31 Days of Nancy Drew Topic #16
Nancy Drew on TV
Nancy Drew has been on TV 3 times - the 1970s shows, a 1995 show and then a TV pilot that aired in 2002. There have been attempts to get her on TV in the last couple of years but those have failed to produce a show - a pilot was filmed but it was never aired. Currently the CW has something in development.
1970s TV Show:
January 1977 was the debut of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries on ABC. The hour long episodes alternated each week with either the Hardys or Nancy Drew. The Hardys debuted the week before Nancy did. The Nancy Drew mystery hour starred Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy, William Schallert as Carson Drew, George O' Hanlon as Ned Nickerson, and Jean Rasey as George Fayne--later played by Susan Buckner. Some episodes also featured Bess instead of George. Bess was played by Ruth Cox. Later on Pamela left the show and was replaced by Janet Louise Johnson. Parker Stevenson starred as Frank Hardy and Shaun Cassidy starred as Joe Hardy. Nancy, Frank, and Joe teamed up for some of the episodes. With a host of guest stars on these shows including Melanie Griffith, Rick Springfield, and Mark Harmon, the hour was full of mystery and campy special effects!
True to translating books to television, there are some changes that
appear in the television shows. Most noticeable is that Ned is now an
assistant to Carson Drew and he's more nerdy than the football playing
fraternity boy character from the books. George is now more like Bess
whose character is missing from the show. We would expect George to use
her judo on dastardly villains but instead she is more of a fraidy like
Bess always was! These noticeable differences aside, the shows made
their place in Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys history. The only episode with a
fairly major connection to the books was The Secret of the Whispering
Walls, which was based somewhat on two Nancy Drew books--volume #2, The
Hidden Staircase, and volume #6, The Secret of Red Gate Farm.
The
shows lasted for three seasons from 1977 to 1978. There were quite a few collectible items from the TV show and those will be a topic for
tomorrow's 31 days posting. I wrote an article on Pamela Sue Martin as Nancy Drew during the 75th anniversary of Nancy Drew and you can read it here.
1995 TV Show:
In 1995 for one
season, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys came back to TV through Nelvana, a
Canadian company. The show was in syndication and not shown in very
many markets so it was ultimately doomed to fail. Nancy was played by actress Tracy Ryan. Never fear though, in
May 2006, the shows were released on DVD - at one time you could order
them at Amazon and you may still can get copies through there and at
eBay and if you have Amazon Prime Video you can get them there too.
There is not a lot of merchandise for this show - mostly cast items or
promo items but I'll profile that tomorrow. For those attending our 2019 Toronto Nancy Drew Convention, this TV series will be part of our activities because it was filmed around Toronto.
2002 ABC TV Pilot
December 15, 2002 was the air date on ABC's Wonderful World of Disney for a 2 hour pilot, Nancy Drew. The pilot was not considered successful in the ratings and was not picked up as a series. The pilot starred Maggie Lawson as the famed sleuth. Currently, this pilot is not available on video or DVD, however it has been rerun on the ABC Family Channel, so check your listings. In this pilot, Nancy was off to college with her besties and unlike the On Campus book series, this one focused more on mystery. There were no collectible items related to this show except perhaps press related items like photos or signed photos of Maggie Lawson as Nancy Drew and then there was the TV pilot video which was sent out for review to press so I'll feature what I have tomorrow.
-----
Of all the TV show actresses who played Nancy Drew, Maggie Lawson looked the part the best. But Pamela Sue Martin's character reflected best the Nancy Drew of the books. The 1970s show was the most successful run of all the TV shows. Pamela Sue Martin and Parker Stevenson have attended 2 of our Nancy Drew Conventions in the past (San Diego 2014 and Ogunquit Maine 2017) and they've been a lot of fun to meet and talk with. 70s TV producers Joyce Brotman and Arlene Sidaris also attended in 2007 Pasadena and our 2014 San Diego conventions and they were fantastic!
In the comments, tell us if you have seen any of these TV versions of Nancy Drew? What did you like or dislike about them? Do you have a favorite TV version of Nancy Drew?
December 15, 2002 was the air date on ABC's Wonderful World of Disney for a 2 hour pilot, Nancy Drew. The pilot was not considered successful in the ratings and was not picked up as a series. The pilot starred Maggie Lawson as the famed sleuth. Currently, this pilot is not available on video or DVD, however it has been rerun on the ABC Family Channel, so check your listings. In this pilot, Nancy was off to college with her besties and unlike the On Campus book series, this one focused more on mystery. There were no collectible items related to this show except perhaps press related items like photos or signed photos of Maggie Lawson as Nancy Drew and then there was the TV pilot video which was sent out for review to press so I'll feature what I have tomorrow.
-----
Of all the TV show actresses who played Nancy Drew, Maggie Lawson looked the part the best. But Pamela Sue Martin's character reflected best the Nancy Drew of the books. The 1970s show was the most successful run of all the TV shows. Pamela Sue Martin and Parker Stevenson have attended 2 of our Nancy Drew Conventions in the past (San Diego 2014 and Ogunquit Maine 2017) and they've been a lot of fun to meet and talk with. 70s TV producers Joyce Brotman and Arlene Sidaris also attended in 2007 Pasadena and our 2014 San Diego conventions and they were fantastic!
In the comments, tell us if you have seen any of these TV versions of Nancy Drew? What did you like or dislike about them? Do you have a favorite TV version of Nancy Drew?
No comments:
Post a Comment