Deep Dive into Hardy Boys Episode "Campus Terror"

We revisit The Hardy Boys episode, “Campus Terror,” and the night Valerie Bertinelli upended every assumption about who counts as a suspect and what makes a teen idol compelling. The fun is in the misdirection—a self-defense coach, an IT professor with a mainframe called “the Rock,” and bikers with suspicious timing—but the lasting power comes from Joe’s quiet steadiness and the way fear softens into empathy.

We share why this season two finale became a turning point for Shaun Cassidy: more of a serious tone, more gravity, and a performance that older teens embraced. There’s a harder conversation too. The script mislabels Wendy’s condition as schizophrenia; we unpack how the 1970s blurred diagnoses and how dissociative identity disorder is understood today. 

If you love smart nostalgia, character growth, and a mystery that rewards a second look, press play and come along. Then tell us your favorite Hardy Boys episode that we should deep dive next. Subscribe, share with a friend who loved the show, and leave a review so more fans can find the Shaun Squad Society Podcast.

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Transcript

Preview

SPEAKER_02 0:00

And this girl, they said it's another room you can stay in. This girl said, Yeah, there's a room you can stay with me. I think she said that. And Joe said, I'll walk you to your room.

SPEAKER_03 0:12

And there they are. Mm-hmm. And she wanted him to come in, and he said it wasn't a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Yeah, she was trying to get him to come back in the room with her. And that's that's the little bit of insight of the level of their relationship because he looked, she looked right at him and said, Well, I still love you, Joe.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

But I'm glad he didn't say it back to her. He did not say it back.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Cindy was saying that to me the other day. She said, I'm so glad with that part of the show. He just said, Go get some rest.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Yeah. Go get some rest.

SPEAKER_04 0:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

Like, yeah, you push her off. Cindy's like, yay, Joe.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

You'll feel better about this tomorrow. Maybe you should just go get a little rest now. Yeah, yeah. Just leave him alone.

Intro

SPEAKER_03 0:57

Yeah, that was kind of funny. That was. Welcome to the Sean Squat Society Podcast with your hosts, myself, Cindy, Doris, J. Madonna, where we invite you to share in our enthusiasm and reminisce about all things Sean Casting.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

From his teen identity days to his recent adventures back on the road again.

SPEAKER_04 1:35

Please join us for the stories and memories that connected us to those happy days that helped create the Sean Squad Society podcast.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Tonight on the Hardy Boys, Campus Terror.

Welcome

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Well, hello there, Cindy and Dame. How are you? Hey, I'm pretty good, Drees. We're all doing good. I think it's winter time, and well, you are Dame. It may not be as cold, but it's pretty cold in Chicagoland. Sure is. Cool here. That's why I'm glad we got time together today. Did you guys notice or read online that Valerie Burtonelli was actually at one of Sean's recent concerts? Yes.

SPEAKER_04 2:35

I saw her in pictures there.

SPEAKER_02 2:36

She was in Southern California at Palm Springs at the Palm Springs Show.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Nice place to be this time of year. Yeah. Sean took a picture with her.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

That is so cool because didn't he say it had been like decades since they've actually seen? Yeah. It's been a long time. So in case uh some of our listeners don't know it, Valerie Bertinelli actually had a guest starring role on the Hardy Boys.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Back then they were having other TV personalities on other shows, and she got to star with the Hardy Boys. So yeah. So the episode she was in was called Campus Terror. Do you remember that? Yes, I do. I remember that one.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Yeah, it's one of my favorite ones.

Why Campus Terror Felt Darker

SPEAKER_03 3:21

It's a little bit uh chilling. It was interesting, but it aired back in um May 7th of 1978, and it was season two, episode 22. They get a call from Joe's ex Wendy, and there's a kidnapper on the loose on the college campus. And three girls have already been kidnapped. So they get a call. Should I say a call from the kidnapper? There was a call from the kidnapper mentioning Frank and Joe. So they head over there to the college to help her. Right to figure it out. Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

So Wendy, played by Valerie Bertinelli, called Joe and Frank to come over because something was going on on the campus. Yes. These girls were being kidnapped. So what did you guys think of this episode? Some someone's taking the girls and and they get Joe and Frank on this on the scene to help figure it out, basically.

