Shaun Squad Society
The Shaun Squad Society Podcast is a podcast written, produced and hosted by three women who want to keep the Magic of a Midnight Sky alive!
Cindy, Dorese and Dame became friends at a Shaun Cassidy concert and immediately decided to form "The Shaun Squad." Soon after, the Shaun Squad Society Podcast was conceived to discuss and reminisce about all-things Shaun Cassidy, from his first years as a teen idol to his current career as a writer and producer.
This podcast brings together a community of Shaun's devoted fans, the ones who played his albums non-stop, and who tuned into The Hardy Boys Mysteries every Sunday evening. And now, 46 years later, Shaun's story-telling tour has delighted fans again. So, join us for the stories, fun-facts, and fascinating interviews as we take you down memory lane with our Teen Dream, Shaun Cassidy.
Shaun Squad Society
The Hardy Boys: A Trip Down Memory Lane
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Were taking a trip down memory lane to when The Hardy Boys roamed our television screens. As we embark on our journey down nostalgia lane, we're going to spend this time together reminiscing about our all-time favorite teenage detectives, Frank and Joe Hardy. We'll share tales of the unforgettable episodes that took us on a rollercoaster of mystery and adventure. We'll even remember the times when our heroes had a regular feature on the 1950s Mickey Mouse Club television show.
Remember Parker Stevenson, the captivating actor who brought Frank Hardy to life on the small screen? In a recent episode we had a delightful conversation with him, and today we'll be revisiting some of that discussion. While we're at it, we'll discuss how the Hardy boys had a James Bond-like coolness. We'll also delve into our experiences as members of The Hardy Boys fan club, and the pure joy and sense of belonging it brought us.
To round up our discussion, we'll share some behind-the-scenes anecdotes like the close calls Shaun and Parker had while filming, and how the show commemorated the 50th anniversary of The Hardy Boys books. Plus, we'll talk about the various adaptations over the years and give a nod to the newest streaming series featuring Rowan Campbell and Alexander Elliott as Joe and Frank. So, buckle up and join us on this whimsical journey back to our teenage years where mystery, adventure, and the unforgettable charm of The Hardy Boys reign supreme.
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Discussing the Hardy Boys TV Show
Speaker 1Well, there was a column apparently every month came out in tiger bee called the truth, from Sean and Parker. So every month girls would send in their questions and ask questions to Sean Parker. So you can see what was going on with them while they were doing the hardy boys.
Speaker 2Welcome to the Sean's Quad Society podcast. With your host, myself, penny, cindy, demadonna and Doris, and I invite you to share our love and enthusiasm for all things Sean Cassidy, from his TNIDAL days to his recent adventure back on the road again. Please join us for our stories and memories that connected us to those happy days that helped create the Sean's Quad Society podcast.
Speaker 3Welcome back. Today is just the three of us. Penny can't be with us, so you have just Cindy DeMadonna and myself and we're going to be talking about our favorite teenage sluice the hardy boys. On a previous episode we talked in depth with Parker Stevenson, who, of course, was Frank Hardy, and Parker shared many stories about them in the show, the before they were stars guest and working with Sean. You guys remember that. I remember that. I think my favorite part was when he said he had a bungalow or something, or they. They said at the lunch table when the cafeteria comes after it hit you Alfred.
Speaker 1Hitchcock. Do you believe that he?
Speaker 3goes hello.
Speaker 1Who are you?
Speaker 3That was my favorite part of the interview. He was like I'm just, I'm just being Parker, mr Hitchcock.
Speaker 1Nobody, he did not say his name, he just asked how the lunch was.
Speaker 3Yeah, but there were so many great parts of that episode and I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1It was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3It was, and I think that today, with the hardy boys, we're going to have a lot of fun too.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, we're going to continue the conversation. We're going to be chatting about some of those popular guests, of course, that were on the episodes, and we'll also share some of our favorite episodes, tell you which ones we liked the best. But I bet you didn't know the hardy boys was a regular feature in the 1950s Mickey Mouse Club. How many knew that? I didn't know that.
Speaker 3I kind of knew.
Speaker 4In the late 50s there was the Mickey Mouse Club and it was contracted with the author of the hardy boys and I watched some of that and I thought, hmm, I don't know about these shows, but it was nice for some of the kids back then because they couldn't wait to run home and watch these shows, just like you know, us watching them in the 70s or you guys watching them in the 70s. They were always working on mysteries. It was based on the original books a little bit more. The first one, the Disney Mickey Mouse one, and it helped to capture the slightly you know the nature of the hardy boys, which was a little bit rebellious but fun. It made kids feel like when they watched it that they were more grown up. So it was really based for the junior age and to this day it's still fun for us to go back and watch them. So you put ourselves in that.
Speaker 3When I was a kid they used to show reruns of the Mickey Mouse Club like after school I think and so I would watch those reruns and I loved watching those episodes of the hardy boys on that show. So in the 70s when the hardy boys started I was like, oh, that's the hardy boys from the Mickey Mouse Club. But I hadn't put it together in my head that it was going to be a different series.
Speaker 4Well, I have learned so much just by going back and doing the research. As a kid, when I would get off of the bus I would have to wait for my dad to finish working at this logging company in Northern California and I didn't have a TV at my house, but every day I would get to this trailer that I would wait in while my dad was working. And I remember watching Scooby Doo and I don't really like dark shows, but as a kid Scooby Doo never made me feel scared, but it made me enjoy it and I just thought it was so much fun. And going back and watching these episodes I really feel the same way. I feel like, okay, these four fun shows.
