1995 Series

[hardygirl847]

BEST quote from that series...

"If this guy's a diplomat, then I'm Parker Stevenson."-Frank Hardy (played by Colin Gray) in "Love Birds"

I just watched this series and it was like it was new to me. I didn't really remember it at all. I have to say that I laughed quite a bit because some of it was just comical. Including Frank's goatee. LOL He called it "an experiment".  The following comments are observations/thoughts I had while watching the shows...

Joe's many girls in the first few episodes was a little over the top. He's not THAT bad. But they did smooth that part of his personality out a little by giving him a girlfriend.

Frank flirted with an office romance. I thought she looked way too old for him. He had a girlfriend for 1 episode. Guess it didn't work out.

Don't even get me started on Nancy Drew.

There was SOME small amount of violence/action but not consistently. I assume it was due to liable issues and a low budget.

Frank being a reporter and Joe being jobless or sometimes a photographer/computer whiz was okay. I don't see them doing that as their main careers though and investigating a side hobby. Parts of this was the reverse of the books.

They were definitely older in this series...at least 21 and 22. Physically they didn't really match, but neither did Shaun or Parker.

Colin and Paul did grow on me, but I feel that the 70s show portrayed them better...and closer to the book characters.

Part of the plot issues and lack of action, etc is partially due to the show being 21 minutes. An hour might have been better for the show.

Since Nelvana had the rights 15 yrs ago, and this is what they did with it....I'm a little concerned about what direction they will go in now that they realize they still have the rights.

As the saying goes...only time will tell.

[MacGyver]

I guess we can safely assume a new Hardy Boys series from Nelvana would not be the 1995 series continued 15 years later. That really would be "The Hardy Men" then.
     I don't know what Nelvana will wind up doing toward that end.
But on the 1995 series The Hardy Boys- I enjoyed it pretty well. I think it just obviously had a more modern feel due to being made 15 years or so after the '70s series. I don't know if it really stands out watching it now, but you can probably tell the show was made in the '90s even though I don't think they really tried to set a particular date in the show.
     Frank and Joe in this show seemed more or less like their Casefiles counterparts. Not totally by any means- but in some aspects. The humor is similar- and I think this show really does a pretty good job with that.
They were made to be older in this show definitely- Frank seems to be just out of college and working at a newspaper and Joe is still in college and apparently does some freelance photography at times.
     I also agree that Frank's office romance seemed unlikely but whatever. And Frank's goatee was pretty cool. I wouldn't picture him with one all the time, but it worked fine. And I can definitely see doing that as an experiment.
       I'm really glad they got in some crossover episodes with Nancy Drew on here. I liked her show just fine too. And it was nice that Fenton Hardy made an appearance in the last few episodes too. And Chet Morton showed up in one episode- I liked the portrayal of him in that episode. And the show made some cool references to both Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy (in one episode Frank and Joe actually pull out one of Shaun's LPs )
They definitely needed a full hour to tell a full mystery, but the half hour format was something different in any case. And it really made you pay very close attention to every little detail in order to understand the plot. I like the series and find it fun to watch (definitely has a cool theme song)- but The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is definitely still my favorite.

[Olivia]

BEST quote from that series...

"If this guy's a diplomat, then I'm Parker Stevenson."-Frank Hardy (played by Colin Gray) in "Love Birds"

Yep. And I remember that episode was really funny.

Joe: *holds up the egg*

Joe's many girls in the first few episodes was a little over the top. He's not THAT bad. But they did smooth that part of his personality out a little by giving him a girlfriend.

Frank flirted with an office romance. I thought she looked way too old for him. He had a girlfriend for 1 episode. Guess it didn't work out.

Don't even get me started on Nancy Drew.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. I'm a selective fan of ND and...yeah.

Frank being a reporter and Joe being jobless or sometimes a photographer/computer whiz was okay. I don't see them doing that as their main careers though and investigating a side hobby. Parts of this was the reverse of the books.

They were definitely older in this series...at least 21 and 22. Physically they didn't really match, but neither did Shaun or Parker.

Colin and Paul did grow on me, but I feel that the 70s show portrayed them better...and closer to the book characters.

Part of the plot issues and lack of action, etc is partially due to the show being 21 minutes. An hour might have been better for the show.

I think they (surprisingly) did a decent job with them being a little older and having careers/jobs.

Yes.

Yes. I think part of it has to do with your next point, but also for a non-straight-up adaption of HBs (not that it's a spin-off or anything), I think they did okay. It's not like The Hardy Men

Yup, I always thought the 21 minute plot was limiting. However, I also found that by the last of the episodes, they were starting to make it work. For instance, the episode "R.I.P." and that one when Joe is running over the cars in the impound lot (I can't remember which one that is) -- those episodes use the 21 minutes well. It's all balanced and everything.

[Olivia]

Frank and Joe in this show seemed more or less like their Casefiles counterparts. Not totally by any means- but in some aspects. The humor is similar- and I think this show really does a pretty good job with that.

I'm really glad they got in some crossover episodes with Nancy Drew on here. I liked her show just fine too. And it was nice that Fenton Hardy made an appearance in the last few episodes too. 

And the show made some cool references to both Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy (in one episode Frank and Joe actually pull out one of Shaun's LPs )

They definitely needed a full hour to tell a full mystery, but the half hour format was something different in any case. And it really made you pay very close attention to every little detail in order to understand the plot. I like the series and find it fun to watch (definitely has a cool theme song)- but The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is definitely still my favorite.

I agree that they are similar in having more of the humour.

Although I don't "love" this Nancy Drew (nothing wrong with the actress in general), I did like the crossover episodes. And they were all platonic and it worked.

