History Series / TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries

** "The Creatures Who Came On Sunday" has mob assassins flashing fake ID and impersonating "the government" -- literally -- to get information out of the DistressedDamsel and to intimidate the Hardys:

* ArtisticLicenseCars: "Silent Scream" has Joe Hardy calling the Bureau of Motor Vehicles for information on a license number, and the BMV tells him that the owners are staying in the same hotel as the Hardys. Aside from the fact that no BMV in the world could possible know that, they also would not release information over the phone to regular civilians, and there are strict paperwork procedures that the cops have to follow to get the information.
** Not quite. In TheSeventies, the DMV could and would give information to civilians, depending on the state; that's how Creator/RebeccaSchaeffer's [[LoonyFan killer]] got her home address in 1989, via a private detective. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act was brought into law specifically in response to her death.

** Both of the Hardys in the show are more easily scared and intimidated than their book counterparts, but Joe especially, while the books' Joe tends to be a bit quicker to get into a fight than Frank. Furthermore, Joe is usually portrayed as the bigger {{Determinator}} of the two, and Frank is the bigger science geek, while here, those traits are swapped.

* SoftReboot: On the Nancy Drew side of things in season two. Most of the River Heights were recast (including, later on, Nancy herself), but the only explicit change in continuity is the reintroduction of Ned, now played by Rick Springfield instead of George Oh'Hanlon Jr., as a hotshot young lawyer that Nancy has supposedly never met before.

-->'''Frank:''' What made you think of that black belt business?
-->'''Joe:''' I thought it was a pretty good bluff.
-->'''Frank:''' Some bluff. He would've chewed me up in little pieces.
-->'''Joe:''' It was a chance I had to take...

* SiblingRivalry: Of the good-natured, teasing variety between Frank and Joe Hardy, though all bets tended to be off when both brothers were interested in the same female...and Frank wasn't above shoving all the heavy physical work off on Joe, either. And don't get Joe started when Nancy Drew and Frank were anywhere in the same room together...

** "Last Kiss of Summer" gets myth-gagged in spades by the books in the Casefiles debut, "Dead on Target". In "Last Kiss", Joe Hardy's fiance is killed in a car wreck by a drunk driver, and Joe goes on a RoaringRampageofRevenge to bring the killer to justice. In "Dead on Target", they not only kill off Joe Hardy's longtime girlfriend in the series, Iola Morton, but do so in a car...and Joe subsequently goes on a revenge kick to bring down the Assassins who did it.
** "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula" is myth-gagged in the Super Mysteries book series, "Terror on Tour", where Nancy and the Hardys meet at a rock show -- and in the episode, the Hardys and Nancy meet while following a rock tour, and join forces to solve a series of art thefts. This is also the episode that started Frank and Nancy's romance in the show...a relationship that continues through the Super Mysteries series.

* CasualDangerDialog

** Frank Hardy, Manly (Parker Stevenson being the muscled prep-school jock into surfing), aggressive, and likely to get into a fight; at one point, he even threatens to kick someone's teeth in. Younger Brother Joe, Sensitive (Shaun Cassidy, slender teen-idol musician) who tries to avoid trouble at all costs & is more likely to fall for the victim-of-the-week. Though the show occasionally subverted it by having Frank shove Joe out front in dangerous situations. See CasualDangerDialog entry for example.

Based on the two famous juvenile book series, ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' and ''Literature/NancyDrew'', this [[TheSeventies 1977–79]] mystery show on Creator/{{ABC}} starred Parker Stevenson and Creator/ShaunCassidy as the [[AmateurSleuth amateur detective brothers]] Frank and Joe Hardy, and [[TheOtherDarrin Pamela Sue Martin (and later Janet Louise Johnson)]] as the intrepid girl detective Nancy Drew. Lasting three seasons, it is far and away the most successful filmed adaptation of any of the Creator/StratemeyerSyndicate's properties.

