@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
since I was about nine years old and they still
haven't lost their hold on me, even after so many
years. I guess they're in my heart to stay.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
That Hardy boys, throughout the years, have joined up with many allies, including Nancy Drew, Tom Swift and a mysterious government agent called Gray Man. They even managed to be seen on TV, first on Disney's Mickey Mouse Club, then in their own show staring Parker Stevenson as Frank and Shaun Cassidy as Joe. In the ninties, they resurfaced on the small screen, but the show only lasted one season.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Here's some news!! HARDY BOYS MENTINED ON HIT SHOW
On a recent episode of Corner Gas (if you haven't heard of it, you're not Canadian), several Hardy Boys books were held hostage to encourage physical fitness. Of course, to my utter dismay, the episode ended with several of the old blues being tossed into the street, narrowly avoiding being hit by a truck only because of their owner's geekiness. It was a joke, it was funny, it poked fun at those good ol' boys, but it was still a reference on national televison!
Frank and Joe Hardy
Fenton and Laura Hardy and Aunt Gertrude
Chet Morton, Biff Hooper, Tony Prito and Phil Cohen
Callie Shaw, Iola Morton and Vanessa Bender
Chief Ezra Collig, Officer Con Riley and Detective Oscar Smuff
Others
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Frank Hardy
Frank's the eldest Hardy boy.
He's eighteen and has dark hair and brown eyes.
In the original series they didn't go much into what the boys looked like beyond the basic eye and hair colour. Frank has always been the smart, logical one though. He's usually the one to get the boys out of trouble by coming up with a plan.
In both the original series and the Casefiles Frank has a girlfriend named Callie Shaw. In the Casefiles, his ability to attract the ladies is somewhat overshadowed by that of his younger brother but I guess that's a good thing since he has a steady girlfriend.
In the original series, both boys are equally into whatever activity gets them into the mystery, like fencing or deep sea diving or whatever. In the Casefiles, the boys tend to have different interests. For instance, Frank is really into karate and computers. He's the star quarterback of the Bayport football team but isn't as much of a jock as Joe. Frank is a wealth of info on anything he's read up on and tends to use this ability to his advantage.
In the Casefiles they describe Frank as being 6'1" and lean. He's strong but doesn't show it as much as Joe and he's more of a long distance runner than his little brother.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Joe Hardy
Joe's the youngest Hardy boy.
He's seventeen and has blonde hair and blue eyes.
In the original series and in the Casefiles, Joe's the impatient, headstrong, stubborn Hardy boy. He's also my favourite.
Joe had a girlfriend when the Hardy boys premiered, but the Casefiles opened with the death of Iola Morton, Joe's long-time girlfriend. Throughout the rest of the Casefiles Joe is much the ladies' man, even though in the later books he has a girlfriend in Bayport named Vanessa Bender.
Joe is really into sports - essentially he's a jock. He's reciever for the high school football team but he also plays just about every other sport too. He's also into cars and anything with an engine, his friends include a Grand prix race car driver, a biker (named Biker mind you) and the players on the pro football team he played on.
As mentioned,Joe's the headstrong Hardy brother. This and his temper have more than once gotten him into trouble, usually dragging his older brother along with him. He is, however, quite capable of getting himself out of trouble too, even if Frank usually comes up with the plans.
In the Casefiles, Joe's descibed as being 6 feet tall, just one inch shorter than his lean brother. Joe's more musclular though and is more of a sprinter than his brother. More than once, Joe has refered to himself as the brawn of the partnership, balancing out his brother's brains.
Back to Characters
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Fenton Hardy
Fenton Hardy is a private detective, papers and all. He used to be a detective with the NYPD and has friends all over the world. He also served in the army.
What can you say about the man? He's Frank and Joe's father and almost always supports them in their investigations. In the original series, Mr. Hardy's cases were almost always linked to his sons' (or is that the other way around?). In the Casefiles, he often asks his sons to help him with his cases and pretty much lets them do what ever they want. Of course, he doesn't know that his sons are galavanting around the world fighting international terrorists either.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Laura Hardy
Laura Hardy, mother of Frank and Joe, is somewhat of a non-character in both the original series and the Casefiles, although in the latter she is seen to do a little more than tell the boys to be careful. She's even kidnapped once! Mostly, though, she's seen when Frank or Joe get hurt in their home town and when her husband is missing. She seems like a nice lady but who knows?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Aunt Gertrude Hardy
Well, if Laura Hardy isn't a character, Miss Gertude certainly is, even if she wasn't seen much either.
Aunt Gertrude could always be counted on to show up at the most awkward times in the original series. Mostly she was a nuisance, a second mother to the boys but sometimes she could give help when the boys were truely stumped. She even helped Frank find Joe when he disappeared once.
In the Casefiles, Gertrude lives with the Hardys and still acts as a second mother to Frank and Joe. She's as prim and proper as ever and usually expresses her love of the boys through reprimands for making their mother worry and lots of baked goods. Needless to say, whether in the originals or the Casefiles, Chet loves her.
