The Hardy Boys on TV and Film VS Books

[hardygirl847]

When I was a teen I would have disliked the 70s show but I found some episodes on youtube and I LOVE THEM. Of course I am older and am crushing on Parker Stevenson! lol

How do you feel about the television series?

I haven't seen the 1995 version in a long time and I mean to watch them eventually.

Do you feel Frank and Joe are represented correctly?

For those of you who are aware they are attempting to make a movie called The Hardy Men...how do you think this will affect the books?

I don't think the characters will be portrayed properly and it have a negative affect on the old and new books.

Personally, I think the 70s show was good. The 1995 story lacked substance. The movie should NOT be made! Tom Cruise And Ben Stiller aren't even tall enough to play Frank and Joe!! Plus, I would rather see them in a Casefile type of story than being older and barely brothers...

I vote for books because I see them as 18 and 17 just like in the Casefiles. Plus I don't think a casting crew would do a good job of getting their looks etc right. 

I know there are several different questions but...What do YOU think?

[tomswift2002]

You realize that Seasons 1 & 2 of the 1977 Universal show are available on DVD from Universal (Season 1 was released in 2005, Season 2 followed in 2007). 

The 1995 Nelvana show is also available on DVD---but only in Canada, so for many Americans they've had to order it from Amazon.ca, but it will still play in American players because the US and Canada are both Region 1 NTSC countries.  It was released in 2006, and in this series the Hardy Boys are 22 (Frank) and 20 (Joe).

2006 also saw the release of the 1956 Mickey Mouse Club serial The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of The Applegate Treasure on DVD in the form of a "Walt Disney Treasure" release with a limit of only 65,000 copies.

As for the movie...that has been floating around the internet since 2000 with the "news" never gettting much beyond the fact that they are in early pre-production and the script writing stage. 

I think the "premise" of the movie is very interesting, although I would think that by now the rights to a movie based on the Hardy Boys would've reverted back to Simon & Schuster, CBS and Paramount Pictures.  (CBS and Paramount Pictures would be the more natural option for a movie based on the series to emerge from, considering that CBS owns Simon & Schuster, and Paramount is owned by Viacom, and both Viacom and CBS's parent company is National Amusements.)

[hardygirl847]

Thanks for the information. I do know that the DVDs can be purchased but youtube is how I found them and it is free.

I didn't know about the Mickey Mouse Club DVD but it just goes to show how long they boys have been around.

The premise for the movie might be interesting but I personally don't think it will be done correctly. I would rather have the boys portrayed how most of us see them instead of two actors that seem nothing like them. Yes, it can be argued that they could act like them. To me, they just don't fit the bill. If the speculation has been around since 2000, then perhaps it will not happen. Nine years is a long time.

Either way, I still prefer the Casefiles. They will continue to be my favorite.

Thanks for responding!

[MacGyver]

I've seen the Mickey Mouse Club serial, "The Mystery of The Applegate Treasure" and that was a pretty good representation of The Hardy Boys. I'd still love to see the other one, "The Mystery of Ghost Farm" get released on DVD. I've thoroughly enjoyed Seasons 1 and 2 of "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" on DVD and I seriously want to see Season 3 released so I can finish watching the series. I also have the entire 1995 series of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and I've enjoyed both of those series. Yes, the half hour format makes it hard to cram in a really good storyline, but you can say the same of the graphic novels. I still enjoy them all. I think it makes you stay on your toes and think that much more to keep up with what's going on. For that matter, I've also seen the 1930s Nancy Drew movies and the 2007 Nancy Drew movie and really enjoyed all of them. I'd love to track down The Hardy Boys pilot episode from 1967, "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" and check that out some time, not to mention the 1969 cartoon series of "The Hardy Boys". 
I actually just recently acquired a copy of one of the comic book issues based on the cartoon, so I'm interested to see check that out. It would be great for Filmation to release the cartoon on DVD someday.
      I have heard about the movie and I think it could be funny and pretty good if done well and if respect was maintained for The Hardy Boys so as not to tarnish their reputation. I think just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek humor like the 2007 Nancy Drew movie had would work fine. I like Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise in a number of movies and I really think they could pull it off if they wanted to. Probably the best thing that would come out of that is not even so much the movie itself, but it might give Universal the impetus to hurry up and release Season 3 of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries already. And maybe Disney would release "The Mystery of Ghost Farm" too, for that matter.
        As far as any of these TV productions having any closeness to the books... well, "The Mystery of The Applegate Treasure" was based on The Hardy Boys #1 "The Tower Treasure". (Though based on the original version, of course.) I'm not sure how true it was to the book since I haven't read the original version myself just yet, but it seems to be very well loved by older Hardy fans particularly and from what I can tell, seems to be fairly faithful. I enjoyed it at any rate. I would have to see this 1967 pilot "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" myself to know if it's true to the book, but it is definitely based on The Hardy Boys #34.
     