I like the references too.

I agree. I actually recorded the HBs theme on my MP3 player so I'm going to use it somehow -- maybe use it as a ring tone or something

[MacGyver]

I have both the 1970s (both Seasons 1-2 and the Season 3 theme) and 1990s Hardy Boys show theme songs on CDs somewhere. I have an officially released compilation of TV show theme songs on CD that includes the Seasons 1-2 theme from The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. For Season 3 and the theme to The Hardy Boys (1990s) series, I put those on homemade compilation CDs. 

[tomswift2002]

I first saw the show in 2006 when the DVD's came out, and then a few weeks later YTV (East & West) started airing the show on Monday to Thursday nights at 10 as a summer replacement series, but they would only air one episode per night, so it would alternate between the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew.

The Love Birds was one of the better episodes of the series, along with Jazzman.

[MacGyver]

I first fully saw all the episodes of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew when I got the DVDs in 2006. But I do recall seeing at least one episode of The Hardy Boys somewhere in 1995 in its original run. I think it may have been "The Curse" because I think I recall Chet Morton's appearance on that episode.

[SDLagent]

Sadly, I haven't seen any of the '95 series.

[hardygirl847]

I first fully saw all the episodes of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew when I got the DVDs in 2006. But I do recall seeing at least one episode of The Hardy Boys somewhere in 1995 in its original run. I think it may have been "The Curse" because I think I recall Chet Morton's appearance on that episode.

I liked that they included Chet, but I didn't think they gave Chet enough credit. He seemed more like a bumbling idiot than the good friend the Hardys have known and loved. For that matter, they seemed ANNOYED by him. Yes, he can be a bit repetitive but Chet does some real good in some of the stories. The ONE episode he got, he looked silly.

There was a continuity error between R.I.P and the next one. In RIP, Frank and Joe were dating sisters. In the next one,  Frank is introduced to Joe's girlfriend for the first time but it's the same actress and character. oops.

Sadly, I haven't seen any of the '95 series.

They grew on me and I am definitely glad I have it. Honestly though, I would much rather watch Shaun and Parker. There were times that the 95 series "got it" for most of the show and sometimes they were way off.

The nod to Parker being Frank is still my all time favorite part.

[tomswift2002]

There was a continuity error between R.I.P and the next one. In RIP, Frank and Joe were dating sisters. In the next one,  Frank is introduced to Joe's girlfriend for the first time but it's the same actress and character. oops.

On the DVD, from what I've been able to figure out, the order of the episodes is completely different from the production or even airing orders, so it could be that those two episodes originally aired in the proper order.

[hardygirl847]

Captain Santa,

Yes, you have a valid point. I figured it was something that was taped first. Maybe they accidentally reversed the two episodes before making the DVD. I believe RIP is the last one on the first disc and the first episode on the second disc is the one out of order.

[tomswift2002]

Captain Santa,

Yes, you have a valid point. I figured it was something that was taped first. Maybe they accidentally reversed the two episodes before making the DVD. I believe RIP is the last one on the first disc and the first episode on the second disc is the one out of order.

Well, if you look at these lists you'll see that the DVD has different episodes in different orders from the episode listing on TV.com:

(TV.com/2006 airing order with original airdates)

13  No Dice  ?  12/16/1995  113   
12  The Last Laugh  ?  12/9/1995  112   
11  Lovebirds  ?  12/2/1995  111   
10  Play Ball  ?  11/25/1995  105   
9  R.I.P.  ?  11/18/1995  108   
8  The Curse  ?  11/11/1995  106   
7  The Debt Collectors  ?  11/4/1995  110   
6  Telling Lies  ?  10/28/1995  109   
5  Smart Drugs, Stupid Mistakes  ?  10/21/1995  103   
4  Say Cheese  ?  10/14/1995  107 
3  A Perfect Stranger  ?  10/7/1995  104 
2  Jazzman  ?  9/30/1995  101   
1  All That Glitters  ?  9/23/1995  102

DVD order:

1. All That Glitters
2. Jazzman
3. A Perfect Stranger
4. The Curse
5. Play Ball
6. Say Cheese
7. R.I.P
8. Smart Drugs, Stupid Mistakes
9. Telling Lies
10. All In The Family (aka The Debt Collectors)
11. Love Birds
12. The Last Laugh
13. No Dice

As you can see, on the DVD episode 4 is The Curse, while the 4th episode aired was Say Cheese (#6 on the DVD), along with Smart Drugs, Stupid Mistakes being DVD#8 but Airing #5, etc.


Also the DVD uses an alternate title for The Debt Collectors on the packaging (although the menu and episode itself are under TDC).

[Olivia]

Yeah, I also noticed what you two are saying about the episode order.

Sadly, I haven't seen any of the '95 series.

If you're willing to invest, you can get it on Amazon.ca for $23.99, but there's also a third party seller that has it for $14.99 (they have 97% positive ratings).

I managed to find a two-set package (including both ND and HBs) that would only ship to a U.S. address, so I literally had it shipped it to a place in Niagara Falls, NY to pick up later (who charges $6 a package). I was lucky to get both for $14.99.

I know ND '95 is getting a little more rare, but the HBs still seem to be around (or more "in stock").

[tomswift2002]

Don't forget that the DVD's were only released in Canada.  So Amazon.ca and other Canadian websites still have the titles in stock.

[hardygirl847]

Very interesting. The DVD "error" wasn't enough for me to look it up, but thanks for doing so and letting me know.

When it comes down to it, it wasn't perfect or a perfect representation, BUT I am still glad I own it.