Speaker 4And Parker, who we talked to, always seem to be so calm in all of these shows and that's just the way he was, even when he talked to us. And so in the shows with the new hardy boys I say new 70s he just was that person. Even for Sean, sean seemed to be the goofy one a little bit and the older brother, parker as Frank, he seemed to be that same calm person that we talked to this last week.
Speaker 1And when, damon, I have a question. You mentioned Scooby Doo.
Speaker 4Yes, they were they were detectives too, yes, and it just made me think of the same thing. And I'm always telling you, girls, I don't like the dark stuff and I don't want to watch that.
Speaker 3More lighthearted mystery, but Scooby Doo was just a little teenage a bunch of teenagers running around solving mysteries. Exactly, and it was a cartoon, so of course it was a children's type of show. It wasn't really dark and mysterious.
Speaker 4But you girls know how I am about. But this, the hardy boy shows, were fun. There were a couple that I was like I'm not going to watch those, but most of them were actually fun, and my husband was in the middle of watching these with me too, and he said it. This reminds me when I was a kid. Now let's watch the love boat, because that should be coming on next. So it just took us back to that decade.
Speaker 4And whether I watch these all or not at that time. I have done that, you know, within these last few weeks, and it's worth going back and watching these.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1Yes, and the whole premise was the hardy boys. Frank and Joe Hardy are fictional teenage brothers and amateur detectives. Frank is supposed to be 18, joe is supposed to be around 17. They live with their father and their mother and their aunt and Grotrud. So apparently they see their father do this work and they want to do it too, but they Don't want it to be violent or anything. They made it.
Speaker 3Yes, they made it more children age appropriate, because you know the book which I never read I think I read one, me too, one Hardy Boy's book. And were they a little younger than teenage, were they like 10, or were they also in their late teens?
Speaker 4That is the time when kids get excited about chapter books, and so it seemed like back in those days that this was a big deal for people to get the series or the set, and so every young boy thinks you know what I want to be a detective. My son used to buy the kit so that he could wear these glasses where he could see people behind him and stuff like that, and I was like, I was like, really, luke.
Speaker 1I've seen those kids before. To be a detective he was all into it.
Speaker 4So he had his grandma, who has antique store, to give him these books. So it was a big deal to him. And now I have learned more about that Mickey Mouse Club, you know, and how it was part of a show way back in like 1956, 1957.
Speaker 1Yeah, I never saw those. I didn't remember.
Speaker 4Well, I watched a few of them online. I mean, anybody can do that, I guess. But I was just like, hmm, no wonder the newer Hardy Boy's of the 70s just took off, I mean.
Speaker 3but were the characters Frank and Joe Hardy? Were they more 10, 11, 12, or were they teenage, late teenage like?
Speaker 4seven, I remember them boys yeah.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 4And then, the book.
Speaker 3I think they were boys.
Speaker 4True, but with Frank and Joe they seem to have that chemistry and I could almost see them acting like the guys in the real show, you know, like when they're playing the Hardy boys. And just even talking to Parker, remember that he said something like this I I read this that Parker recently told us about how they would go to work at 5 am. And these are his words. We were falling asleep all over the place. We were trying to stay awake, but the last shot we did was in a graveyard. You, girls, remember him talking about that?
Speaker 1Oh yeah, he said that was a promo episode, I think.
Speaker 4Well, yes, you're right, and there was a scene he said like this but they had to actually put a tarp over the top of the hole in the ground. So he said, we climbed out there and we shot our last scene under this tarp in a hole in the ground because we literally could no longer shoot because of the light.
Speaker 3The sun was coming up.
Speaker 4Yeah, so they would work 18 hours a day. They would, while they were good thing they were young, I don't know about the other, but anyway this show was supposed to be, you know, wholesome and tame and fun, and so I'm sure they made it fun and they really had to get to know each other pretty well. And I remember when we talked to Parker that he said no, he wasn't really a mentor for Sean, but later on I read that Sean did feel like he was.
Speaker 1I would think so. On the set. I mean, that's so much with his concerts, but while he's on the set filming with him, he spent the whole day with him. He said they spent a lot of time together. I'm pretty sure that Parker was a stability forum during that time on the set.
Speaker 3Well, maybe on the set, but remember, we're reading things that someone wrote 45 years ago and Parker is telling us today that this is how it was. So, maybe on the set, maybe back in the 70s, sean, did you know some sort of big brother connection, mentorship with Parker?
Speaker 4Well, they also said that they would work until like two or three in the morning. Some, you know, on Friday nights Sean would actually leave and go off on tour for the weekend, and then he would just stagger back in on Monday morning, probably after some of those concerts that you girls went to. I don't know. Yeah, so he would come in like a cat that was dragged in is what.
Speaker 1Parker, the doubleheader he did in Chicago back then and I remember reading he had the flu at those concerts. He had a fever. So I can imagine him flying in in a snowstorm doing two shows and going back to the Hardy boys the next day. He must have been totally exhausted.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 1And I was also reading about the Hardy boys too, and basically how they describe the characters was Frank was the thinker and Joe was more impulsive and a little bit more athletic. So the two boys kind of worked good together in that respect where they brought a little bit of each personality into the show, which you can tell why you watch the show. You know, frank's always okay and I just think about this and Joe's like okay, let's go do this.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah, I watched two over the weekend and that was that yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, and that's how they wanted them to be. That's how it was described that these characters are going to be like, so they were perfect for the parts.