[MacGyver]

I meant #39 there of course.

As for the 1969 cartoon series of The Hardy Boys, almost all of them had episode titles from the books, but I don't know how true they were to the books. You can see the titles here.

http://www.tv.com/the-hardy-boys-1969/show/28228/episode.html?tag=ep_guide;paginator;1&season=1

Also, the 1995 series of The Hardy Boys had an episode called "The Last Laugh" but it didn't really have anything to do with The Hardy Boys Casefiles #42 "The Last Laugh".

[MacGyver]

The first episode of the 1969 cartoon series of The Hardy Boys seemed to be an origin episode of sorts, wherein they solve their first case (and it's a two-parter at that), so it may be based on "The Tower Treasure", but I can't say that for sure. I'd love to see the show to confirm this if it ever got released to DVD.
      Also on the 1970s The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries show, a few episodes had the same name as books, but I don't know that they were that close to the books beyond maybe a few vague similarities- "The Disappearing Floor" and "The Flickering Torch Mystery". However, "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" was definitely based on #41 "The Clue of the Screeching Owl" and did a great job bringing that book to life on the TV screen. Also, "The Secret of the Whispering Walls" seems to be based on 2 Nancy Drew books- #2 "The Hidden Staircase" and #6 "The Secret of Red Gate Farm".
        The 1930s Nancy Drew movies also had 2 based on books. "Nancy Drew, Detective" was based on #10 "The Password to Larkspur Lane" and "Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase" was of course based on #2 "The Hidden Staircase".
There was also a 2002 Nancy Drew TV-movie from ABC (intended as a pilot for a TV series that didn't happen), but it wasn't necessarily based on any books that I can tell. But I enjoyed it pretty well.

[MacGyver]

Okay, just remembered one other thing I was going to mention. The 1970s show also had an episode centered on The Hardy Boys called "Scorpion's Sting", but I am unsure if this had anything to do with #58 in the original series, "The Sting of the Scorpion".

[tomswift2002]

I'd love to track down The Hardy Boys pilot episode from 1967, "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" and check that out some time, not to mention the 1969 cartoon series of "The Hardy Boys". 
I actually just recently acquired a copy of one of the comic book issues based on the cartoon, so I'm interested to see check that out. It would be great for Filmation to release the cartoon on DVD someday.

With the 1960 pilot  it might be better to see if whoever owns the film negatives to the show would go in for a manufacture-on-demand release, just like Warner Brothers recently did with 2 Gene Roddenberry pilots from the 1970's (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Andromeda-Genesis-II-Planet_Earth/12760) that were never picked up for a series, rather than getting a release in stores.  Of course, from what I've heard for MOD releases the studio's only have the US or country of origin rights.

As for the Filmation cartoon that aired from 1969-1971, because Filmation doesn't exist anymore, their library of TV shows and films has been divided up between number of studio's and companies.  Unfortunately no one knows who owns the rights to The Hardy Boys cartoon.  It is assumed that Simon & Schuster, and because they are owned by the same company, CBS own the series, whoever neither S&S or CBS have confirmed that, plus it appears that in the 1980's, the last time that people have been able to find any sort of distribution agreement for the show, 20th Century Fox had the rights to distribute the show on TV and on home video. 

        As far as any of these TV productions having any closeness to the books... well, "The Mystery of The Applegate Treasure" was based on The Hardy Boys #1 "The Tower Treasure". (Though based on the original version, of course.) I'm not sure how true it was to the book since I haven't read the original version myself just yet, but it seems to be very well loved by older Hardy fans particularly and from what I can tell, seems to be fairly faithful.

I've seen the Disney adaptation of The Tower Treasure, and aside from Mr. Applegate being called a different name (the character of Adelia Applegate was completely removed), and Iola having a far greater role in the serial than she did in the book; Perry Robinson is an orphan, and Aunt Gertrude replaces Laura Hardy.

[MacGyver]

I actually just recently acquired a copy of one of the comic book issues based on the cartoon, so I'm interested to see check that out. It would be great for Filmation to release the cartoon on DVD someday.

Well, after having read this comic just the other day (#3 of 4, by the way), it seems that this issue and I'm guessing probably all the issues, contains 2 stories- one was based on the cartoon episode "The Secret of Wildcat Swamp" (which, from what I recall of the book, actually did more or less follow the revised version) and then there was another story that was original- "The Mystery of the Headless Horseman". If the cartoon ran about like the comic book issues did, and from what bits of it I've seen on Youtube, The Hardy Boys cartoon honestly doesn't seem all that bad to me. I've seen some on the Internet really rag on it a good bit, but I think I'd probably enjoy it pretty well. In any case, I still want to see it sometime.