SPEAKER_04 4:16

Girls, you know I don't like to watch the dark stuff, but I went back and reviewed it some, especially when I knew that it would be dark, but it would bring a lot back to light. So when I watch stuff on TV or in a movie, I like to watch it for comfort and warmth. But this took myself um somewhere else, and I went to the watch the Hardy Boys, and we know it also took them out of their comfort zone. I hated the creepy music, and I know that music is meant to mess with our mood. Especially back then, it seemed like it probably was a little scarier. Uh, it's so true though, how music can affect our thoughts. It reminded me a bit of like an old Scooby-Doo show. Back then I didn't have a TV as a child, but I remember after school, I would stay over at somebody's trailer and watch Scooby-Doo at another person's house, and it didn't scare me. But I guess this show did scare some people or some younger kids.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yeah, I could see it probably being scary for the younger audience. By the time it was on, it was season two, season finale. I was already a teenager. Yeah. So I wasn't frightened by it. The music to me was just the music to set the scene. That's it, didn't it affect me personally? It was like, oh, this is a scary scene. Yeah, they filmed it at night. So yeah, I can see that episode actually being one of the scarier ones.

Suspects: Coach, IT Prof, And Bikers

SPEAKER_04 5:50

And in fact, it worked. It worked for Sean. Teens started liking him even more. They saw that other side of him.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Yeah, well, I want to first say that Sean Cassidy welcomed the serious tone of this episode because he was trying to avoid being seen only as a teen pop idol. So he wanted to get better roles he can sink his teeth into, and this was good for him.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Yeah, it was. You know, Cindy, in this editors reassured the younger readers that Sean himself was fine in the background and he was laughing during all this because they got worried about Sean too.

SPEAKER_03 6:25

Um so they had to say that. Yeah, well, Sean thought it gave him a more emotional range, you know, with this role.

SPEAKER_04 6:33

But you know, the teenagers, the teenagers liked that take charge version of Joe.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

Yes, and it was they love that. You know, he wasn't smiling as much, he was just more serious.

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Yeah. It said that even Parker intentionally played Frank as a calmer, more rational.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Yes, he balanced it out.

SPEAKER_02 6:56

We were doing some research, and it says it was intentionally written darker than most of the Hardy Boys episodes. Right. So they wanted that episode to be more on the dark side. Yes, and it worked for them. Watching it today, I'm like, oh boy, if that was dark. I mean, you know, it's scary now. Yeah, it was like, oh boy, that was kind of lame. Especially when all they were dealing with before was people pretending to be ghosts and amusement parts or haunted houses, and you got something that's for real, a real life campus kidnapper.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

At least they thought they had. And I believe they were filming on a real campus. Yes. They were on location, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:41

Yeah, and then some of the exterior scenes, you know, they're like we were saying, were shot at night and it saved the production time, but it also reduced the extra noise that gave that heightened tension feel. Yeah, I mean, at night it's a little bit scarier, you know? It's just that eerie and it's like, that's what they wanted, and so that's why they did it that way. There were letters like from the parents that were saying the episode was too scary for the younger kids. But ironically, older teens kept praising it, which confirmed producers had successfully reached that teen demographic that you know that they wanted.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

They were getting the the older teens.

SPEAKER_04 8:19

But it made the network a little nervous. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

But Cindy, other than the actual feel of the show, what did you think of the content of the episode?