Speaker 4And it's funny because when you listened to Parker's description of the show, he said the Hardy boys was the show that was just sort of sweet, but Sean would fall in love with some girl, or then she'd fall in love with him and there'd be a sweet, you know, like little kiss or something which we didn't always like.
Speaker 1I know. Joe always got to kiss the girl.
Speaker 3Joe got the girl or got to kiss the girl yeah.
Speaker 1And what I also noticed in the series too. This was funny when I was watching some of the episodes. Frank's always the one checking them at the hotel. He's always at the front desk. If you notice it in the episode, he's at their front desk and Sean's off talking to some girl somewhere.
Speaker 3Joe is off. Yeah, yeah to a girl. Yes, I was watching, I could put those spies. I was watching that and they had to go check in an aquapoco because their dad was missing and they had to figure out what happened. Big old miscommunication. They think these two girls are the contact that they're supposed to meet to help them find their dad. But Frank, it's all for the desk being the big brother making sure everything is getting taken care of. There's Joe spying these two girls off in the distance, and you know. So that was the way they made it. Joe was kind of the girl chaser and Frank was always taking care of business.
Speaker 1Taking care of business, right. And they also read too that Frank and Joe are somewhat they're supposed to be somewhat wealthy, right, this is the idea of it. And they often travel to faraway places. They can go to Mexico, they go to Scotland, they go to Iceland, there's a place in Egypt, kenya, there's all these shows that are around these different areas that they go to, and they also travel by different ways. They go by motorcycle, motorboat, ice boat, train, airplane. It sounded like James Bond, yeah like their little James Bond A younger version of James Bond.
Speaker 1Yes, yeah, that was kind of funny. I read that I was like, oh, that's interesting yeah.
Speaker 3How many 19 year old kids I mean? Frank was saying he has his pilot license for small planes or something because he had to take down the plane that was getting a crash in the Bermuda Triangle.
Speaker 1Right.
Speaker 3Right. So he had to land the plane and I'm like man, you guys got pilot license 19 years old.
Speaker 1Well, yeah, right, and I think they learned a lot from their father. Their father was a detective Right. They wanted to do what their father was doing, so they followed along and got involved with all these mysteries.
Speaker 4Yeah, but they said even in reality, with Sean and Parker, it was funny to watch them do these investigations because they said man, in real life, they would even be able to do them the way they got into it. So this show the house on the show was located at the Universal Studio on Colonial Street where Cleaver's second home remember from Leave it to Beaver once stood.
Speaker 2Yeah, Well, yeah.
Speaker 4The Hardy Boys house is known as the Johnson home. I guess, and like I had talked to you girls about earlier, it was also used as Tom Hanks movie. Is it called the Burbs or something?
Speaker 3The Burbs yeah.
Speaker 4All right. Well, I just had read that little bit of research, you know, and I also read that Leslie McFarlane wrote the original books for the Hardy Boys.
Speaker 1And apparently they were a ghost writer. They were a ghost writer, so they went under the name Dixon.
Speaker 4In these shows. I had fun watching them because you could just see these guys driving around in their groovy wood panel van. It reminded me of something that my own kids would do.
Speaker 1Yeah, I always wondered where that van was, just like you wonder where the Partridge family bus went. Where did the Hardy Boys van go?
Speaker 4Yeah, that's so cool yeah, no way yeah, for sure, it was just a van.
Speaker 1They each had their vehicle. Yeah, had to be a cool vehicle.
Speaker 4But now, after talking to Parker, as I told you girls, I have a huge admiration for him now, and he also said that Sean and him couldn't have been more different. But he said they had the same sense of humor and so that was fun for them. On the show they would just crack each other up all the time.
Speaker 1Sometimes you can see that through the show too, like when they were watching the Hardy Boys. Sometimes you can sense that, I think.
Speaker 4Well, he said it really didn't make sense because he was preppy, ivy League type of child, while I say team, and he was the heir to the entertainment. That was Sean. So it was just interesting how they had that chemistry. Yeah, yeah, but it worked, it worked great. Oh yeah, they crack you up, they crack me up and they had so much fun. Talk about, like you said, the chemistry.
Speaker 1And Frank never wanted to listen to hear Joe thing or. Joe would do some songs and Parker had something else to do, frank would be off doing his whole checking out some clue about the mystery or something. Yes, joe, would look where are you going. I'm not done yet Every time.
Speaker 4Every time. Well, the show called Wipeout. That one was funny too, because his little tape recorder that you guys are mentioning that actually saved lives, because he thought, well, if my brother's not going to listen, I'm just going to record myself singing up here on stage here in Hawaii. And so he used that little tape recorder up there and his brother would take off like he had something else to do every time.
Speaker 1Okay, but a question Did Frank ever, ever in any of the episodes ever listen to the whole song he sang? I don't think there was ever an episode.
Speaker 2There was never a closure with that, frank saw through an entire Joe Hardy.
Speaker 1I was wondering about that. I'm like, did it. And then there was a little closure and Frank said hey, I listened to your whole song.
Speaker 3But speaking of the little tape recorder, a lot of people may not remember, so we'll just tell you real quick. That tape recorder that James talked about is Cindy and I would record the Hardy boys on our little cassette players and cassette recorders and we would put the microphone up to the TV and try to record. Every Sunday the Hardy boys would come on and she lived by the airport and I would have a brother, so Cindy had planes going over the house making noise and I had brothers breaking into the room, screaming and yelling.
Speaker 1And I never went back to listen to them. So I don't even know if I heard a plane going over when I recorded that. Did you ever go back and listen to yours? Yeah, and I had brothers and you heard them in the background.
