Nancy Drew CW TV Show Memorabilia in The Jennifer Fisher Nancy Drew Collection

Nancy Drew debuted on the CW Network in fall of 2019 and then ran for 4 seasons. In the last year or so, items from the show were sold off to various sellers including crew merchandise, props, scripts, various paperwork for scenes/prop/set/blueprints/etc. There were dozens of auctions over time from at least two sellers that included things like decor pieces from The Claw restaurant, uniforms, aprons, signs, photos, books and you name it. Even jewelry pieces. 

I bid on a few things (pictured in this blog) that were available but tried to approach it with an eye to history/behind the scenes production items to tell the story behind the scenes for my Jennifer Fisher Nancy Drew Collection that now resides at the Toledo Public Library, downtown main library in The Mystery Room. In addition to items in these auctions, since 2019, I have acquired promo items like posters, pop sockets, coasters, flashlights, t-shirts, a Halloween costume, the DVDs of each season, a crew backpack, a crew hat and more - you can view all of my CW Nancy Drew TV memorabilia at my CW Nancy Drew TV Show Pinterest Board.   

From these specific auctions, I purchased several scripts, scene paperwork, vintage Nancy Drew books used for reference and as a book prop (Red Gate Farm), a photo of Nancy with her parents, and a crew bag w/ the CW Nancy Drew logo on it. Since I'm a Nancy Drew book collector, it made sense to collect some of the books used. 

I'm going to make a post at our Nancy Drew Book Fans Facebook group about my acquisitions and see what everyone else got in the auctions - always fun to see everyone's goodies.

 

Nancy Drew Premieres tonight on the CW - Get Set to Sleuth!

Nancy Drew Fans! Grab your magnifying glasses and get ready! Today is the day that our favorite sleuth returns to TV, so tune into the CW tonight after Riverdale to watch the show's premiere. And if you're in the mood for more hauntingly good fun, join us for a Nancy Drew mystery weekend in Haunted Savannah, GA October 25 and 26  at the Nancy Drew Convention!

As one of the ultimate Nancy Drew Fans out there, I can't tell you how thrilled I am to not only see her back on TV, but in a way that is more fitting to the brand and character than previous attempts in recent years. The cast is great and Kennedy McMann was an amazing choice to play Nancy Drew - she's also been a fan and a player of the popular Her Interactive Nancy Drew Computer Games.

I screened the Nancy Drew pilot recently and having already seen the script, it was so much fun to see how it all came to life from the bare bones of the script to the vivid detail on screen. Horseshoe Bay is just like River Heights, a hotbed of crime and mystery. And Nancy Drew, though modernized, is just like her old self - bold and daring and determined to get to the bottom of things and right wrongs. And we wouldn't want her any other way.

Every generation of fans has had their "Nancy Drew." In order to stay fresh and relevant to new generations, she has to stay relevant and has consistently been revamped along the near 90 year history of the series. As long as her essential character isn't changed, she's capable of adapting to any era. For some fans, it's not what they're used to, and that's OK. For others, we're excited to see her inspiring new generations and entertaining us along the way. There is romance to be found, but it's not graphic and it's a back burner to the mystery as the episode is mostly about the murder and the backstory of Dead Lucy. So, like the books, mystery is the main focus. After all that's Nancy Drew's true love - she's a mystery magnet!

If you want to learn more about Nancy Drew's mysterious 90 year old history - visit my website for there are a lot of clues to solve that  puzzler. You can also follow along as I'm working on a biography of the first Carolyn Keene, Mildred Wirt Benson, who ghosted the books from the beginning - 23 of the first 30 and was a real life Nancy Drew in her own right.  

