The Hardy Boys (1969 TV series)

Last updated
The Hardy Boys
Hardy logo.jpg
Title card
Genre Cartoon series
Created byBased on the juvenile book series created by Edward Stratemeyer
Directed by Hal Sutherland
Voices ofByron Kane
Dallas McKennon
Jane Webb
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes17
Production
Producers Norm Prescott
Lou Scheimer
Running time30 min.
Production company Filmation Associates
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseSeptember 6 (1969-09-06) 
December 27, 1969 (1969-12-27)

The Hardy Boys is an American animated series, produced by Filmation and aired Saturday mornings on ABC in 1969. [1] It features the Hardy Boys, Joe and Frank, along with their friends Chubby Morton, Wanda Kay Breckenridge, and Pete Jones (one of the first black characters to appear on Saturday morning television) touring as a rock band while solving mysteries. [2] The series is also notable for its opening and closing credits, in which the Hardys appeared in live action. The series debuted at the same time as Hanna-Barbera's similarly themed Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! , which aired on CBS. The series is noteworthy for including the producers' rotating wheel for the first time, which would make Filmation a household name.

Contents

Voices

Production and broadcast

Two 12-minute mysteries, based on the original book stories, made up one 24-minute television show. The 1969–1970 episodes were repeated for a second year in 1970–1971. Two live action songs were inserted in the middle of the mysteries and also used for the main and end titles, performed by a group calling themselves "The Hardy Boys". [3] These songs were sold at stores on records and audio tapes under the album titles Here Come The Hardy Boys (Billboard #199) and Wheels . Both albums have since been released on streaming platforms in 2011 & 2021, respectively, by Sony Music.

As of March 2021, ownership of the rights to the series is currently unknown. The last known rights holder (for broadcast distribution only) was 20th Century Fox in the 1980s. However, in the 1970s and 1980s most of its episodes were released on 16mm film, which have been uploaded by numerous users to YouTube.

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal air date
1"Footprints Under The Window" / "Hunting for Hidden Gold"September 6, 1969 (1969-09-06)
2"Mystery of the Desert Giant" / "The Viking Symbol Mystery"September 13, 1969 (1969-09-13)
3"The Secret of the Old Mill" / "The Missing Chums"September 20, 1969 (1969-09-20)
4"The Secret Warning" / "The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior"September 27, 1969 (1969-09-27)
5"The Mystery of Cabin Island" / "The Hidden Harbor Mystery"October 4, 1969 (1969-10-04)
6"The Secret of the Caves" / "A Figure In Hiding"October 11, 1969 (1969-10-11)
7"The Ghost at Skeleton Rock" / "The Mystery of the Chinese Junk"October 18, 1969 (1969-10-18)
8"The Shore Road Mystery" / "The Sign of the Crooked Arrow"October 25, 1969 (1969-10-25)
9"What Happened at Midnight" / "The Clue in the Embers"November 1, 1969 (1969-11-01)
10"The Clue of the Screeching Owl" / "The Yellow Feather Mystery"November 8, 1969 (1969-11-08)
11"The House on the Cliff" / "Mystery of the Spiral Bridge"November 15, 1969 (1969-11-15)
12"The Mystery at Devil's Paw" / "The Haunted Fort"November 22, 1969 (1969-11-22)
13"The Sinister Signpost" / "The Melted Coins"November 29, 1969 (1969-11-29)
14"The Mark on the Door" / "The Flickering Torch Mystery"December 6, 1969 (1969-12-06)
15"The Secret of Wildcat Swamp" / "The Clue of the Broken Blade"December 13, 1969 (1969-12-13)
16"The Hooded Hawk Mystery" / "The Short Wave Mystery"December 20, 1969 (1969-12-20)
17"The Phantom Freighter" / "The Secret of Pirates Hill"December 27, 1969 (1969-12-27)

Related Research Articles

<i>Scooby-Doo</i> American animated media franchise

Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, for Hanna-Barbera. The series features four teenagers: Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Shaggy Rogers, and their talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo, who solve mysteries involving supposedly supernatural creatures through a series of antics and missteps, while traveling using a brightly colored van called the "Mystery Machine". The franchise has several live-action films and shows.

Animation in the United States in the television era was a period in the history of American animation that slowly set in with the decline of theatrical animated shorts and the popularization of television animation that started in 1959, reached its peak during the 1970s, and ended around 1986. This era is characterized by low budgets, limited animation, an emphasis on television over the theater, and the general perception of cartoons being primarily for children. Due to the perceived cheap production values, poor animation, and mixed critical and commercial reception, this era is sometimes referred to as the dark age of American animation by critics.

Jonny Quest is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television series of the same name, and has come to include two subsequent television series, two television films, and three computer games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hardy Boys</span> Fictional detectives and book series

The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterparts. The characters were created by American writer Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of book packaging firm Stratemeyer Syndicate. The books were written by several ghostwriters, most notably Leslie McFarlane, under the collective pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon.