Speaker 3They would come in and they would do it right when they knew I couldn't pause it because it was in the middle.
Speaker 1Right, I couldn't pause a show at that time it was on and then the commercial came on and then you could pause it. And I think I did pause during commercials.
Speaker 3I didn't want the commercials in there. Yeah, I would pause at my commercials, so you had to pay attention.
Speaker 1Yeah, this was a job. This was a job.
Speaker 4Yeah Well, luckily, luckily, now you can just go on like Peacock, and so that's for anybody. They can go back and watch all the Hardy boys.
Speaker 1Oh it's great now because back then, when we recorded on this cassette, this was the only memory we were going to have. Yeah, yeah, who knew this? Was it Like? You have to keep this cassette? So I had a box. I put all my cassettes in a box and it traveled with me until I got lost somewhere. But that was going to be our only memory. But now, who knew? These days you could find it anywhere.
Speaker 3I got those cassettes and they're all crumbly and everything, but I would still love to hear one of those cassettes.
Speaker 1You'll never hear it. I would like to see you try to play one, yeah. Let's try and experiment and see if those Hardy boy tapes work. That would be a hard no.
Speaker 3They won't play. Well, find a cassette player. Well, I do have a cassette player.
Speaker 4Okay, we'll try it, we'll try it when they see if those cassettes hold up. We used to use those to record in our classes too, so we could remember what the teacher was saying.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, that was the medium back then.
Speaker 4Yeah, that little tape, that little tiny one with the little tiny cassette.
Speaker 3Oh yeah, those micro cassettes came along later.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think about 83 cassettes video BCRs came out.
Speaker 3I think they were out a little sooner, but they were for people with money For beta.
Speaker 1Right, people with money. We couldn't afford a beta, but it was beta and BCR. Yeah, because I remember when I got married, my mother-in-law bought us a beta and a BCR because she thought the beta was going to be popular yeah, but ended up being the VHS.
Speaker 3Yes, I used to have a beta, because I thought that was going to be the popular one, right.
Speaker 1So the first one I bought was a beta and I think back then they didn't know which way they were going with them.
Speaker 4But Well, we never. We never know what's next, but but I did.
Speaker 1Oh no, it's amazing. Yes, a few years later, when Sean was on Sala Gold or whoever, with Marilyn McCoo yes Singing, I remember using the VHS tape at work. I was working and it came on and I used their VHS player at work.
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 1And I did tape Sean on that Sala Gold episode with Marilyn McCoo singing that William Elson song. I needed to use work resources there yes. And I told everybody at work. I said I need to record this and it was new back then yeah. Yeah, but it worked out really well. I had it for a while, but then I don't remember recording anything else after that.
Speaker 4That's what we do. Well, sorry, sean, it's a habit, you gotta record.
Speaker 3You just have to, and it's just going to be what it is. Yeah, did you have anything else that you wanted to share?
Speaker 4On the one called Campus Terror. I didn't really like that one because it turned Valerie Burton Alley into something just like almost scary.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, just watch that one. She had those two personalities. Yes, I watched that one.
Speaker 4I really did not like it, but she was a new actress.
Speaker 1You know how Parker talked about new talent coming out. She was one of them.
Speaker 4Yeah, really they had her with two personalities. She started being all sweet to Sean because, because, Joe ex-girlfriend.
Speaker 1Yeah, that's why, I meant yeah, we got same character.
Speaker 4Yeah, so I remember just watching that and Valerie Burton Ellie, just I was like man. They made her into something almost scary and I always thought she was so cute. I.
Speaker 1Do remember that, but she was so young. So yeah, you girls.
Speaker 4Remember the ending of that one. I did not like the ending of it because Joe said that he was going to get her help because she had to be in that psych ward Right. Well then he said he'd be back for her, in other words he still would love her and he'd still be coming back someday, that that wouldn't go away. And At the very end she said, oh, thank you. And then she looks out a window or something and she gives some creepy look at the Like she really I'm not gonna change, I'm still going to have a personality.
Speaker 1But didn't she get that kiss at the end? Oh, she got the kids. Yeah, she got the kids.
Speaker 4But just like a crazy ex might do, she looked out the window like ha ha.
Speaker 1I don't know how Sean fans like these kisses on the show there. That I don't know. What'd you think about that, doris, when, when Joe Hardy would kiss the girl.
Speaker 3Yeah, I didn't mind.
Speaker 1He always had the girl yeah.
Speaker 4Oh.
Speaker 3And I thought that was kind of cool. I'm like good for you, joe. You got the girl. I'll be one of them one day, don't you worry oh.
Speaker 4Did see Frank kissing a girl. It was one where he's standing out by the ocean and and she had that short hair and at first I thought, hmm, a couple guys. I was like, no, that's a pretty cute girl. Oh he was wet. Yes and they did show him like that.
Speaker 3Yeah, it was gonna go hand gliding and aquapoca spies and the girl kissed them yeah.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm, oh, that's right, yeah.
Speaker 3Yeah, I remember kiss.
Speaker 4I remember that part, but my favorite kiss is actually with the of Franks Joe's. Yeah, this one's. This one was Joe's and it was called the last kiss of summer and I didn't like that show because of what happens to his fiance, but I did like it because of the, the scenery, the ocean scenery. Definitely at the beginning, the beginning of that show just really really took me in. And it's fine. He was kissing his, his fiance. The show turned out to be kind of sad because he loses her but His big brother was always off nearby to to help him. But in this one it was Sean kissing his fiance and the ocean was in the background and he asked doesn't he ask her to marry him? Right there.
