The Hardy Boys - S1E1 - Welcome to Your Life

[SkyWarp]

I actually enjoyed the first episode of the new Hardy Boys television series on Hulu. 

The first episode is called "Welcome to Your Life" and sort of like the title implies, this is an introductory episode that lays down much of the framework for the rest of the series.   

We meet a lot of characters in this first episode, but with only 45 minutes to fit it all in among the main storyline, most are going to take more time to get to know.  That's not a bad thing assuming we do get to know them as time goes on.

This first episode is slow and for somber.  Although I have only seen the first episode at this point, this is NOT like the last Hardy Boys tv series in the 90's and it is definitely NOT like the CW Nancy Drew series. 

WARNING, SPOILERS GOING FORWARD, but I will try to not reveal major plot and story spoilers. 

This series takes place in the past.  Although they don't specifically say when it takes place, you can tell from various technology and other aspects of the show that it is mostly likely taking place in the 80's.  Maybe the early 80's?  I don't know and honestly others may be able to better pinpoint the exact time. 

There are some significant differences from the Books, but honestly, I have not found them to be of a concern at this time.  We will see if this holds up once I get through more of the episodes.  Here are just a few notes of interest:

1) Elizabeth "Biff" Hooper -- She got her nickname "Biff" because when she entered Kindergarten, she couldn't pronounce her name that well and ElizeBIFF stuck with her ever since.  We don't know much else about her yet, but she does seem to have taken a liking to messing with Joe.   

2) The family starts off in a big city (not named) before moving to Bridgeport.  Bridgeport is definitely suppose to be Bayport because this is not only where all the main characters from the books are living, but also it seems this is where both Fenton and Laura Hardy grew up and apparently Aunt Trudy and Grandma Estabrook (not sure on the spelling as I can only go by how they said the name) both still live. 

3) Grandma Estabrook seems to be very rich.  How rich we are not sure, but she seems to own perhaps multiple businesses that she doesn't even pay much attention too and has others do it (at least that is what we are led to believe so far). 

4) Frank has what appears to be a girlfriend before leaving the big city.  She is blond and but I don't recall her name being given.  if IMDB is accurate, her name is Emma.  There is another girl with "Emma" at times who I would have thought could have been Iola, as she had dark hair, but according to the credits her name is Sandra.  It becomes obvious later that she certainly can't be Iola. 

5) In Bridgeport (whose slogan is "Where Friends Meet") we meet, Aunt Trudy, Grandma Estabrook, Phil, "Biff", Callie, Chet, Ezra, Jesse Hooper (Ezra's Deputy, and at this point, just a guess, but assuming Biff's mom), and Wilt.  Wilt is in charge of a diner in Bridgeport.  He reminds me of perhaps an older Tony Prito type character.  Chet and Biff are obvious differences from the books.  So far, "Biff" doesn't bother me yet.  Without seeing them much yet, its hard to get a good sense of their characters yet, but at first glance, I think Chet and Phil should have been switched.  Maybe I will change my mind later. 

6) Callie has dark hair.  I was sort of hoping the Emma girl would be Callie until we find out later in the first episode that is not the case. 

7) Samuel Peterson (the old partner of Fenton Hardy) is in the first episode.  Although I don't recall his name given in the first episode, it is given at the end in the credits.  His character seems to be pretty accurate to the books. At least the past history that is talked about in the books as this story takes place as Fenton is taking a leave from the big city police detective work and moving to the small city. 

There is no case solved by the end of this first episode.  But we have definitely been given a foundation and maybe a partial roadmap of some sort for this series. 

I do not recall any language, there was no innuendo, no sex.  There was some gun shots and assumed killing from those gun shots and a boat exploding near the beginning of the first episode.  Not any blood or guts though.  All that was mostly off screen.
Honestly, this show was very friendly to most all audiences.  With that said, parents of children that are in an age where they are sensitive to death and sadness from death may want to watch it first to decide if their younger children should watch this. 