<i>The Alvin Show</i> American animated TV series

The Alvin Show is an American animated television series that aired on CBS in the early 1960s. This was the first series to feature the singing characters Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Alvin Show aired for one season, from October 4, 1961, to September 12, 1962 and was originally sponsored by General Foods through its Jell-O gelatin and Post Cereal brands. Although the series was created in color, it was initially telecast in black and white. It was later rebroadcast in color from 1962-65 for Saturday mornings on CBS and again Saturday mornings on NBC in 1979.

<i>The Archie Show</i> American TV series or program

The Archie Show is an American musical animated sitcom television series produced by Filmation for CBS. Based on the Archie Comics, created by Bob Montana in 1941, The Archie Show aired Saturday mornings on CBS from September 1968 to 1969. The show featured the main characters in the Archie series, including Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Reggie Mantle, Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge.

<i>Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels</i> Television series

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from September 10, 1977, to June 21, 1980. All 40 episodes are available on the Boomerang subscription app.

The Little Rascals is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and King World Productions. It first aired on ABC on September 25, 1982. A spin-off based on the live-action Our Gang comedy shorts, it was broadcast as part of The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show in 1982 and then as part of The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show in 1983.

<i>The New Scooby-Doo Movies</i> American animated television series (1972–74)

The New Scooby-Doo Movies is an American animated mystery comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. It is the second television series in Scooby-Doo franchise, and follows the first incarnation, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! It premiered on September 9, 1972, and ended on October 27, 1973, running for two seasons on CBS as the only hour-long Scooby-Doo series. Twenty-four episodes were produced, sixteen for the 1972–73 season and eight more for the 1973–74 season.

<i>The House on the Cliff</i> 1927 book by Franklin W. Dixon

The House On The Cliff is the second book in the original Hardy Boys series published by Grosset & Dunlap. The book ranks 72nd on the Publishers Weekly's All-Time Bestselling Children's Book List in the United States with 1,712,433 copies sold as of 2001. This book is one of the "Original 10" Hardy Boys books and is an excellent example of the writing style used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate's writers. This style influenced many other "youth adventure series" books that the Stratemeyer Syndicate also published, including the Nancy Drew series, the Tom Swift adventure series, the Bobbsey Twins and other lesser known series. All of them used a unique writing style that made them very recognizable as Stratemeyer product.

<i>Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!</i> American animated television series

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on September 13, 1969, and aired for two seasons until October 31, 1970. In 1978, a selection of episodes from the later animated series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics and The Scooby-Doo Show were aired on ABC under the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! title name, and was released in a DVD set marketed as its third season. It also aired on BBC One in the UK from 1970 to 1973. The complete series is also available on Boomerang, Max, and Tubi streaming services.

<i>Fred and Barney Meet the Thing</i> American animated television series

Fred and Barney Meet the Thing is an American animated package show and a spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on NBC from September 8, 1979, to December 1, 1979.

<i>The Kwicky Koala Show</i> American Saturday-morning cartoon

The Kwicky Koala Show is a 30-minute Saturday-morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Hanna Barbera Pty, Ltd. that aired on CBS from September 12 to December 26, 1981. This series is notable for being among cartoon director Tex Avery's final works; he died during production in 1980. As it was produced in Australia, the Cartoon Network and later Boomerang broadcasts were sourced from PAL masters, rather than NTSC masters like many other Hanna-Barbera productions. Each segment has also been shown separately as filler between shows on Boomerang.

<i>The New Adventures of Superman</i> (TV series) 1966-1970 animated television series

The New Adventures of Superman is a series of six-minute animated Superman adventures produced by Filmation that were broadcast Saturday mornings on CBS from September 10, 1966, to September 5, 1970. The 68 segments appeared as part of three different programs during that time, packaged with similar shorts featuring The Adventures of Superboy and other DC Comics superheroes.

<i>The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries</i> American television series

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is an American television mystery series based on the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew juvenile novels. The series, which ran from January 30, 1977, to January 14, 1979, was produced by Glen A. Larson from Universal Television for ABC. Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy starred as amateur detective brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, respectively, while Pamela Sue Martin starred as amateur sleuth Nancy Drew.

<i>Harlem Globetrotters</i> (TV series) Animated TV series

Harlem Globetrotters is a Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera and CBS Productions, featuring animated versions of players from the basketball team of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addison Richards</span> American actor

Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death in 1964.

The New Archie and Sabrina Hour is the seventh and final animated series featuring Archie Comics characters under the Filmation banner. The series premiered on NBC in September 1977, rebroadcasting segments from The Archie Show, as well as brand-new segments featuring Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The show's format featured three segments per episode: a 15-minute one, a 30-minute one, and another 15-minute one—with the segments separated by songs and the first segment invariably featuring and emphasizing Sabrina.

<i>The Hardy Boys</i> (2020 TV series) Canadian mystery drama television series

The Hardy Boys is a mystery drama television series, based on The Hardy Boys book series created by Edward Stratemeyer. The show is produced by Nelvana and Lambur Productions. The first season was released on Hulu on December 4, 2020, and the second season was released on April 6, 2022. The series has been renewed for a third and final season on July 26, 2023.

References

  1. Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. p. 131. ISBN   0-8108-1557-5 . Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 265–266. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  3. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 395. ISBN   978-1476665993.