Speaker 1Yeah, that was a beautiful scene, it was a beautiful, it was so beautiful.
Speaker 4So, guys, if you're listening to this, maybe you need to try that. If you plan on asking somebody to marry you because it was gorgeous, have somebody filming by the way.
Speaker 1Yeah, and I want to mention too about all these famous people there were on the show too, whether they were starting out or not, but you would know their names, like Mark Harmon. Jamie Lee Curtis was on there. Bob Crane remember him from Hogan's heroes, bob Crane, he was on there. Rick Nelson.
Speaker 3Nelson, yeah, I can see that.
Speaker 1He is Rick Springfield. He was on a Nancy Drew episode.
Speaker 4Oh, okay, okay.
Speaker 1He did an anti-drew episode before, okay, and then the one I watched was with Melanie Griffith, and she was young too, but she did such a great job with the acting. I was highly impressed by it. I was like, wow, she's just starting out and, yeah, I was made they had a ton of before they were stars.
Speaker 3Oh exactly, oh, get in there first. Or you know, beginning roles on the Hardy boys, right, they were doing a lot of shows that you know. The agent sent you out and said here go audition for all leads, and they get them Right.
Speaker 4Well, darius, you were saying something that was kind of funny about these shows and I I thought the same thing. I kept seeing them with this dumb piece of tape and they kept going around looking for fingerprints and I'm like that would be so tedious.
Speaker 3Well, okay, so let me set this up.
Speaker 3And one of the episodes, the Alcapocas Spice episode, one of the things they were doing, and this is long before a lot of technology. But Frank and Joe were learning how to transfer Fingerprint from one surface to another and I'm watching this episode and they get to the scene where they have to lift their dad's fingerprint fingerprint off of a playing card and transfer it to kids briefcase because they want to trick someone into believing their dad had just touched that briefcase. Well, it was so funny because you put a piece of scotch tape over the original surface, you lift the print off and you take it over to the new surface, you lay the scotch tape down, the scotch tape down, press it down and peel the tape back and the fingerprint is supposed to transfer. Yeah, so I'm watching this and I didn't remember watching this episode as a girl back in the day. But then I get to this scene and I go he's going to get scotch tape transferred to fingerprint.
Speaker 2Yeah, you remember.
Speaker 3That scene stood out in my mind for all of these years how to transfer a fingerprint, I guess in case I ever needed it for whatever reason.
Speaker 1Well, you never know, still could come in handy, never know. Well, yeah, and I have a fun fact too. I don't know if you guys knew, but the series received an Emmy nomination the Hardy.
Speaker 3Boyz, yeah, mm-hmm. No way which season.
Speaker 1It doesn't say this season. It says the series received an Emmy nomination and featured a number of guest stars. Even Kim Katral was on there, was she? I don't know what that was. So she became sex in the city. Yeah right, so you never know when you watch something, this person is gonna be pretty famous.
Speaker 3Well, yeah, it was all just like back in the day when all the stars would be on the Parchus family, or even before that, yeah, adam 12, or before that. Right now, sir, those TV series if it was a hit TV series Want to be stars would try to get a role on us. Yes, they can boost their career.
Speaker 1Same with the Parchus family we talked about before. They have these people come on and they're starting out and they get to get on the show and they go off from there.
Speaker 3Any of. I get a kick out of watching old TV shows and Seeing a lot of big stars today yes, I'm talking even back before the shows we know. I watch reruns of the dick van dyke show or something real old and you go oh, they were doing the same thing. They were getting their boost on these shows, exactly.
Speaker 1You go.
Speaker 3Oh, that's so, and so they were doing that. I recognize that face. And now here they are.
Speaker 1You know, a household name and Parker was talking in his interview too about Melanie Griffith being on there. Her mom was on the set to make sure everything was okay for her and that things went well. So, yeah, I loved watching that episode. It was. She did a great job.
Speaker 4She did. But I wouldn't want to put my daughter in that no Character, because it was cute, because she got to kiss Joe.
Speaker 1But it was a scary house on the hill or something like that, so she had to deal with this house. This, I just really couldn't well.
Speaker 4Oh yeah, you're talking about Melanie Griffith.
Speaker 1Yes, in her episode.
Speaker 4Yeah, I didn't get to watch that one, because I started watching it and then I stopped.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4I didn't get to keep watching that one, because the other one that I think was thought was just as bad was that one with Valerie Bertonelli in it and it, just it, just really. I was like, okay, this may be one of her first times to act and she's doing great, but it sure doesn't go with what I saw her in in other shows, right exactly.
Speaker 3She went from that character to One day at a time. Sweet innocent Barbie, Right, no, no it was so opposite. Right.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm. Yeah, and did you know? During the second season the series format changed and it more focused on the Hardy boys and the Nancy drew member in the beginning Was Hardy boys and Nancy drew. Yes, and then the second season they made it more towards the Hardy boys and then Nancy drew would just do some crossovers with them yes, after that Because of course Sean was getting more popular and they were more focused on the Hardy boys. Now Sean was starting to sing on the shows. They like that, so it got more notoriety.
Speaker 4I noticed something about Pamela Sue Martin, and later on I know she joined the Dynastee or the cast of that. But what was funny was that I could actually think of her as kind of cool. At first I was like you know, but then I learned that she actually she joined a polo team, but then she took a Volkswagen minibus and ran around with her son. How cool is that.