* AdultFear: There are quite a few cases where one of the brothers and/or their dad is attacked or kidnapped, leaving the ones left terrified for their well-being:
** "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula" has Frank & Joe investigating their dad's disappearance in Europe, which opens with them identifying corpses in a morgue. They eventually discover Fenton was attacked and has been unconscious for days in a monastery/hospital, with his recovery uncertain. The scene ends with Joe breaking down in tears at his father's bedside.
** "The Strange Fate of Flight 608": Frank and Joe, as well as their friend Beverly, are on a sabotaged airplane that ends up crashing into the ocean--though, luckily, thanks to them, they're able to land it well enough to get everyone off the plane and onto a nearby island safely. Fenton and Beverly's father are nonetheless very stressed out about the crash in the meantime before they learn that their kids are okay.
** "Acapulco Spies": Fenton actually gets this the most despite being the kidnap victim. His captor is an old friend who betrayed him and went bad. Said BigBadFriend then targets his sons when they come searching for him and gloats about it (such as having his henchman sabotage Joe's hang glider, which Joe only narrowly survives, and then telling Fenton later that one of his sons almost died) while Fenton can't do anything to stop him. The BigBad later kidnaps a GirlOfTheWeek who'd befriended the brothers to use her as leverage against Fenton. Finally, after the boys rescue their father and the girl, Joe uses himself as bait for TheDragon so the other three can escape, and Fenton is clearly scared for him but is too weakened to do anything more than feebly protest.
** "Sole Survivor" has this for all three of them: Joe spends the first half of the episode tricked into believing he's been comatose for almost a year after an accident that killed his father and brother, and Frank and Fenton are told that Joe is missing and likely dead in a car wreck, with his body believed to have been washed out to sea. Joe and Frank are each seen mourning each other at different times.
** "Arson and Old Lace" has a lot of this going around between the Hardys and the Drews:
*** Nancy was kidnapped six months before the start of the episode and has been missing ever since; her good friends Frank and Joe are worried about her well-being, and her poor father Carson is completely distraught and fears that she's dead. (Keep in mind that, since Carson is a widower and Nancy is his only child, losing her would mean he's lost the only close family he has left.)
*** Carson sends out a TV broadcast begging the people who took his daughter to release her. Nancy sees the broadcast in captivity and is driven to tears knowing how much her loved ones miss her and desperately wanting to be reunited with them.
*** Later, the building belonging to the BigBad, where Nancy is being held and the Hardy Boys have gone to look for her, is set on fire by a serial arsonist. Fenton and Carson see the story on the news about the burning building, remember that this is where Frank and Joe were headed, and immediately rush to the scene, with Fenton frantic with worry that his sons are inside the building and he's helpless to do anything to save them.
** "Last Kiss of Summer": after finding out that Joe is attempting a reckless sting on a pair of ruthless thieves who have already killed two people, Fenton tries to order his son to stop, to the point of trumping up charges so the feds will pick Joe up, as Fenton is scared that Joe will be killed, too.
** "Assault on the Tower": Fenton breaks down after Frank is caught by the villain and imprisoned with him, with Fenton believing that it's his fault that his son is now in danger of losing his life.

The Hardy Boys are brother amateur detectives, Frank (Parker Stevenson) and Joe (Creator/ShaunCassidy). The two boys live in the fictional city of Bayport, MA (not the NY of the books) with their famous father, Fenton Hardy (Creator/EdGilbert), a private detective who'd spent 20 years with the New York Police Department and who seemingly has connections everywhere. The brothers can't seem to go anywhere without having a mystery drop into their laps; even driving down a road heading for home means they'll get stopped by a young woman running away from an angry mob. In the third season, the focus of the series moved exclusively to them as they become professional police detectives for the Justice Department.

Nancy Drew (usually Pamela Sue Martin, but Janet Louise Johnson in her last few appearances) is the amateur sleuth — she insists on the term "part-time investigator" — daughter of attorney Carson Drew (William Schallert). She lives with her father in the fictional River Heights, NY (not Illinois, as in the books). Her stories feature her close friend George (Georgia) Fayne (Jean Rasey and, later for three episodes, Susan Buckner) and Ned Nickerson (George O'Hanlon Jr., and later Music/RickSpringfield in second season). Another prominent character from the Nancy Drew books, Bess Marvin (Ruth Cox), made only two appearances in two-part episodes.