SPEAKER_03 8:30

I like the content of the episode, and because I already knew who Valerie Bertinelli was, I was familiar. I was more interested in seeing where this was gonna go. Yeah, she was so cute. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Let's talk a little bit about the episode. So it was to me, it was a good show. They had um a campus terrorist, as they want to call it. And we don't know who's doing it, who's kidnapping these girls, but they they set it up where it could be one of three, maybe four people. Yes.

Clues: Pinball Noise And The Bar Lead

SPEAKER_04 9:00

They try to make each one scary. The fact you know, the first time that that guy that was teaching them stuff in the gymnasium how to coach, well, you should take this defense class too.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

That's how it starts, I believe, right? They go into the gym, there's a defense, defensive coach, he's teaching self-defense. Self-defense, they make you think that this is the bad guy at first. Yeah, so they're he's teaching self-defense, and Joe and Frank are there, and Wendy sees it, they show up to help her. So and he's like, You guys should be taking this test, too.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Yeah, the guy's not very pleasant, and he gives him a look like and they they purposely hone in on him taking off that one class ring. Yes, because they want us to start noticing there are multiple people who will be set up to be this the suspect. So there's him, there's him, that guy, and he's not nice. So how dare you interrupt my class? And and so they very standoffish territorial, yes. They made him look like that. Then they move on to the IT lab.

SPEAKER_04 10:09

There was there were so many wrong things about two unknown guys asking for a printout of the students from one large big computer that he ran. And then I found that it was funny how Frank states that it's incredible that 1,000 names could be printed out in just two minutes. No idea. There they didn't even have ID to show him. He didn't ask for it. He just started printing off all the names. Nowadays, as a teacher, I know you don't give that information out like that to two strangers.

SPEAKER_03 10:41

No, yeah, totally different system. And this is when IBM was popular and at that time, IT was one man with a big oversized clunky computer.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

And then everything Dame said is exactly true. But look at his character, the guy that uh the IT guy. Well how they made him hear me very creepy.

SPEAKER_03 11:03

Yeah, they started thinking it was him. Yeah. Well, I mean, one after the other shows up that you suspect. Right. But they knew his dad. They knew his dad somehow. Yeah, somehow they yeah.

Joe And Wendy’s Past Resurfaces

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Yeah, that guy was connected to Fenton. So they said, so that gets in their head. Because remember, the the person doing the kidnapping said, not even Frank and Joe can catch me or solve this or something. So they're thinking it's some, it's gotta be someone who knows, who knows us. So here's Mr. Professor guy, he's got a connection to their dad. So they're like, okay, maybe it's him. And they, you know, it was kind of funny because he shows how the machine you can make it say things. Right. What was Doris?

SPEAKER_04 11:55

What was the this other? There was one one computer bigger called the Rock. What was that that could do things? That was the computer.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

He named Okay, that's the Rock. Okay. Yes. And it was it was this big, one big, massive mainframe computer that could do things. Could mess with your voice. You could change his voice, uh you could program it to do almost something. So they started thinking, hmm, it's him. This guy has all the technical ability. Maybe he's doing it. Then they go walking across the street. Maybe they were walking across the street to the computer lab when the bikers came up.

SPEAKER_03 12:34

Oh, that's another one that was suspicious.

SPEAKER_04 12:37

Yeah. Yeah, because all of a sudden they knew her, Wendy.

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Yeah. Hey, Fotsy lady. Hey, Fotsy girl. They're like, How do you know those guys? She's like, I don't know them. So now maybe the Hart and Biker dudes are the ones who's coming on campus taking the girls. And she might be next because they've already pointed out that they made sure to call her out. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

So they're thinking, hmm, okay, they're they're on the show now. Might be that. Yeah, this episode really pushed the reveal till later. They really wanted to string it along. Yes. So they kept making people show up that were suspects.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Now, in between, I'll let them make all of these people look suspicious, someone else gets kidnapped. So they're now they got us thinking, who's doing it? Is it the professor? Is it the guy teaching martial arts or self-defense? Or is it the biker guy? The biker dudes. So this one girl gets kidnapped, and now they're like, okay, there's another person. And this whole time, there's no cop presence on the campus.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

Exactly. I know there are so many weird things that would never be allowed to be.