Speaker 3Yeah, that's pretty cool. That's cool. Remember when Hardy Boys first started, when the Hardy Boys Nancy drew, it was three different Sundays. It was Hardy Boys. Nancy drew Brady Bunch, right, our.
Speaker 3Oh I don't remember that. Nobody remembers. No, it was the Brady Bunch variety. Hour was the third Sunday and then they would do it again and the Brady Bunch show didn't last long. No, and it was just them singing and dancing. It was all of them except Alice, and it was all of the main characters and they would. I watched it. Variety show. Yeah, I watched it.
Speaker 4Well, if you think about it, these shows are good feeling shows, you know, and so yeah, I think more so in the 70s.
Speaker 1that was geared towards that it was.
Speaker 4It was, and well, the 50s are OK, but then as it gets into nowadays, you know it's all this reality stuff which may be good or bad. But even looking back at some of the lifestyle in the 70s or the 50s or 60s or whatever, right when we compare it to now, with us being so busy, just going on and on and on, as women, you know, with our jobs and stuff. So, but still, we still like to go back to these old shows. We do get that, get that warm feeling once again.
Speaker 1Yeah, and the Hardy Boys house yeah, and they did three seasons and actually the third season they dropped Nancy, you character all together. Did you know that? Yes, yeah, no, nancy, and it was just shortened to the title of the Hardy Boys. That was it for the third season.
Speaker 4I noticed that too.
Speaker 1And I want to tell you too. I have this TV guide in front of me and let me tell you the date. It's May 29th to June 4th 1977. The Hardy Boys are on the cover. It's from the Chicago Tribune newspaper. So I flip it to Sunday, because Sunday at 6 pm Hardy Boys are on right In Chicago. This is what it says for the episode for that night. The Hardy Boys, believing their father is on a fishing trip, spot him coming out of a hotel in a nearby city. When they see the two men trailing their father, they follow and are off on a suspenseful adventure. I wonder what episode that was. It doesn't say. It doesn't say the episode, but that was that day in history. What year was it? 1977. Okay, the first season, may 29th.
Speaker 3All right, so we just have to look on your DVD box set over there and see what was near the end of season one, 1977.
Speaker 1Oh well, let me see if it even lists all of them on here, because I don't know if it listed in order. I don't think it does.
Speaker 3There's nothing on the back that says each episode, no, no, no we can't really tell oh and it's not open unless somebody out there knows what the name of that episode was?
Speaker 1Let us know.
Speaker 3Well, I didn't bring mine in the meantime.
Speaker 4Well, sean had auditioned for a role for happy days. Well, he didn't get that one, but that wasn't a problem, because the second one he auditioned for was the Hardy Boys, and Jamie Lee Curtis auditioned for the role of Nancy Drew.
Speaker 3I don't know if you girls knew that I did not know that, and this was really cool for Sean back in those days he earned.
Speaker 4It said $15,000 per week on the show, but where he pulled in the most was on all of his royalties. You know, like all this stuff that I have collected and put in my closet, that's where he did really well. Everybody wanted a picture of Sean, so if it was on anything it would sell and Well, that's part of being a T-Nitle.
Speaker 1You said that. I still do it.
Speaker 3You said he lost the role to Ron Howard.
Speaker 4Well, he was auditioning for the lead in John Wayne movies. What I meant is called the shoot test. He lost, and then it said that he lost out to happy day star Ron Howard.
Speaker 3Yeah, Well, what's funny is he was. Here's our six degrees for this episode. So Sean Cassidy loses a role to Ron Howard, who works with Sean, who works with Shirley Jones, and two movies.
Speaker 4That's right, six degrees.
Speaker 1Yeah, you know what the last episode was was called life on the line, air, january 14th 1979. And it was the final appearance of Sean Cassidy and Parker Stevenson in the Hardy Boys. It was about Joe and Frank are assigned to protect a motocross racer, the daughter of a mob informant, who has been threatened by assassins, but a strange woman has become obsessed with Frank. Oh, so Frank did have a woman somewhere.
Hardy Boys Fan Club and Memorabilia
Speaker 4I just remember the one I was telling you about by the ocean, but anyway, yes, so cool All of these shows and I also watched one that was called the secret of the whispering walls or something, oh, and they were using, like the, what we have now was at the green screen and all that. Yeah, they were using different effects and I thought that was so funny because it was so corny, but they were still beginning to use some of the new technology that they use all the time, right In what they make now. Yeah, but watch that one where the wall disappears. It looks so fake, but yet they were learning, they were starting to learn the stuff that is leading into the technology of today. Do you remember that one?
Speaker 2Right yeah.
Speaker 4The wall or something where the floor disappears and or something like that. And then they get a beautiful old, like antique looking room and then that room disappears and I forget what they were looking for.
Speaker 1But interesting about how they use special effects then and now. Everything is a AG or AI now or whatever.
Speaker 3Yes, it's artificial intelligence and you got the graphics.
Speaker 1Yeah Right, so much better, so much. Can you imagine if they did the Hardy Boys these days with those graphics?
Speaker 3I wanted to talk a little bit about the Hardy Boys fan club. Did we all join the fan club? Dame, did you join? You didn't join a fan club.
Speaker 4Well, I just joined Scholastic all the time, but as far as being up to date with all the fan club and stuff, no, I didn't get to do that.
Speaker 3OK, well, I joined the Hardy Boys Fan Club Me too. They and Cindy joined, and I brought with me today my Hardy Boys Fan Club membership part in the same wallet that it was has been since the day I got it, and inside of there are also four little wallet size pictures that came with your memory.