The Hardy Boys are brother amateur detectives, Frank (Creator/ParkerStevenson) and Joe (Creator/ShaunCassidy). The two boys live in the fictional city of Bayport, MA (not the NY of the books) with their famous father, Fenton Hardy (Creator/EdGilbert), a private detective who'd spent 20 years with the New York Police Department and who seemingly has connections everywhere. The brothers can't seem to go anywhere without having a mystery drop into their laps; even driving down a road heading for home means they'll get stopped by a young woman running away from an angry mob. In the third season, the focus of the series moved exclusively to them as they become professional police detectives for the Justice Department.

->''It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.''

Based on the two famous children's book series, ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' and ''Literature/NancyDrew'', this [[TheSeventies 1970s]] TV show on Creator/{{ABC}} starred Parker Stevenson and Creator/ShaunCassidy as the [[AmateurSleuth amateur detective brothers]] Frank & Joe Hardy, and [[TheOtherDarrin Pamela Sue Martin and Janet Louise Johnson]] as the intrepid girl detective, Nancy Drew. At three seasons, it is far and away the most successful filmed adaptation of any property of the Creator/StratemeyerSyndicate.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Oh, sooo much. From Frank's condescension towards Nancy Drew in the crossover episodes to the StalkingIsLove attitudes in "Death Surf" and "Oh Say Can You Sing" to the near-total lack of any persons of color (save for "Mystery of the African Safari", which takes place in Africa and "Voodoo Doll", where the only black people in ''New Orleans'' are visitors from Africa or Haiti), the show is a walking time-capsule of TheSeventies in attitudes.

** Not quite. In TheSeventies, the DMV could and would give information to civilians, depending on the state; that's how Creator/RebeccaSchaeffer's [[LoonyFan killer]] got her home address in 1989. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act was brought into law specifically in response to her death.

** Not quite. In TheSeventies, the DMV could and would give information to civilians, depending on the state; that's how Creator/RebeccaShaeffer's killer got her home address in 1989. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act was brought into law specifically in response to her death.

** Ditto "Voodoo Doll". Nancy goes off on her own to investigate TheVillain. Yup, gets caught. Yup, is held captive, still not tied-up, with two other women who are similarly untied, in an open, public, unguarded warehouse with tons of crates and tools. The only door into the warehouse area is locked. On Nancy's side of the door. With the hinges on her side, too. Her one attempt to escape involves her climbing UP crates to go through a window and is promptly caught. It takes the Hardys breaking into the warehouse through said door before Nancy can escape. *sigh*

* FakedRipVanWinkle: "Sole Survivor". Joe Hardy comes to in a hospital and is told that he's been in a coma for over a year due to a bad car accident and that his brother and father are dead. TheVillains are naturally pulling a major MindScrew, faking Joe's coma with drugs and lying about the deaths, in order to get Joe to spill his guts about a defection attempt.

** TheVillain owns a Voodoo-themed bar called "Club Damballah". Damballah is a Haitian Voodoo loa whose worship strictly forbids the consumption of alcohol.

** "Creatures Who Came on Sunday". [[TheDeterminator Frank Hardy]] is so determined to find out what happened to Sharon's missing boyfriend that he not only ignores three back-off warnings from the local sheriff, [[TheVillain supposed government agents]], and Sharon herself, he then ends up leading mob killers (masquerading as those government agents) onto the boyfriend, who is in the Witness Protection Program and in hiding in a facility up on the mountain. This results in the mob killers taking Frank, Joe, and Sharon hostage, then forcing Joe at gunpoint to lead them back to the facility to point the boyfriend out so they can shoot him.