Night Shoots

SPEAKER_02 13:59

No campus security. No. No campus security at all. Nobody's given ID. Just Joe and Frank. So Joe and Frank decide, maybe, you know, they go to the biker bar and they see the two the two guys, and and they seem innocent enough, and they're talking to him. The one guy is terrible. They're like, Are you the cops? Yeah. And the one guy's like, I don't talk to cops, and we're not the cops. And his partner just wants him to take his shot. It's like that that pool shot was more important than talking to Frank and Joe. Just take your shot.

SPEAKER_04 14:39

But Dorees, there's a part that I wanted to mention. What was it that when they heard the pinball machine? And so that's what made him know to go to the bar.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

They did manage to go to the police station once or twice, and it's not where they were listening back to the scene.

SPEAKER_03 14:54

I think the kidnapper called them. There was a there's a pinball machine in the background.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Yeah, and that's what made them know. Okay, it's one of these places. So it's like a mystery when we try to figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

When we went to the bar, we're like, oh, maybe it's from the bar. They went to some guy who has uh the vendor of that pinball machine, and he had all the places pinned on the mess that will have that pinball machine. That was the clue. That was a clue. And that's how we start thinking maybe it was the biker people. They because they go in, you're right, James. So they go over to the bar and they're they're talking, but that one guy just he wants to fight.

SPEAKER_04 15:34

Oh, because the guy won't take his shot. They were more interested in that. So they just so just go to the amusement park, leave us alone.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yeah, and there they are. And so I think what the writers was were trying to do was give us the idea that this was like a rough and tough bar. You don't just come in here and have a couple of drinks. We also fight in this bar, even if it's a punch, you won't take your pool shot. We're gonna go off and rumbo. I was like, what just happened there?

SPEAKER_03 16:07

Frank and Joe. Yeah, Joe's looking at me, like, we better get out of here because yeah, they're not fighters. So let's get out of here.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

So they they mosey and giddy up on out of there, and then they get back, and and then they have some scenes with Joe and Wendy. So who wants to talk a little bit about Joe and Wendy? This is where they kind of give us a little insight on their past.

SPEAKER_04 16:31

And Joe was so nice to Wendy. He always gets the girl.

The Reveal: Wendy, Gwen, And Motive

SPEAKER_02 16:36

So, yeah. The the fact is, we all know that they were previous boyfriend, girlfriend. And I think what happened they had a scene where Wendy's on the floor crying and going like really screaming and crying. And it seemed they wanted us to think she was being uh attempted to be kidnapped. Yeah, attacked. Yes. Um, she's screaming and crying and everything, and the caller calls in and says, I have Wendy. Now that bothers me because the caller would know he doesn't have Wendy, and but there's Wendy sitting on the floor. I'm like, why would they even let that part in the episode? I have Wendy when Wendy's sitting over there talking to Joe on the floor. Yeah, there were different things that were kind of weird. They got her calm down, and this girl, they said it's another room you can stay in. This girl said, Yeah, there's a room you can stay with me. I think she said that. And Joe said, I walked into your room, and there they are.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

And she wanted him to come in, and he said it wasn't a good idea.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Yep, she was trying to get him to come back in the room with her. And that's that's the little bit of insight of the level of their relationship because he looked, she looked right at him and said, Well, I still love you, Joe.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

But I'm glad he didn't say it back to her.