I am looking to the next episode.

[N_zone]

The major change that jumped out to me was the four-year age gap between Frank and Joe making Joe a bit on the younger side. This irritates me a little bit as it now means that Joe cannot realistically win a fight and I find children in that range slightly annoying. Let's see if this makes an impact going forward. The other character changes irritate me as I feel they could have done them without making bigger changes. Is there a reason why Biff's character could not have been played by Iola? Why make Chet dark-skinned and Phil chubby when Tony is already dark-skinned and Chet is chubby? Another change that felt unnecessary is "Bayport" to "Bridgeport."

I understand "Trudy" is a UB thing but I would have preferred the humor from a traditional portrayal of Gertrude, but maybe that's a personal preference, plus I never read UB. I got excited when I saw the logo, which I interpreted as similar to the Casefiles logo. I guess both series start off with the murder of a traditional "main character" but again, Joe's age takes some of that away. Fenton as a cop instead of a PI is interesting, especially if this is mean to be a prequel of sorts. I am not far enough in to comment on the story but the production values seem good enough. I wonder how much of this series' existence we can credit to Riverdale, although I agree it is different tonally from Nancy Drew and Sabrina, at least so far.

(also SkyWarp is there anyway you can help me get into my old account? I can't even send messages)

[SkyWarp]

(also SkyWarp is there anyway you can help me get into my old account? I can't even send messages)

Do remember the email address you may have used with the old account?

[N_zone]

lol just read the discussion of the tv show in the earlier post and nothing I said was original. Oh well.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Is this totally different from the new Nancy Drew series and IMDb's Alex Rider? I wish I had a Hulu account as I'd love to watch this.

[Raven]

6) Callie has dark hair.  I was sort of hoping the Emma girl would be Callie until we find out later in the first episode that is not the case. 

Actually, Callie was described having brown hair in the first Casefile.

[Raven]

I just watched a few episodes. The show is better than I expected, except I keep getting confused between Chet and Phil. Some things I noticed:

• It was set around 1984.
• Before moving to Bridgeport, the boys lived in Dixon City. Nice homage.
• Laura Hardy had more personality than it was portrayed in the books.
• Chet's yellow truck is called "The Queen."
• When the boys was listening to the conversation on the floor, the scene reminds me of "The Secret of the Old Mill." 
• For someone at such a young age, Joe certainly is equipped with interesting skills. 

All in all, so far so good. 

[SkyWarp]

For someone at such a young age, Joe certainly is equipped with interesting skills. 

Totally agree. 

[MacGyver]

Nice! I love the homages to the books!

[NZone]

As far as skills go, post-1950 Joe has been portrayed as the more athletic one and Frank is the more intellectual one. This series has seemed to reverse.

[MacGyver]

Those are general characterizations though. Frank is not entirely unathletic; both the Digests and Casefiles have depicted him as being into martial arts. This TV series has flipped a lot of things around it seems but it's not the first time we've seen that happen.

[SkyWarp]

Those are general characterizations though. Frank is not entirely unathletic; both the Digests and Casefiles have depicted him as being into martial arts. This TV series has flipped a lot of things around it seems but it's not the first time we've seen that happen.

This series actually made fun of this a little bit.  Joe is says, "That is why I am considered the smart one."  And Frank looks back at him with a stare and says, "No your not."  Or something like that.  I am summarizing from memory. 

[MacGyver]

That's cool that it has a sense of humour with it. One thing most all the TV show versions of The Hardy Boys has done well is the banter between Frank and Joe. I hope that is still maintained in this show too.

[SkyWarp]

That's cool that it has a sense of humour with it. One thing most all the TV show versions of The Hardy Boys has done well is the banter between Frank and Joe. I hope that is still maintained in this show too.

They are apart more than together in this series, at least in the first several episodes.  They are more together in the last couple.   

but they do have some banter.  I think it works about right for this series. 

[MacGyver]

Good to hear.