I won't spoil anything here, but just know that the episode delivers and I enjoyed the suspense and mysteriousness of it. The episode opens with Lucy, the infamous Sea Queen who falls mysteriously to her death and whose ghost appears to haunt Horseshoe Bay - a running mystery that will carry us throughout the season. Nancy, true to herself notes, "I don't believe in ghosts. I believe in looking for the truth." We segue through recent events in Nancy's life that have changed her focus - including her Mom's passing. She's existing and trying to find her way, tangled up with Bess and George who are working with her at The Claw. Ned - "Nick" - is her love interest, but there are complications to come. Her relationship with her father Carson is strained and the town's Police Chief McGinnis has clearly been bested one too many times by Nancy from all the cases she's solved. Then a murder happens, changing the course of Nancy's drudgery and fires up her sleuthing instincts which have been buried a bit after her Mom died. She just can't help herself and we are ready to sleuth along with her and solve the mystery.

There are Easter Eggs for fans of the classic series - the attic scene so reminiscent of the spooky scenes from The Secret of the Old Attic and it's iconic covers. Cases she solved in the past - like The Hidden Staircase. There are elements of the classic mysteries - flashlights and sleuthing tools. Searching for hidden spots - like the false bottom in a night stand. And you'll see the end of the episode - the placemat from The Claw has a lot of fun detail for fans. And then there are really cool classic tie-ins as we have Pamela Sue Martin joining the cast for a cameo as Harriet, a psychic medium who helps Nancy figure out a clue. As most of you know, Pamela played Nancy Drew in the 1970s TV Show - one of the most successful television adaptations of classic Nancy Drew. I hope to see her in future episodes as fans love those kinds of tie-ins.

Ultimately, the cast and crew are working so hard to adapt Nancy Drew to the modern era yet stay true to her classic roots as those roots are what has made her so popular for so long and have been entrenched into the fandom. I can't wait to see what happens with Dead Lucy and the socialite murder as it plays out in future episodes and I hope you'll join me tonight in watching the show.

We'll be discussing it over at the Facebook Group - Nancy Drew Book Fans - so if you're not on there, join us.

Images courtesy of CW

Nancy Drew Trailer First Look CW Fall 2019

The first trailer for the upcoming CW Nancy Drew TV show has been released. It is going to be great! This fall it will air on Wednesday nights after Riverdale on the CW network.

As you can see from the trailer, the show has a supernatural element to it - ghosts and hauntings. Nancy Drew has never believed in ghosts - certainly not in the classic Nancy Drew book series - so that carries over to this show. However, when investigating this haunting, will she believe? Or get to the bottom of things and snuff out a killer? Stay tuned.....

And this fall, if you want to tangle with a very haunted city and have fun following in Nancy Drew's footsteps, you can join Nancy Drew Fans in Savannah, GA for the Nancy Drew Convention - click here for details!

Nancy Drew Pilot Gets Picked Up By The CW

The recently filmed Nancy Drew TV pilot for the CW has been picked up to go to series! I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen to our intrepid sleuth in future episodes. There's a paranormal theme to the series beginning with a ghostly mystery lurking about the pilot in addition to a murder Nancy Drew has to solve. How this will play out in episodes airing after the pilot will be exciting to see.

31 Days of Nancy Drew Topic #17 Nancy Drew TV Show Collectibles

31 Days of Nancy Drew Topic #17

Nancy Drew TV Show Collectibles

There have been quite a few collectibles on the market and promo items from the various TV shows - most from the 1970s show. There are so many from the 70s show, however, I can't list them all here feasibly - so check out the Pinterest board links below to see all the fun things you can collect related to the TV shows. Collectibles for both the 70s Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys ranged from books, VHS to DVDs, press kits and  press photos, fan club materials, puzzles, scripts, advertising ephemera, posters, watches, shirts, dolls, lunchboxes, costumes, magazine articles, original art, and much more.

 

Where to find TV Show Collectibles? Your best bet is sites like eBay - I've found the majority of my items there over the years. However, you can sometimes find things out in the wild in bookstores or in antique malls or at autograph/TV star type conventions. It's always fun to hunt and I don't have everything related to these shows, so I'm always on the lookout. If you have something I don't that isn't shown on the 2 TV show Pinterest boards or on the missing collectibles board at Pinterest, please share it in the comments, as I'd love to learn about more that there is to collect out there.