SPEAKER_04 18:15

He did not say it back to Cindy was saying that to me the other day. She says, I'm so glad with that part of the show. He just said, Go get some rest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:24

Like, yeah, you push her off. Cindy's like, Yay, Joe.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

You feel better about this tomorrow. Maybe you should just go get a little rest now. Yeah, yeah. Just leave him alone. Yeah, it was kind of funny. That was. So then, you know, now they're thinking, okay, somebody just tried to take Wendy, then they got all these other people. Now they're walking around really wondering who this could be.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Yeah, because you know what this episode uh kind of focuses on? It emphasizes fear over the clues. Yes. It's showing more fear, like things are happening. Multiple things are happening at the same time, and I think Joan Frank just couldn't get a handle on it. Yes. So they want to show that fear in this one. It was different than the other mysteries they've done.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

And then that's into now that last victim or whomever, when her poor ex-boyfriend, who had been in a car accident, uh, looked like he had a really bad burn. And he goes, he just wants to talk to her. She gets one look at him and she screams bloody murder the dark thing.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

In the dark.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Well, it's trying to make you think he was a bad guy too, because he comes out looking scary, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:40

Yes, exactly. He's in the dark lurching like in the bushes. Yeah. Yeah. So you're like, what is this weirdo doing? Yes. So you would do that too. You would scream just as much as Alice. Yeah, but then there's another one on the list. I'm like, I couldn't keep track of them. Now we have a another. I'm like, what's going on? What's

SPEAKER_04 20:01

And you sure wouldn't think it was a woman taking all these people, right? Exactly. How strong can you be? You would not think that.

Mental Health Terms Then And Now

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Especially a little bitty one.

SPEAKER_04 20:10

A little yeah, maybe maybe the bikers, but not because I think back then, young girl.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

Right. Back then, campuses did have things like this going on. There were actual stories of this happening in campuses. So to put Valerie in there to throw it off is was good. Good writing on their part.

SPEAKER_04 20:28

And it was so different than what she played in her other roles in her other shows.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

So you didn't think it was her. You did not think this is where it was leading to. And that's so we're getting to the reveal now.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

Yep. So the guy with the scar, he's immediately, I guess, his alibi or his story held up. He's like, look, I was in a bad car to that. I just wanted to talk to her. I was a little afraid. So I Then I felt bad for him. Yeah. So he's now out. He's he's no longer, but now we still have they and I think they went back and talked to Mr. Self-Defense guy, and he somehow got himself out of it too.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Somehow they he, I forget. Yeah, they start knocking him off, like, oh, they're not a suspect. They're not a suspect.

SPEAKER_05 21:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

All right. Is it Mr. Professor?

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Now it's down to IT guy, or yeah, just him, Mr. Professor. Or the coach. Well, that's why I said I thought they went back to him and he was eliminated as a suspect. Okay, yeah. Didn't they take him his ring back?

SPEAKER_03 21:37

Well, they said, where is this ring? Or they found the ring somewhere. Right. They found it by Wendy's door, because I think she set it up there. Yeah, because she was in the audit the uh gym with him at the time he took the ring off and he put it on the mat.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

But I can't remember how how he got himself out of it. They took it back, confronted him with the ring, but can you girls remember what his story was when they kind of didn't suspect him anymore? I just can't remember. Uh it wasn't deep enough, I guess.

SPEAKER_04 22:14

See what made it hard for us is we already knew the ending.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Right. But it something happened that they focused more on the professor, the uh IT prof uh professor.

SPEAKER_04 22:27

Well, they said he was really creepy, and there were other students that said they thought he was strange too.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Oh, yeah, that's it. I think they just said maybe we should go over here, and then they started realizing that computer voice sounds a lot like the voice on the phone. Yeah, I'm still wondering how she did that.

SPEAKER_04 22:47

Well, it's that computer said it could do that.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Yeah, she had the remote to program it to save. Yeah, she knew how to help. Yeah. Interesting. You know, backing up, backing up just a little bit. Remember when she was they didn't show her, but she all the other girls were in that room all locked up and tied up, and they showed that creepy clown laughing.

unknown 23:12

Yeah.

