How old are they?

[003Robin457]

Thats what I mean they don't have the boat since they have not bought it yet.

[Olivia]

I'm also off-topic too for a second. Sorry, but n_zone got me thinking (That's strange about the gymnastics team. Conspiracy, I say! Well, sorta. Where's the Hardys? )

My dad told me that he found out that some Chinese child/girl won some kind of contest in China like American Idol, but because she wasn't good looking (I'm not sure if she was deformed or not) and had bad teeth, they put someone else to stand in her place with her voice (I think)

[NZone]

I believe you are talking about the Olympic opening ceremonies. The girl who sang the song that was played was deemed not attractive enough, so the Chinese government had someone else lip synch.

[Olivia]

Yeah, it's obvious I wasn't completely straight on the details

[SDLagent]

On the prequel topic, at first i tried and tried to fit the UB continuity in with the other Hardy Boys continuities, but it just can't be done! I'm sure S&S isn't even attempting to fit it in with the past series. the Undercover Brothers is AU in my opinion!

[tomswift2002]

I'm sure S&S isn't even attempting to fit it in with the past series. the Undercover Brothers is AU in my opinion!

AU?  Might as well be Myriad Universes of Hardy's.

[Olivia]

How about a distant spin-off? As in, it spun off from the original premise ... ending up far, far away

Wasn't the Casefiles considered a spin-off? I don't mean that in a negative way, though (that word usually has negative connotations). Because it basically took the premise, but placed it into a different context while staying true to the overall series.

[tomswift2002]

The Casefiles were a spin-off of the original/digest continuity.  Back in 1984, when Simon & Schuster bought out the Stratemeyer Syndicate, S&S put an end to the 20 chapter books after they published the last Syndicate produced book, The Swamp Monster.  At that time S&S thought that the series could use some revamping, since apparently while the series was still doing fine, sales were dropping off, and they wanted to take the Original/Digest line in a different direction.  So the first 2 Hardy Boys books produced by Simon & Schuster, #84 Revenge Of The Desert Phantom and #85 The Skyfire Puzzle were written in a shortened format, with the action being pumped up to unseen levels never before seen in the series, and the stories were written more for the teenage reading crowd, rather than the 8-12/everybody crowd. 

Unfortunately, while S&S did see a lot of interest in the new style, they also saw that people were not picking up the series any more than before they tried the experiment.  So, S&S cancelled the book that would've been #86 in the series and ended the series with #85 The Skyfire Puzzle. 

S&S did the same to the Nancy Drew series.  Then, in the summer of 1986 bookstores saw the debut of The Nancy Drew Files, a higher pulse pounding series of detective stories, written for the pre-teen/high school crowd, with murders, romance, international intrigue running rampant throughout the series.  This was a completly different take on Nancy Drew.  And sales soared.  with several books appearing on the Publishers Weekly, B.Dalton and Walden Books bestsellers lists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Drew_Files).

Because of the success of the Nancy Drew Files Simon & Schuster got the idea that maybe the Hardy Boys could also benefit from a new series.  And S&S knew that they had already planted the seeds for this new series with the last 2 Hardy Boys books that had been published.  But, they realized that they would have to do more to seperate the new series from the old series.  So the plot element of killing off a character that had been close to the Hardy's in the original series came up.  And, S&S figured, why not make one of the Hardy's a skirt chaser.  So S&S decided to kill Iola and give Joe the job of being the skirt chaser with a huge chip on his shoulder. 

So, when the The Hardy Boys Casefiles debutted in April 1987, S&S found that sales for both series were picking up, since people were loving the way the Hardy Boys had been rejuvenated, but at the same time, the buying public also wanted new stories in the cancelled Original/Digest line.  So S&S quickly restarted the Digest line, but instead of going back to #1, they had a new #86 quickly written and edited so that The Mystery of The Silver Star could debut in September 1987, a story that was completly different from another story that had been written almost 2 years earlier to be in the same vein as #'s 84 & 85.  And as they say, the rest is history...

[Olivia]

Wow. I knew bits and pieces of that, but thanks! Very well-put.

[SDLagent]

All the series running at the same time as the Original/Digest series are spin-off of that, the SuperMysteries, and Ultra Thrillers being spin-offs of the spin-off Casefiles.

The Undercover Brothers isn't a spin-off but rather a replacement or continuity reboot of the Original/Digest, and the Undercover Brothers Super Mystery series, and Super Mystery '07 series, are a spin-off of the Undercover brothers.

[Olivia]

All the series running at the same time as the Original/Digest series are spin-off of that, the SuperMysteries, and Ultra Thrillers being spin-offs of the spin-off Casefiles.

The Undercover Brothers isn't a spin-off but rather a replacement or continuity reboot of the Original/Digest, and the Undercover Brothers Super Mystery series, and Super Mystery '07 series, are a spin-off of the Undercover brothers.

When you put it like that, that's kind of sad. Or funny. However you want to look at it lol.

[tomswift2002]

The Undercover Brothers isn't a spin-off but rather a replacement or continuity reboot of the Original/Digest, and the Undercover Brothers Super Mystery series, and Super Mystery '07 series, are a spin-off of the Undercover brothers.

Well, so much for a reboot.  It seems like the UB series is like a computer that keeps getting stuck at the beginning of its booting cycle, it just keeps rebooting now matter what you do to it, besides pulling its plug.

[NZone]

On the prequel topic, at first i tried and tried to fit the UB continuity in with the other Hardy Boys continuities, but it just can't be done! I'm sure S&S isn't even attempting to fit it in with the past series. the Undercover Brothers is AU in my opinion!

You're obviously forgetting the mind-wiping. Most likely administered by a super-kiss.

[mcr_fan22]

I think frank is 18 and  joe is 17 because in book # 10 0f the hardy boys undercover named blown away it said in the beginning joe had gotten a brand new game system from his last birthday which was in november.

[SDLagent]

What makes you think that makes them 17 and 18?

BTW, welcome to MPF!