Back to Characters
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Chet Morton
Chet's one of the Hardy brothers' oldest friends. In the original series, he almost always got involved in their cases, as much as he said he hated danger. He also always seemed to be interested in something that helped them on their case or got them involved in the first place. Chet could always be counted on for help and a good laugh.
The Chet of the Casefiles is a different sort Chet. He's still pudgy and overweight and he still loves to eat but he's not always involved in the boys' mysteries. He's also not as against physical exhertion, he's even on the football team. Things got strange for a while between Joe and Chet after Chet's sister and Joe's girlfriend, Iola, died but Chet can still be counted on for help when the Hardy's need it most.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Biff Hooper
Alan "Biff" Hooper was always the big guy, even in the original series. He's nicknamed after his uncle, who was a boxer. Luckily Biff inherited the ability to fight along with the name. He quite often gets involved in cases with the boys and is usually called when someone big and scary is needed.
In the Casefiles, Biff isn't quite as good a friend as in the good old days. He gets in trouble with the law and doesn't seem to hang around with the same crowd. He's still there when the Hardys need him though and is always up for a rumble. Like in the old stories, Biff is still a jock, but I don't know about the boxing part.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Tony Prito
In the original originals, Tony was an italian immigrant who couldn't speak english very well but they rewrote his character when they modernized the books and Tony became one of the gang. He was another boy the Hardys could call on when they need help.
In the Casefiles, Tony's been described as arrogant. He's still "one of the boys" but just like the rest of the original group, he's not seen all that much. Tony works at a pizza joint in the Bayport Mall and is usually found there when the boys have things to discuss or need his help.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Phil Cohen
Out of all the Hardys' friends, Phil and Chet are my favourite. Phil was there in the original series described as a quiet boy and good at drawing.
The Casefiles made Phil a computer whiz and somewhat of a geek. He even has his own chemisty lab. He's still a pretty quiet boy but if Frank and Joe run into something they can't find or can't figure out, they turn to Phil. He also runs tests for them when the police either can't be trusted or are too slow.
Back to Characters
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Callie Shaw
Callie Shaw has been Frank Hardy's girlfriend since the very beginning, although they didn't call her his "girlfriend" back then, she was just the girl that Frank especially liked. Usually, like the other females, Callie was a non-character, only appearing at dances and other dates with Frank and occasionally to worry about him when he was hurt.
Things changed in the Casefiles. Callie Shaw became a headstrong aspiring news reporter who quite often nosed into the boys' investigations. A few times she got hurt or kidnapped. Joe and her don't get along, probably because they're fighting for Frank's attention (and also because she's very much a feminist and Joe's a bit sexist) but I have no doubt that they could get along if they tried. As much as I try not to like Callie for what she does to Joe, I just like her too much.
Callie is described as having blonde hair and blue eyes.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Iola Morton
Iola Morton has been Joe's girlfriend as long as Callie's been Frank's, but they didn't call her that either. The two girls were often seen hanging out together and were sometimes called best friends.
Sadly, in the first book of the Casefiles, Iola was killed by a car bomb. This gave the boys a chance to battle the "Assassins" a really big, really old terrorist organization. Since then Iola has lived only as a painful memory to her friends and her boyfriend, Joe. She's been cloned and used to hurt the two brothers several times, especially Joe. Iola continues to be a source of angst and sadness and only thus does she continues as a character in the Casefiles.
Iola is described as having dark brown hair and "pixie-like" features.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Vanessa Bender
Since the death of Iola, Joe's had a new girl in practicaly every book, but he never had one he really, really liked, except the ones that either already had a guy or were criminals, or that liked his older brotther instead. In a book called "Mayhem in Motion" (?) a pretty, ash-blonde girl named Vanessa moved to Bayport and, surprise, surprise, she had a mystery that needed solving. Enter Joe's new semi-steady girlfriend.
Honestly, I think I like Vanessa more than Iola. She's funny, smart, almost a computer geek and she's headstrong enough to be able to put Joe in his place much better than Callie. Of course, having Vanessa around doesn't mean that Joe doesn't sometimes look at other girls and flirt with any that come his way during a case.
Back to Characters
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Chief Ezra Collig
As Chief of the Bayport police, Collig is the person the boys have had to deal with when their investigations occur in their hometown. In the originals, the chief was often their rival, backed up by his underlings Officer Riley and Detective Smuff. In the Casefiles, Collig is a good friend of Fenton Hardy's and, while not necessarily encouraging the boys, he has been known to help them in his own way.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Officer Con Riley
In the original books, Officer Riley was the cop who showed up to send the boys home when they were caught investigating. In the Casefiles, he's often the cop who shows up to send the boys home when their caught investigating. In the Casefiles, however, he has been known to help the boys out, even when they're supposed to stay out of the way and seems to be a good friend to them.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Detective Oscar Smuff
Detective Smuff is more a nuisance than anything else. He often gets in the way of any investigation and is often competing with the boys to solve the current mystery. The boys of course always win. He appears mostly in the first few books of the originals than the others and shows up only a few times in the Casefiles.
Back to Characters
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@