Acting Growth And Teen Demographic Shift

SPEAKER_02 23:13

I was like, oh my, I was like, okay, that's now that was for its day a little bit creepy. This big old clown came out of it.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Yeah, and that was a real amusement park. That was shot at Pike Amusement Park in Long Beach, California. Okay. It's been demolished since then, but it was popular back in the day in the 70s. Right. That's interesting, Cindy. Yeah. So they were on location for that too.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

Frank and Joe decided to go snoop around the professor. Why he had rottweilers, I do not know. Caged. They never said why he had caged rottweilers at his job.

SPEAKER_05 23:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

And his job wasn't something that needed all this protection. But if it did need protection, your dog shouldn't be caged. They should be out protected.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Yeah, I didn't understand that part either.

SPEAKER_04 24:04

No, they just wanted to add a little more fear.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah, that was all for more fear. So as Joe and Frank are about to go in and snoop around and say, let's just try to figure out a little more about what's going on in this lab, there's Wendy, that we don't know as Wendy behind them, unlocking the cages, right? Of the Rottweilers. So then, okay, now Joe and Frank are trying to escape the vicious dogs, even though I noticed one of the dogs wasn't so vicious. He was like looking at them like Well, it's a good thing they weren't vicious.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

They're just on the on the set. They're supposed to be pets.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

And then the professor comes in, and that's when he decides to explain a lot of things to them about the computer, and it's and then they realized the matches were the same mattress from the bar that they found in Winter. That was a glue. And then they started somehow putting this all together. Oh yeah, they were at the bar and the guy said, Go somehow, the man told them there's an amusement park out back, and they went out back. Here we are in the amusement park. Now, what did you notice funny about that amusement park ride, Cindy? You were telling me just yesterday.

SPEAKER_03 25:25

Oh, yeah, because when it went on the Fierce Wheel, it's that started on its own. There was no operator to turn it on.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

So yeah, they flip a switch that turns on all of these lights and rides. There's no master flip of a switch. Yeah, for everything. And then they they walk over, and Wendy, right? Cindy, Wendy stops joining.

Fun Facts: Locations, Emergency Set, Skull

SPEAKER_03 25:47

She's got a gun at him and she says, get in. How bears we access to all this. I don't know. Another good question. And then they go around. And she closes it and it just starts going. Right. Who started it? Who started it? And that's kind of one of those funny things, like, yeah, who started the it magically starts, yeah. Without anybody there to turn on. It's just magical. It's Hollywood. It's Hollywood.

SPEAKER_02 26:13

And here we are, Jane. We're she's on the ride with him, and you can tell how you like, you know, what you like.

SPEAKER_04 26:20

Well, I love that part where he holds her face and he's like, No, you aren't Gwen. You can do better than that, you know. And he tried to tell her, No, you can handle this college, you can be a good person. And that's when she started telling him, just no, I can't do this. I can't. And he was so gentle with her.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

What was the whole thing? Uh um she didn't like the sweet, innocent personality of Wendy. Of Wendy.

SPEAKER_04 26:55

But that's why she did what she did, and that's why she chose who she chose to take away and kidnap. Because they were so much like Wendy, and she wanted to be Gwen.

SPEAKER_02 27:09

Yeah. So interesting you bring it up nowadays. They said in the episode, Frank made a point of saying she suffered from schizophrenia with some kind of multiple. Yeah, he does mention in the episode. And uh it turns out that, you know, back then the writers didn't do a lot of uh research. It wasn't a drama, a medical drama, so they didn't care. Right. But the illness that she was suffering from was not schizophrenia. Right. Because schizophrenia does not create multiple personalities. Right.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

She was suffering from uh what's called split personality back then it was alternate. Disassociative identity disorder.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

Thank you, Cindy.

SPEAKER_04 27:57

Well, once it gets like what you're talking about, Dhares, they say even in this show, that once the truth is uncovered, the tone shifts from fear in this show to sympathy for her. Right. Yeah.

