC both of whom will never appear again, meanwhile Frank and Joe are just sitting there, instead of doing something important! Then the plot comes to a grinding halt!

[hardygirl847]

Thanks for the post and I agree!

[Jokerette]

Thanks for the post and I agree!

ditto for the thanks part, unditto for the agree part! i mean, i do agree with the fanfic thing (that is so darned annoying! ), and i think those convos were boooring! (yawn! ) but i do not agree with the UB part.

as for me, i really hate the fact that Iola died in the first casefile book. and i kinda wish that in the UBs, the writers would specify the their ages.

[SDLagent]

Why do you hate that Iola died? That's what made the series great. As my cousin said, "When Joe's girlfriend died it took The Hardy Boys to a whole new level of awesomeness."

[Jokerette]

Why do you hate that Iola died? That's what made the series great. As my cousin said, "When Joe's girlfriend died it took The Hardy Boys to a whole new level of awesomeness."

oh please! so if you were a totally rad detective and your girlfriend died, you would say it was awesome?! and besides, if i wanted to read about the death of people i have grown to care for, i might as well read gravestones!

[hardygirl847]

I don't think that Iola dying was awesome but I think it added a new layer to HBs and Joe's character. He definitely did NOT think it was awesome BUT the way his character develops and evolves makes for an even better series. The Casefiles would have been very different had Callie died and Frank had changed....And Iola was a catalyst for SO much!

So yes...I think it stinks that someone had to die (especially if you liked that character). It did make for some interesting reading and perpetuate a lot that happens in the Casefiles as well as Joe's change in personality.

[Jokerette]

oh, i saw some changes alright. and they weren't good! 

[Bigfootman]

oh please! so if you were a totally rad detective and your girlfriend died, you would say it was awesome?! and besides, if i wanted to read about the death of people i have grown to care for, i might as well read gravestones!

It's better then being TOTALY REMOVED from a series (UBs) for NO REASON! Ioa just dissapeared from the UBs never to return again! In fact, most of the Hardy's freinds are missing from the (UBs)! Even Chet Mortion rarly appears! Murder In The Mall was the last time I saw ANY trace of Ioa in the UBS!  At least we knew what happened to Ioa is the Casefiles! In the UBs she's just GONE, we don't know why! If I wanted to see people dissapear for good, I'd sail to the burmuda triangle!!!!

[hardygirl847]

lol about the Bermuda Triangle. I wonder if some characters are absent because the writers didn't feel like "dealing with them"? I am all for a 100% Frank and Joe story but that's not realistic. Frank and Joe have friends and a family. Therefore they are a part of the story/their lives regardless. To me, leaving them out actually makes it less believable.

[Bigfootman]

Here's some more:
Canadian People according to the Hardy Boys Series: Almost everytime the Hardy Boys go to Canada it's:
A big forest!
or/ and
Full of people with french accents, with very few english speaking people.
The only exception is Countdown To Terror, which took place in Nova Scotia and had very little forest, and had tons of english specking people.

Animal Attacks: In real life most animals are shy of humans and will normaly leave you alone. In the Hardy Boys almost all animals are monsters, determined to kill Frank and Joe, they even got attacked by a PENGUIN once (Stone Idol)!

Bad guy gives up without a fight: Mystery Of Cabin Island, Day Of The Dinosaur, and Toxic Revenge are very good examples of this. The bad guys surenders when the Hardy Boys enter the room he's in, and the reader bangs their head against a wall, wondering why they even read the book!

The bad guy gets defeated in two sentances: This happens in the UBs, the later casefiles, and in a ton of fan fics. The bad guy theatens the Hardys then gets a punch to the face and is knocked out.

[hardygirl847]

Bad guy gives up without a fight: Mystery Of Cabin Island, Day Of The Dinosaur, and Toxic Revenge are very good examples of this. The bad guys surenders when the Hardy Boys enter the room he's in, and the reader bangs their head against a wall, wondering why they even read the book!

The bad guy gets defeated in two sentances: This happens in the UBs, the later casefiles, and in a ton of fan fics. The bad guy theatens the Hardys then gets a punch to the face and is knocked out.

LOL about Canada and the animal attacks. I haven't read the one with the penguin but that's too funny!!

However...the bad guy thing bugs me too. Here we have 2 (yes exceptional) teenagers against big brute type guys who suck at their jobs!! Sometimes they get whacked in the head or something bad happens because their opponent has a small ounce of brains...BUT there are a lot of times where the thugs are like "OH NO! IT'S THE HARDYS! RUN!" It's comical really. The fact that they get overpowered so easily or surrender with little resistance!

To me, the 1970s show is the most guilty of this!! 43 minutes of mystery and clues and 2 min. wrap up of the bad guys getting caught. Um....yeah....very realistic. I still love the show to pieces..especially Parker Stevenson. However, they could have had a villain that made them work a little hard!

Frank and Joe are not normal teenagers and I realize this. However, they are not superhuman because they are "everyday heroes". Sometimes they have a hard time but most of the time...everything miraculously works out easily and in their favor.

In addition to bad guys, they get away from kidnappers and being tied up a little too easily too! Don't these villains know they should HANDCUFF them and not leave them in the SAME room and close enough to untie each other's ropes?!

Check out this one-shot fan fic that is hilarious! It fits nicely with this current thread...

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5394569/1/Another_Evil_Overlord

here's a little snippet...

From his own past experience, Frank knew it was a tiring effort and he didn?t doubt the lingering chloroform was affecting his sibling. Still, he knew not to move until Joe stopped. It scared him how good they were actually getting at this.

[Bigfootman]

Here's some more:
Letdown Ending: Happens in Brother Against Brother. The reader is excited to see what happens at the end, but is shocked when the ending turns out to just be lame joke and nothing else.
Missing Characters: In the UBs, and the Bluespines, characters vannish for no reason...never to reappear again.

here's the "list" that fanfic was based off of: http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

[hardygirl847]

OK well I love Brother Against Brother so I disagree to some extent. The ending could have been a little more...sure...but I still love that one!

Thanks for posting the link for the overlord site. I forgot to add it in my other post. Oops!

[Jokerette]

gee, why doesn't skywarp just rename this topic "Group of Networkers Gathering to Bash the UB's"? oh, and before you say it, yes, i am aware that you mentioned the later casefiles as well. it was just more UB bashing.

(ha! in yo face, d. dan! no angry faces here!)