Keep in mind, I don't have a lot of the stand alone Hardy Boys TV collectibles though I'm aware of most of them - I originally started collecting just Nancy Drew TV collectibles, but I've started recently to add more of the Hardy Boys collectibles - I have the lunchbox and dolls but haven't added them to Pinterest yet. So, I'm most interested in seeing what's out there in the Nancy Drew realm of TV collectibles that I don't already have.

 

 

 

1970s TV Show Collectibles:

The 70s TV shows were the most successful in length of run and publicity, so there are quite a few merchandising items and  promo/advertising items you can find for these shows. Even some controversial ones! When Pamela Sue Martin left the TV show, she posed in Playboy and was featured on the cover - "TV's Nancy Drew Undraped," it proclaimed and of course Harriet Adams at the Stratemeyer Syndicate, creators of Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, was not a happy camper. The Syndicate even took out a very costly ad in Time Magazine against the Playboy issue and I've featured that in this blog - the ad features an apology of sorts from Playboy Magazine by reproducing the letter sent to the Syndicate and their attorney from Playboy's senior counsel, William H. Klein, apologizing for using the name Nancy Drew on the cover and in the July 1978 issue. It also references Playboy's use of Tom Swift in the March 1978 issue.

 

 

Another controversy surrounded the design of the Nancy Drew t-shirt that was produced for the 70s shows - no one to my knowledge has seen the shirt. But Harriet Adams disapproved and wrote the man merchandising these items, to express her dislike. The Hardy Boys shirt has been featured in advertising which you'll see below, but the Nancy Drew shirt was never pictured. If by chance you have seen the shirt or any advertising for it, let me know! And possibly the most scarce collectible is the TV show puzzles that came in a canister, not the boxes - I've pictured a set from the eBay auction--the only ones I've seen sell at eBay--and I'd love to have these for my collection. Second to that may be the TV show watch for the Nancy Drew show. The Hardy Boys watch has surfaced more regularly, but I've only seen the Nancy Drew watch listed at eBay one time. The Hardy Boys had more merchandising items than Nancy Drew, so there is no Nancy Drew TV show doll for instance, but there are Hardy Boys versions. There is even original art - the cover of the October 1977 issue of The Electric Company Magazine featured a cover painted by illustrator Bob Larkin, which I own. It's a great likeness of the actors in a very spooky scene. In cooperation with Bob, we sold a limited number of signed prints from this painting at our 2014 Nancy Drew Convention in San Diego. I also collect some of the TV show items from the Hardy Boys shows, so you'll see some of those at my Pinterest too. Having had Pamela Sue Martin and Parker Stevenson come to 2 of our Nancy Drew Conventions, members have been able to have some of their collectibles signed by them, but you can also find signed items from time to time at eBay and sometimes Parker appears at TV/movie conventions shows.

Scroll down below for the 1995 and 2002 TV show collectibles.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1995 TV Show Collectibles:

There are not a lot of collectibles for the 1995 TV shows. There was a cool cast/crew backpack which I'd love to acquire. A Phone card, press kits/photos. A Nelvana trade show bag that featured a tag with the various TV show logos including Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys which I found on eBay a few years ago. And books featuring the actresses on the covers in the Nancy Drew Files series. Books 112-119 featured covers related to the TV show. You can get the DVD set of the TV shows.

 

 

 

 

2002 TV Pilot Collectibles:

Since this series was never produced past the pilot that aired, there really isn't any merchandise or collectibles related to this show other than some press items. The pilot was sent out on video to press to review and I was given a copy of that, though I don't have it pictured at Pinterest yet. You might find press photos or articles related to the airing of the pilot. I managed to find a signed Maggie Lawson photo of her as Nancy Drew. There were some computer graphics available to download as wallpaper leading up to the show airing. If you have anything from the show's PR, that I don't have pictured at Pinterest, please share it!

In the comments, tell me if you collect any of the TV show collectibles? Do you focus more on the Nancy Drew or do you collect the Hardy Boys TV collectibles as well? Do you have a favorite collectible item?