Listener Picks

SPEAKER_02 28:08

But I was just trying to make a point that at the time this show was filmed, they were kind of lumping all kinds of personality disorders into schizophrenia. And schizophrenia is not a personality disorder, it is a true psychotic disorder that requires psychiatric treatment. Not that some of these personality disorders don't, but I just want to bring that up.

SPEAKER_04 28:40

But it was misunderstood. It was misrepresented. You know, mental health conversations were very limited back then.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

That's the point I'm making, that there was no true awareness. We've even touched on it on many of our discussions about Jack Cassidy and David Cassidy. Right. How that was kind of pushed aside. You didn't talk about it. Right. You almost, the person suffering almost didn't want to admit that they had the illness and they didn't talk about it.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

Well, in the 1970s, schizophrenia was commonly thought of that split mind confusion confusion about reality, hearing voices, acting like a different person. They did think that was schizophrenia, but today it's understood as hallucinations, disorganized thinking, and not, like you just said, multiple personalities. Correct. So the writers, the writers were thinking it was schizophrenia. They weren't thinking it was bipolar at the time.

SPEAKER_02 29:41

Or any other disorder. And they, especially for that not really being the focus of the episode, they were like, call it that and move on. They didn't expect 50 years later someone would be talking about it.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

Right, but it was in the 70s. So wasn't that movie Sybil out by at that time? Yes. Sybil was out and she had multiple personalities, like a lot of personalities. Sybil was a really popular movie.

SPEAKER_04 30:05

A part of this talks about drugs. They go, well, what is this happening because somebody's on drugs? It did say that in the show.

SPEAKER_02 30:12

Yeah, they brought that in. So I just I'm glad that we had this little chat about the, you know, the difference now, how we now, so many decades later, can understand how mental illness wasn't really addressed at the time and it was misdiagnosed. Something was one thing, but they just kept calling everything schizophrenia. And now we there's so much more.

SPEAKER_04 30:41

You start thinking everybody has schizophrenia that drinks too much alcohol because they have two different personalities, and you're confused. Is it the alcohol or is it crazy?

SPEAKER_03 30:48

Right. But now it's categorized better in different classes of mental illness.

SPEAKER_04 30:54

But anyway, there was a part of this show that I thought was just beautiful, the way Joe treats Wendy and tells her Wendy is strong enough and Gwen is not needed. And so the way that he holds her face and gently takes that gun away from her reminded me, it did. It reminded me of Jesus and how he is with us after we go back from being on the wrong side, he still shows us the love.

SPEAKER_03 31:23

Well, he was being strong for her to kind of tell her she could figure this out, but what happens after he leaves? Well, hold on one second.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

Because in these uh types of situations, people with multiple personalities, there's always the strongest one. And Joe believed in his heart that Wendy was stronger than Gwen. That's not her name. So he wanted her to know that you can overcome this Gwen. You can, you can take her. She's not that good. You got her.

SPEAKER_04 32:00

He was right there, he was showing true love.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:03

He really was. And I was just like, oh, I love that side of Sean. And and you know, all the teenagers that were dealing with depression or confused about why they felt like they felt, and all of a sudden they see this human that's so beautiful that he could say, Yeah, you can be okay. He's so gentle. It showed his stern yet gentle side. And that's my favorite part of Sean that was brought out in this show for the very first time who Sean really can be.

SPEAKER_02 32:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

And of course, after they leave, they show Gwen by the window of the hospital smoking a cigarette, looking at him leaving. But Gwen is still here.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Before that, we gotta make sure we mention that they had a very important talk with Wendy in bed at the hospital. Yeah. Talking to Glenn. That's when he was encouraging her. Well, he was encouraging her also on the fairs. Well, I thought that's what we were talking about. So, yeah, so you're right, Cindy. They he had that same discussion in the hospital room, and she said, Don't worry, Gwen is gonna be gone. Yeah, I'm not gonna be her. But I've at that time I started thinking, anybody who knows anything about the slightest bit of any kind of illness, any kind, you don't go in the hospital one night and then say, I'm cured, the next say that that's over. Yeah, it takes time. So I said, how can she say that? Takes therapy. That's gonna take a lot of work. Yeah, it will. Then they cut to the window.

