Review of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries

Looking back at the Hardy Boys episodes, it is amazing that they could get by with such poor scripts and mediocre acting. But one has to remember that the entire success of these shows was based on the teen idol appeal of Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. These boys weren't acting; they were performing acts of S & M (standing and modeling). As long as those blow-dried, pouffed-out hair don'ts were perfect with every hair in place, nothing else mattered. It is amusing to note that the boys still had perfect hair after deep sea diving, laying comatose in a hospital, and having the %$# kicked out of them. The vision of Shaun running through a fire engulfed room with soot on his face and perfect hair stretches credibility to the limit. What is even more ridiculous is how the Hardy Boys were crammed into very tight pants, leaving NOTHING to the viewers' imagination. Even the most brain-dead preteen could quickly figure out that Shaun dressed to the left and Parker dressed to the right. (And neither boy had anything to be ashamed of in that department.) The Nancy Drew episodes were less popular in their day, but the acting and writing was far superior to that of the Hardy Boys. Unable to play the teen idol card, Pamela Sue Martin actually had to act, and her talents in that department were almost as sizeable as what the Hardy Boys were not hiding in their pants. Pamela was also much less preoccupied with perfect appearance. She actually allowed her clothes to get dirty and her hair did occasionally get messed up. But Martin's most astounding feat was climbing up ladders, running down alleys, and jumping across rooftops in 3-inch heels. This makes her a much bigger super-heroine than Wonder Woman.