The Hardy Boys 1995 series- 2nd. Season? mystery

[MacGyver]

As you all probably know, The Hardy Boys (1995 series) was released to DVD a few years back- but instead of saying the "Complete Series" on the box, it actually says "Season 1", which is weird to put since it only had 1 season. This has led some fans to speculate on whether there may have been a second season planned but never produced. Or perhaps there may even have been episodes filmed that were shelved when the series was cancelled. However, that seems unlikely as I'm sure the studio would've released those episode to DVD if they had them available.
      The tricky thing to keep in mind with this thing is that the show originally aired in Canada and then later came to the USA (though I'm pretty sure it was still that same year of 1995. I still vaguely recall watching 1 episode of this show back then in the original airing- I think it was on a local market channel that I didn't normally get.)
Anyway, I ran across this article about the show that seems to indicate that both The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were set to be renewed for second seasons by New Line Cinema. Apparently they were also doing promotions with a cybersweepstakes that gave the winner a "cyberdate" with stars of the shows.
Check out the article and let me know what you think.


Broadcasting & Cable, Dec 11, 1995 v125 n50 p32(2)

New Line renews three freshmen. (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Court TV will return in 1996 on New Line Television)


Cynthia Littleton 

Abstract: New Line Television announced it would be renewing three of its fall programs in 1996 despite those shows' poor performance in the ratings. Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Court TV would return in the new year, as executives from the company say they are committed to the new shows' potential. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew show back-to-back in most markets, and were acclaimed by TV Guide two of the best new shows for kids, but averaged only a 1.1 rating in Nielsen markets.

New Line Television is coming back for more. The TV division of Turner Broadcasting System-owned New Line Cinema says it is renewing the three shows it launched in first-run syndication this fall for a second year, despite the generally lackluster ratings garnered by Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys and Court TV: Inside America's Courts.

"We believe in these shows," says Bob Friedman, president of New Line Television. "We're in the business of building franchises at New Line, and we believe these shows have potential over the long term."

The New Line sales team hits the road in search of station renewals and upgrades this week.

The weekly half-hour series Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, which air back-to-back in 80% of the country, were among TV Guide's picks for this season's 10 best new shows for kids.

The block has averaged just a 1.1 national Nielsen household rating, but the picture is brighter in markets where it is positioned to reach its target teen audience.

The mystery shows, based on updated stories from the classic books, averaged a 3.6/9 last month in the Sunday noon slot on New York's WWOR-TV, according to Nielsen's metered-market overnights for November. Houston's KHTV-TV averaged a 2.8/7 with the shows in the Saturday 1 p.m. slot.

"There's really nothing out there quite like these shows for young adults," Friedman says. "The series is doing well enough internationally for us to keep it on the air here."

New Line is stepping up its promotional efforts for the shows by getting stations involved in the Nancy Drew-Hardy Boys "cyber-sweepstakes," in which fans connected to online networks can win a "cyberdate" with the stars of the shows.

Simon & Schuster, which still sells about a million Nancy Drew-Hardy Boys titles each year, will issue a new series of books this month featuring the series stars on the covers. And still more big developments are afoot for the youthful mystery-solvers.

"The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew may meet each other next year," Friedman says.

After airing in syndication for two years as a weekly half-hour, Court TV: Inside America's Courts returned as a strip this fall. The show, which has averaged a 1.4 national household rating this season, works best as part of a news block. Thanks to the resources of the 24-hour Court TV cable network, New Line is able to produce original shows year-round.

New Line will be offering one new syndicated property at NATPE next month, a strip version of its CBS Saturday morning hit The Mask, based on New Line Cinema's 1994 Jim Carrey blockbuster. Forty new episodes of the animated series will be produced for syndication, only 10 of which will air on CBS next year.

As for the pending merger between New Line parent TBS and Time Warner, Friedman says he doesn't expect the creation of a media goliath to change the way business is done at New Line.

Just like when we merged with Turner, we will continue to be independent," he says. "We will keep on building franchises by integrating all of our creative efforts. It's that structure that made it possible for me to start setting up the series deal six months before `The Mask' [movie] came out."
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[Hardy Sleuth]

I think the DVD box likely should have said "complete series", maybe?

[MacGyver]

It would've been less confusing. I think this whole thing just depends on how the station airing it decided to break up the airing schedule. This article makes it sound like stations in America were still airing episodes from the latter half of the series in 1996 (i.e. like they hadn't been aired any earlier than that....)

[Hardy Sleuth]

It would've been less confusing. I think this whole thing just depends on how the station airing it decided to break up the airing schedule. This article makes it sound like stations in America were still airing episodes from the latter half of the series in 1996 (i.e. like they hadn't been aired any earlier than that....)

Yeah, must have been that different stations or areas varied on what they aired and when, but the total number of episodes available on DVD remain the same.

[MacGyver]

Exactly.

[MacGyver]

Didn't have anywhere else good to put this, so I thought I'd post it here.
Ran across a neat (and rare) collectible from both the 1990s TV shows Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.
If you scroll down to the collectibles section in this link, you can see a T-shirt bearing the logos of both shows.

[Olivia]

(I think I missed this topic before.)

It looks like they "believed" in the show at least. I wonder if the numbers just won out in the end?

Today's TV situation is even more ridiculous. I know a number of shows, from earlier decades, that didn't take off until it received a second season and became highly successful. Now a show has to be proved within like 5 eps. That's not enough time for a show to find its footing IMO. Though some are excellent right off the bat.