[tomswift2002]

If the cartoon ran about like the comic book issues did, and from what bits of it I've seen on Youtube, The Hardy Boys cartoon honestly doesn't seem all that bad to me. I've seen some on the Internet really rag on it a good bit, but I think I'd probably enjoy it pretty well. In any case, I still want to see it sometime.

The only thing that I've heard about the cartoon is that the books that were adapted into the show were highly compressed into segments that were only about 10 minutes in length inorder to show 2 episodes per half-hour plus have a song in the middle of the show.

But I do know that some episodes were released in the 1970's on 16mm film for the home market by Castle Films.

[MacGyver]

But I do know that some episodes were released in the 1970's on 16mm film for the home market by Castle Films.

Cool- good to know. Too bad I don't have access to a 16mm projector anymore. But I do remember watching film through them at church when I was younger. Nowadays we have DVDs and online videos and things like that- and even VHS tapes at church.
         Ah- for the good ol' days of 16mm projectors and Beta tapes. 
Well, maybe this will come to DVD one of these days. Does anyone on here maybe have some episodes on VHS, DVD, mpeg, avi, etc?

[Olivia]

The one thing that stood out to me about the 70's series was how much (for lack of a better term) "softer" Joe was portrayed. As some of you have mentioned, he didn't seem as impulsive and so on. It worked and I'm glad, because straying from an original concept is just not good many times. Anyways, I don't know if I could picture Shaun Cassidy hotheaded all the time

I enjoy the 70's series very much. I like the simplicity of its time. There's no excess - the characters just shine through. And humour was brought in at the right moments.

As for the 90's series, I think it would have fared better being an hour series instead of half an hour. Although it was different, I don't think it even came close to bringing disgrace to the Hardy name...like The Hardy Men undoubtedly will. (I know I'm pre-judging, but there are certain things for me that I think shouldn't be "touched" in a certain way, and this is one I feel strongly about).

There are a couple of threads from months ago where I go more into detail about my feelings about this possible movie

[MacGyver]

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but someone now has a complete episode of The Hardy Boys cartoon on Youtube! (I'll post the exact link later.) The whole cartoon episode is 30 minutes long and broken down just as tomswift2002 described it earlier- an adaptation of one of the first 58 books that runs about 10 minutes and then a song and then another 10 minute book adaptation. I don't know that all 58 books were ever adapted, but it seems they did quite a few on the show. The one episode I've found on Youtube seems to be "The Mystery at Devil's Paw" and I'm not sure which book is being adapted for the second half. It seems like it might be "The Haunted Fort" maybe- but I really couldn't quite tell.
But it was neat to finally watch a full episode of the series. I enjoy it well enough. But wow- if you thought the '90s live action Hardy Boys show had really compact mysteries- try keeping up with the cartoon! I think if they had tried to follow the Scooby-Doo model and had at least a half hour to focus on just one mystery- that would probably be much better for pacing and to help the storyline flow. But I guess it is a different approach though- so you don't just lump it in with Scooby-Doo and various other similar shows. Thus far, it's still the most adaptations of any of The Hardy Boys books we've had produced anywhere. There's the 1967 live action pilot for "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" and of course, Disney's version of "The Tower Treasure" with "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" on The Mickey Mouse Club. The '90s didn't really adapt any of the books and only "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" on the '70s show can really be called an adaptation of "The Clue of The Screeching Owl".  The other episodes that used the names of the books didn't really follow the storylines.
      But for the cartoon series- wow, there's tons of super condensed versions of the books to enjoy with this series- and I do like that. And the music and clothes and lingo are all totally groovy! I would still love to see this whole series out on DVD.

Okay- and apparently there's also this production for The Hardy Boys, which I'm guessing is strictly fanmade- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1594997/
Check out the comments for the Hardy Boys cartoon show on IMDB.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264255/usercomments
One of them is particularly interesting to me, as a user seems to indicate that "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk" pilot was actually briefly continued as a series in 1967. Here's a quote-
"
Often forgotten was another adaption of The Hardy Boys that aired also in prime-time and also was short-lived that ran on NBC from September 8,1967 until November 29,1967. That version had Rick Gates and Tim Matheson in the leads."
Can anyone confirm this? Were there more episodes aired beyond that pilot? I don't know where the IMDB poster got this information, but it is certainly interesting.

[MacGyver]

And like Columbo, there's just one more thing.
I just saw this on the IMDB page for "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk". Apparently a fan is working to make it available to other fans on DVD! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202490/synopsis

[MacGyver]

Here's that link to "The Mystery at Devil's Paw" episode of The Hardy Boys cartoon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqx-47e0xqU