Speaker 1I remember that.
Speaker 3And I have Frank Hardy and Joe Hardy and each two pictures each.
Speaker 1And they're like two by two, right, they're like wallet size.
Speaker 3That's all I have left in my fan club membership, because one day when I was at school, my mother went into my room and took all of my Hardy Boys membership stuff and threw it away. No, so I don't have anything, except for what I have with me that day, which is why I cherish it and keep it in that same wallet and carry it everywhere I go. I don't carry it with me, it stays safe at home, but every move I make I make sure I have it.
Speaker 4What I have learned about you, darius, is that it's the memory behind the things that you have. So I noticed that about you, so that's why your little personal cards meant so much to you. You have the story behind it, yes, and it was yours to begin with. Yes, it meant so much more to you.
Speaker 3It has to have a meaning, personal, personal attachment, and my membership to the Hardy Boys fan club, just the whole story behind the little heartbreak I felt when I came home from school and all of my stuff was gone. So, yeah, but having that card. You look at that, that little blue card. It's a good condition Well, it never left and you go OK. So what exactly did this thing get me?
Speaker 1I know. Well, here I have this little pamphlet that I sent away for the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew fan club. Ok, now read you on the back what you get with the fan club stuff. So you get two eight by 10 autograph photos of five by seven and four by five photo, six wallet size photos, which is what you have. You get a biography. You get a giant 16 by 20 poster, which I think I have. That's what I brought with me today. Yes, it's 16 by 20 poster, the two of them on the Hardy Boys set.
Speaker 4Oh, I have that one too.
Speaker 1Yes, what came with that? You get an official fan club charter membership scroll suitable for framing. Do you remember getting that Dorees A scroll?
Speaker 3No, but it must have been there.
Speaker 1Yeah, right, and then you get a full color pocketed folio to hold all your fan club info. Yes, also great to keep your papers in.
Speaker 3It was. I remember the folio and I loved it because it had like the pockets, like it says, yeah, and you could put all your stuff in there.
Speaker 1I don't remember that one, but I'm sure I had it. And then the fan club newsletter. Did you get a newsletter? Quarterly Keeps you informed of upcoming events, performances and activities.
Speaker 3I think the Hardy Boys mayor went off before I got my newsletter because I don't remember getting it.
Speaker 1It was only three years, so I don't remember that. And the last thing was an official fan club membership card which we got. I lost mine, but yes, you have yours. And I remember when we were interviewing Parker, I asked you about the expiration date. Is your card still good? It?
Speaker 3says that my card expired March of 1979.
Speaker 1Oh just a little bit over. You better renew it. You're not going to be able to use it anywhere.
Speaker 3Yeah, I better. This official membership card is not transferable, so I can't give it to you, so.
Speaker 1Oh, ok, yeah. Yeah, it says it's embossed and personalized, so they do put your name on it and you get a special number on it, right?
Speaker 3Yeah, here's my number, 025-1000.
Speaker 1Oh, we can get into your account now oh yeah, I was 025-1000.
Speaker 3So got my name and everything.
Speaker 1That number entitles you to a fan club privileges, including special offers yeah, special offers and posters, buttons and more Bonus. Join both clubs and receive a free door banner for your room. So if you're part of Nancy Drew, you get a door banner. Oh boy, wow, I think we got ripped off. I don't think we got all of it.
Speaker 3That's it. You know, I don't remember receiving any of these special bonus and things, but either.
Speaker 1But I do have, I must have said, for two of them sent away because one of the coupons I still have my name on it. I was 14 years old. A one year membership costs $5. Wow that was a bargain. That's a bargain back then. How?
Speaker 4do you feel right? Oh, really.
Speaker 1Yeah, ok, please enroll me as a charter member. What's a charter member mean?
Speaker 3You're VIP. Yeah, yeah, I'm a VIP.
Speaker 1Yeah, oh, charter. Ok, I'm a charter member of the official official Hardy Boys Club.
Speaker 4I guess I didn't have $5 because I only had a few dollars at a time to buy the books and everything I could as far as posters. But girls I did get many things that were Hardy Boys. They meant so much to me. Of course I have the DVDs and the videos, but it's easier just to get on the app of Peacock now, you know it's quicker and it's right, so handy to just use that. But, as you know, I have many dolls that are of the Hardy Boys actually have. A couple of them have never been opened and I have them in their original boxes, oh nice. And my friend, jamie Hamill, knew how much I like Sean Cassidy and so she was in an antique store and she found a Hardy Boys record player and she gave it to me and I thought that was so nice of her. So it's like Darius liking the story behind it, where I didn't just buy it off at eBay, but the fact that she took time to give me that meant a lot to me.
Hardy Boys' Close Calls and Legacy
Speaker 1Right now we want to bring up before we end the episode. You know we always like to go back to Tiger Beat and check what Tiger Beat says about things. Well, there was a column apparently every month that came out in Tiger Beat called the Truth from Sean and Parker. So every month girls would send in their questions and ask questions to Sean and Parker so you could see what was going on with them while they were doing the Hardy Boys. Dear Sean and.
Speaker 3Parker, my friend told me you were nearly killed while filming the stunt for the Hardy Boys. It's not true. If it is, I sure hope nothing like that happens again. You're my favorite stars. I love you both. That was from Cindy of Denver, colorado. So, dear Cindy, we have had a few close calls. Maybe your friend was referring to the time we were filming an underwater scene together in a glass lying tank. The heat from the high intensity lamp outside the tank cracked the glass and water began pouring all over the place. We managed to get out of the tank before the water made contact with the light cord. We could have been electrocuted. Yikes, that is scary that is pretty darn scary.