** "Voodoo Doll" presents stage magic as evidence of TheVillain's [[HollywoodVoodoo real supernatural powers]] and is set within the Voodoo-culture of New Orleans.
** A third episode, "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula", zig-zags on this: the supernatural aspect is initially met with skepticism and thought to be due to TheVillain's delusions, and, when shown to be RealAfterAll at the very end, [[RealAfterAll is only seen by Joe Hardy,]] who isn't believed.
* PercussivePickpocket: the episode "Voodoo Doll" has the Hardy Boys wandering the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. As a fortune teller distracts them, the camera focuses on a passing woman moving through the crowd & deliberately bumping into them, lifting both brothers' wallets and walking away. It takes the Hardys a few seconds to realize their wallets are gone, and when they try to chase the woman, she's vanished into a nearby bar, kicking off the plot & getting the Hardys involved in TheVillain's plot against a visiting ambassador.

** "The Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Meet Dracula" not only had Series/BattlestarGalactica1978's Lorne Greene as TheVillain, but Bernie Taupin (Music/EltonJohn's co-writer) and Music/PaulWilliams.

* WitnessProtection: "Creatures Who Came On Sunday" revolves around a secret installation of the Federal Witness Protection Program, where protected folks get [[MagicPlasticSurgery plastic surgery]] to totally change their looks. The Hardys and the suspicious girlfriend of one of the witnesses soon blow all that out of the water, endangering quite a few people, and barely get off with a lecture at the end -- though in the course of the episode, the Hardys get ''three'' "back-off" speeches, ''including one from TheVillain trying to track a witness down.''

** "Voodoo Doll": Nancy wanders into TheVillain's lair, gets easily caught and starts screaming at the sight of an old man in an obvious mask, even though the man only stands there, not saying a word. Despite not being tied up, the door being locked on her side, the door hinges being on her side, and being held in a huge unguarded warehouse filled with crates and tools, Nancy can't figure out how to escape, and ends up needing Frank and Joe to rescue her.

** "Assault on the Tower": Fenton breaks down after Frank is caught by TheVillain and imprisoned with him, with Fenton believing that it's his fault that his son is now in danger of losing his life.

* BavarianFireDrill: Subverted in the third season episode "Game Plan". Joe pretends to be a hotel maintenance man to get into a room where Frank and the BigBad are talking. Joe puts on a phony redneck accent, pushes right into the room past Frank and shoves his ballcap into Frank's hands, and proceeds to completely confuse TheVillain with pseudo-technical-babble about the AC being on the fritz and takes the thermostat apart with his screwdriver as he does so...until Frank blows it out of the water by showing TheVillain the warning note that was in the ballcap and then pulls a gun on Joe. The federal agents eventually find Joe [[BoundAndGagged tied up and gagged]] in the apartment's closet.

* BreakTheFake: In "The Strange Fate of Flight 608," a diamond smuggler discovers that he has been given pieces of glass and angrily crushes one of them under his foot. Later, Frank smashes another piece with a rock to show that it's fake.

** "Sole Survivor": Joe and his GirlOfTheWeek friend Kim escape from where the bad guys left them tied up and get to the rendezvous point in time to stop the assassins from murdering Frank, Fenton, their agent friend, and the scientist they're helping defect, with Joe tackling one who's about to shoot them and Kim stopping from going for his gun.

* GirlOfTheWeek: Most, but not all, of the episodes have one or more prominent female characters who recruit the Hardys to help her, help them in their investigation, and/or work against them. Sometimes the girls are old friends or former girlfriends, while other times they're new friends that the boys meet in the location they've traveled to, or are the kidnap victims they're searching for. Usually, one [[SiblingRivalry or both]] of the boys will be interested in the girl, or if there are multiple, each brother is attracted to one of them, although sometimes the girls are just platonic friends. Nancy serves this role in the crossover episodes as a more prominent, recurring example.

The Hardy Boys are brother amateur detectives, Frank (Parker Stevenson) and Joe (Shaun Cassidy). The two boys live in the fictional city of Bayport, MA (not the NY of the books) with their famous father, Fenton Hardy (Edmund Gilbert), a private detective who'd spent 20 years with the New York Police Department and who seemingly has connections everywhere. The brothers can't seem to go anywhere without having a mystery drop into their laps; even driving down a road heading for home means they'll get stopped by a young woman running away from an angry mob. In the third season, the focus of the series moved exclusively to them as they become professional police detectives for the Justice Department.