SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : The Case of the Kids’ Classic Mystery Books That Became ‘90s Series

Criminals beware! Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys are back in business, courtesy of two syndicated shows that are gaining popularity with audiences.

Today’s Nancy (Tracy Ryan) is a little older than her predecessors. Now she’s a 20-year-old criminology student whose best pals are Bess Marvin (Jhene Erwin), who writes a column for an alternative paper, and George Fayne (Joy Tanner), a film student and part-time bike courier.

The Hardys are also in their 20s. Frank (Colin Gray) works as a reporter for The Eagle and computer-pro Joe (Paul Popowich) is a student of criminology.

Reprinted often so that its covers, as well as the stories, match the changing times, the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels remain a standard among young readers.

Victoria Broadhurst of Woodland Hills, an avid collector of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys memorabilia, is a self-proclaimed expert. At 47, she owns about 2,000 books including first editions of the 130 Hardy book titles and the 64 Nancy Drew books. She’s also seen all movie and TV versions.

Broadhurst says she believes the original writers of the stories would approve of the new TV teens. “They’ve really kept the tone of Nancy and the Hardys while contemporizing them,” she says.

Producers have maintained Nancy’s pluckiness, yet made her friendships strong and independent. “That was always in the books, but not really in the previous film and TV versions,” Broadhurst says. “They’re very good role models for young girls. They take responsibility. When Nancy moved, the three girls moved all the furniture on their own, and Bess, traditionally the more lightheaded one, was the one who came up with the idea of how to successfully get the couch in the apartment.”

Nancy, Frank and Joe have all been previously adapted to the small screen, each meaningful to the generation the shows reached. From 1956 to 1958, “The Mickey Mouse Club” ran two “Hardy Boys” serials, starring Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk.

A long Drew/Hardy lull ensued, then from 1969 to 1971 a cartoon/live-action “The Hardy Boys” aired on ABC. In January, 1977, that network introduced the hourlong “The Nancy Drew Mysteries” and “The Hardy Boys Mysteries,” which initially shared a time slot and alternated on Sundays.

While authors’ credits were given to Carolyn Keene for the Nancy Drew books and to Franklin W. Dixon for the Hardy books, neither person existed. The books were the product of a writing factory founded in the early 1900s by Edward Stratemeyer (also responsible for the Tom Swift, Rover Boys and the Bobbsey Twins series).

Stratemeyer’s daughter, Harriet Adams, insisted on script approval, which Universal Studios (who produced the 1977-79 series) agreed to in 1977 for the series that starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as the Hardys and Pamela Sue Anderson (later replaced by Janet Louise Johnson) as Nancy. The three sleuths occasionally appeared in episodes together to solve crimes.

In February, 1978, the shows were completely merged. Nancy was dropped completely from the lineup the next fall, but because of the teen-idol status of Stevenson and Cassidy, the Hardys lasted a season longer--through August, 1979.

The latest versions of the youthful detective series, produced by New Line Television, are very nonthreatening, Broadhurst says. She adds that while their half-hour format creates great leaps between events, the interplay and independence the characters exhibit are admirable and challenging.

“Nancy Drew” and “The Hardy Boys” air Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively on KCOP. For ages 8 and up.