Speaker 1That's scary. I have another one that says Dear Sean and Parker, did you ever read the Hardy Boy books before you won the roles in the TV show? And says, Dear Chris, this is from Chris from New York. Dear Chris, no, neither of us did. We weren't even aware that there were books until the series came up, and that's kind of funny.
Speaker 3Yeah, isn't it funny. We just said we didn't really know too much about there were books, right.
Speaker 1So they didn't either.
Speaker 3Then you have a fun fact, Cindy, about the books and how it was the anniversary or something.
Speaker 1Oh yeah, when they started filming the Hardy Boys in 77, apparently it was the 50th anniversary of the Hardy Boys. Oh OK, I don't remember them mentioning that back then, but I read about at that time was the 50th anniversary of having the books. Oh, cool yeah.
Speaker 3Dame, didn't you tell me that you read that the books were written in the 20s. There were some additions of it from the 1920s.
Speaker 4Yes, I believe that's where it all started, ok, and so I know that I've even looked at some of the old, old additions, and those have to be so collectible.
Speaker 1Yeah, there's so many versions of the Hardy Boys.
Speaker 3Yes, it's fun to see how they, how they changed over, you know, over the decades. The 20s to the 50s on the Mickey Mouse Club, to the 70s the Hardy Boys that we know and love, and then what they could do in the 21st century.
Speaker 4It said that the books came out in the 20s. Like you just said, darius, two or three generations had already been invested, though, in the Hardy boys by this time, and that's when we went into, like the Mickey Mouse show was after that in the 50s.
Speaker 1Yeah and now the new series is called the Hardy boys case files. Oh, so you can still watch a new version. I never knew. I'll try to find that. Yeah, I don't doesn't say where it's at, but there was a new version.
Speaker 4Well, I thought it was cute too when it's talking about Sean and Parker, where it said that part was exactly under that. Where I researched, it said what they lacked in credentials they made up for intelligence. So, or or with their hair, or with their incredible hair, made up for anything, they both had good hair.
Speaker 1You know, it's funny too, because when I used to remember watching the Hardy boys and making sure my tape was playing, um, I was always just watching what Sean was doing. So if you tell me what the episode was about, I kind of know it, but it was like, okay, sean's on, I have to pay attention to what he's doing. You know how he's looking and all my attention was there, so I can't tell you details about the show.
Speaker 4Because you're looking at the hair.
Speaker 1I had a focus on my cassette player and I had to make sure, yeah, and see what I had to listen to Sean every time he talked. That was my focus.
Speaker 3That's funny, you know and that's really cute.
Speaker 4That is so cute. But now that we've talked to Parker and he took time to listen to us and talk to us I have a whole different. What admiration for him.
Speaker 1Yeah, he was a great guest.
Speaker 3Yeah, his son. His character, friend Cardi, is probably not a lot different than Parker himself. Exactly Maybe not not a whole lot different.
Speaker 1No, but he does have fine memories of back those days.
Speaker 3The Hardy boys just seems to be it to endure. The Hardy boys seems to endure. They've gone from the 20s all the way through the 90s and In the 90s, in 1995, there was another adaptation Simply called the Hardy boys, which was produced by a Canadian company, and there are Hardy boys streaming series and that one is starring Rowan Campbell and Frank and Alexander Elliott as Joe and that was released on December 4th 2020. Wow, didn't know that. No, it's by Hulu and it's with Joan Lambert and Steve Cochran and second of producing the series. So there that is, in 2020, and they're saying. Several Hardy boys video games have been released over the years and there's been a comic book.
Speaker 1And you know there was also supposed to be different names for the boys. They were gonna be called either the keen boys, the scab boys, the heart boys, yeah, the Bixby boys. There were different names in play to pick which one was the best for them and they round up with Hardy boys yeah yeah, take it, and they have endured for what is a hundred years 1926,. Yeah, yeah, well, it's almost 2026.
Speaker 3Yeah, couple years, yes, amazing. One of our favorite Favorite TV shows of all time. Of course, they gave a Sean and Parker, especially Sean Cassidy, and it has endured for almost a hundred years. That says a lot.
Speaker 1It sure does, and it's still going.
Speaker 3It's still going. The characters of Joe and Frank Hardy are still going still going and I hope they still continue to go me too. This was so much fun.
Speaker 1So much fun.
Memories
Speaker 3We learned a lot. We shared a lot. Tell us by leaving us a comment on our Instagram, facebook and threats what were your favorite Hardy boys episodes or the great memories from it. Great memories from watching the Hardy boys On Sunday evenings.
Speaker 1Anybody else use their cassette recorder. I like to find out if somebody else did that or we just the only two Do you have favorite Hardy boys Trinket?
Speaker 3we look forward to hearing about it.
Speaker 2Thank you from the bottom of our teen dream hearts. Keep on crushing. Always believe in magic and have a peaceful shunt Fantastic week and don't forget to follow us on Facebook, instagram and threads and make sure to keep in touch with us on our email, sean squad society at gmailcom.
Speaker 2The Sean's Quad Society podcast, including past, present and future versions, and its contents are owned and controlled by the Sean's Quad Society. The views and opinions are solely those of the Sean's Quad Society podcast. The Sean's Quad Society is written and produced and recorded at the board and studios. We may think we are always right, but we will get something wrong from time to time. So we assume no responsibilities or ears of submissions of content.