Dynamic Duos

hardygirl847 · March 18, 2010, 05:58:27 PM

Yeah I know the thread title is lame but hear me out.

Frank and Joe have either inspired a lot of duos in movies, tv, and books since their debut in the 20s or they have VERY similar dynamics to other characters (smart guy vs athletic/funny guy). I'm not saying that they originated this trend but I do see a lot of it in today's cast of characters.

One of my fave examples of this is Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural who have very similar Frank and Joe qualities. I could name a lot more but I thought I'd give you a chance first....

tomswift2002 · March 18, 2010, 06:03:42 PM

When I saw Dynamic Duos I thought you were talking about the reprinted poster that came with the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries Season 1 DVD.

SDLagent · March 18, 2010, 06:15:17 PM

...and the Dana Girls. I don't know what their personalties were like but I know they were based, in part, on both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. There's lots more, I'm sure, but I had the Dana Girls on the mind, today. Interesting topic.

MacGyver · March 18, 2010, 10:16:21 PM

Hey- maybe Bob Kane read some of The Hardy Boys when he created his famous Dynamic Duo!

(Because Batman and Robin is definitely who I was thinking of when I first saw this thread.)

But there's definitely other characters in a similar mode- as has been pointed out in other threads, Bo and Luke Duke of "The Dukes of Hazzard" seem to follow that model to some degree. Just today I was even thinking there was maybe a little bit of that with Jon and Ponch on "CHiPs" as well. (Though Jon would definitely fit the Frank role here and Ponch would be the Joe role- and yes, that would mean the hair colors would be off. lol)
Zack and Cody Martin on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and "The Suite Life on Deck" also remind me of The Hardy Boys somewhat.
Hey- how about A.J. and Rick Simon of "Simon & Simon"? That's definitely a Hardy Boys model- A.J. fits pretty well as the Frank type and Rick definitely fits well as the Joe type. And I'm pretty sure I could keep going with other TV examples.

tomswift2002 · March 19, 2010, 05:17:54 PM

I remember that in The Mysterious Case of Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys by Carole Kissmaric & Marvin Heiferman the authors covered a similar discussion. Aside from having interesting foreign covers and long-out-of-print 2nd and 3rd covers for G&D book, if you are looking for a history book on the Hardy Boys and the Stratemeyer Syndicate, then read Leslie McFarlane's Ghost Of The Hardy Boys.

SDLagent · March 19, 2010, 07:12:30 PM

The Secret of the Hardy Boys is pretty good, too, isn't it?

MacGyver · March 19, 2010, 11:24:12 PM

I've actually run across a copy of Leslie McFarlane's "Ghost of the Hardy Boys" and wow- it's kinda expensive. Maybe one day I can borrow it from a library somewhere...

tomswift2002 · March 21, 2010, 01:57:08 PM

Quote from: MacGyver on March 19, 2010, 11:24:12 PM
I've actually run across a copy of Leslie McFarlane's "Ghost of the Hardy Boys" and wow- it's kinda expensive. Maybe one day I can borrow it from a library somewhere...

As far as I know it hit the out-of-print lists around 1978. However portions of it were reprinted in 1991 at the beginning of the Applewood Facsimile editions of The Tower Treasure & The House On The Cliff.

hardygirl847 · March 21, 2010, 04:56:49 PM

Quote from: MacGyver on March 18, 2010, 10:16:21 PM
Hey- maybe Bob Kane read some of The Hardy Boys when he created his famous Dynamic Duo! (Because Batman and Robin is definitely who I was thinking of when I first saw this thread.)
But there's definitely other characters in a similar mode- as has been pointed out in other threads, Bo and Luke Duke of "The Dukes of Hazzard" seem to follow that model to some degree. Just today I was even thinking there was maybe a little bit of that with Jon and Ponch on "CHiPs" as well. (Though Jon would definitely fit the Frank role here and Ponch would be the Joe role- and yes, that would mean the hair colors would be off. lol)
Zack and Cody Martin on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and "The Suite Life on Deck" also remind me of The Hardy Boys somewhat.
Hey- how about A.J. and Rick Simon of "Simon & Simon"? That's definitely a Hardy Boys model- A.J. fits pretty well as the Frank type and Rick definitely fits well as the Joe type. And I'm pretty sure I could keep going with other TV examples.

Lol about Batman and Robin! I guess they are usually associated with the Dynamic Duo label.

I agree about Zack and Cody. Cody is very smart and knows a lot of things where as Zack is funny and more of a jock type. Cody is more like Frank, yes, but not always. He can be kind of criticizing of other people and I don't see Frank using his intelligence to put other people down like that. Plus, Cody has little to no athletic ability but Frank obviously does!

Other than that though...there are many similarities.

I definitely need to read the books about Leslie McFarlane etc. I just don't want it to "taint" my Hardy world...Sometimes knowing TOO much about something can take away the fantasy part of it.

SDLagent · March 22, 2010, 05:31:41 PM

Quote from: tomswift2002 on March 21, 2010, 01:57:08 PM
As far as I know it hit the out-of-print lists around 1978. However portions of it were reprinted in 1991 at the beginning of the Applewood Facsimile editions of The Tower Treasure & The House On The Cliff.

Yeah, that's a pretty cool expert. Imagine finding out your dad wrote The Hardy Boys.