In 1977, Glen A. Larson, producer/creator of such television classics as Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider and B.J. And the Bear, brought Frank and Joe Hardy back to the boob tube after an eight year absence. Based on the extremely popular mystery novels started in 1927 by Edward Stratemeyer (written under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon), this incarnation starred Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy as the two teenage detectives thrust into a different mystery every other week.

Timing was everything, and the show premiered as Shaun Cassidy was on the brink of becoming one of the nation's most popular teen idols. In fact, when the Hardy Boys Mysteries premiered, he embarked on a singing career that saw him nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy. He also sings two of his hits, "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "That's Rock 'N Roll" on the show that, to me, seemed out of place. Both he and Parker play the Hardys as eager go-getters with a slight sarcastic streak that I could definitely relate to. At times, the plots were slightly complex (in a simple sort of way), but they move at a brisk pace. There only stumbling point I think new viewers might have, is demonstrated when the boys head to their "lab" to process forensic evidence. Nowadays, everyone has become accustomed to the CSI-"fancy camera tricks showing the evidence being examined"-way of processing evidence. In fact, my jaw came close to dropping when, during "the Mystery Of the Haunted House", Joe lifted a print and used his microscope to examine it. Yes, you read that right - his microscope. There was no computer to scan the print, determine how many points they could match, and then run it through the thousand of files in the system. This is where my "simple sort of way" comment applies - the plots were complex due to the lack of today's technology. Sort of like taking ten steps to solve something that could be solved in one using today's resources. In this regard, the show might seem terribly dated. On the other hand, I remember these days and could appreciate the hard work the boys go through to solve a mystery.

Two years after creating the Hardy Boys, Edward Stratemeyer hired Mildred Wirt Benson to write a complementary series for girls and Nancy Drew was born. It made perfect sense to bring her to the tube too, and Pamela Sue Anderson was hired to shoot a seven episode "first" season that alternated weeks with the Hardys. I confess, i'm biased when it comes to Nancy Drew thanks to Pamela. Every other week she'd set my heart aflutter and she also helped me realize my preference for ladies with darker hair. Hormones aside, I enjoyed the Nancy Drew episodes slightly more than the Hardy Boys' thanks to William Schallert, who played Nancy's father. Also, the same weaknesses I observed on the Hardy episodes are evident here too. And like the Hardys, Pamela exudes a youthful charm and eagerness that will help you overlook those shortcomings.

Video: The two double-sided DVDs aren't without their problems. The opening credit sequence has a fair amount of dirt, and some episodes, in particular, "the Mystery Of the Haunted House", exhibit slightly more blemishes than the others. Each show is in the Full Frame 1.33:1 ratio and, taking the age of the show into account, it looks pretty good.

Audio: All of the episodes are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and it's decent. While it sounds hollow at time, you really do have to take into account the age of the show. There's also English captions and subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

Extras: None. Well, on second thought, there is a groovy reproduction of the cover of a magazine called Dynamite that the boys were on! Other than that, nada.

Conclusion: For fans of this show, this is a definite improvement over the 33rd generation VHS copies sold on eBay. However, some contemporary viewers not familiar with Nancy Drew or the Hardys, might find the show slightly archaic, so i'd recommend you Rent It first. Personally, I enjoyed the shows. Even if I did find myself frequently saying "Man, imagine how much faster they could solve these cases with today's technology".