SPEAKER_04 33:42

I like how she was put in the hospital to care for her. So like it gives people hope that are in this situation. So they put her in there to get tested. And it was then that it was said that, you know, with proper treatment, she could be able to come out of that second personality.

SPEAKER_03 33:59

Sure. Sure. Treatment, therapy, whatever you call it. Yeah, it's a continuous. But it brought that it brought that up in the show.

SPEAKER_02 34:06

But they wanted us to know at the very, very end of the show that it wasn't right now because there she was.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

There she was. And they wanted to pull that out to the very end. Yeah. Because I read that there were different scripts where they were going to show it earlier, but they did not want to do that. They wanted to wait till the very end and show this. Like, oh, Gwen is still there. Gwen's not quite done yet.

SPEAKER_02 34:30

So that was kind of cool the way she was standing at the window, smoking that cigarette, looking all Gwen like. You knew it was Gwen. Yeah. Troublemaker.

SPEAKER_03 34:39

And it went off. Hey, did they ever release the girls in the fun house? I guess Joe untied them, didn't he? Joe or Frank? Yeah. How could one woman do that?

SPEAKER_02 34:49

You're right, Jane. That was my thing throughout the whole show because, like you said, we had the disadvantage of knowing the ending. So I'm like, Valerie Bertinelli is all of five feet tall. And back then she was very small and skinny. How is she taking over these women? Yeah. Well, she has a gun. There's a lot of weird stuff in it, you know, but you know, it it's Hollywood. Yeah, she did have the gun. That'll make you do, that'll make you go with somebody who got a gun.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

Yeah, I was surprised, even though she had the gun, Sean didn't do one of those karate kicks. Get it.

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Yeah. That was a good episode. And uh Valerie Burtonelli, I was mistaken. I was having a little talk with Cindy about it, and I thought it was before her One Day at a Time uh TV series. She was already on one day at a time. I already knew who she was because.

SPEAKER_04 35:44

Well, the Hardy Boys, and together they shaped how TV talked to teens in that era. So they kind of put it together.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

Yeah, and then you notice they pulled somebody who was uh uh on a show that focused teenagers. Right. So there was Valbert Nelly, America's sweetheart. She was the good girl on One Day at a time. Everybody thought she was the good girl. So you didn't think she did this, I exactly. You never would. And like you said, Sybil had been out before this, but nobody was thinking anything about multiple personalities. Or a girl did it or anything.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

A sweet look. All the suspects were guys. All of them. So back then it was typecast that people who caused problems like this were men.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

That's what, and you notice everyone, and they made sure to show every kind of guy a guy that can do martial arts, a guy that's real smart on the computer, or a scary guy that could be mad because he was in the carts.

SPEAKER_03 36:44

You never know.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

And it was none of them.

SPEAKER_04 36:46

It seemed like Scooby-Doo to me, so it wasn't scary, but different things can affect people differently. And I'm glad I didn't watch it when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

Yeah, they wanted to make it dark though, and it showed the Hardy Boys as being vulnerable in this episode. And they wanted to show that too.

unknown 37:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

And it showed their other hero side with that age group.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

I was very I remember watching that episode and thinking that was really a good it was they weren't as teeny bopper as it had been. They wanted to be more mature. They were more mature, they weren't running around tomorrow. Frank got the girl, Joe got the girl, now let's see Joe sing on the stage.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

You know, it was really good. They were a good storyline. Yeah. They had some depth to it.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Actually, that season was really getting better with the stories, because wasn't it season two that was no season three was Last Kiss of Summer.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

Oh, the one we talked about before.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Yeah, that's so they were really growing those characters up by the end of season two and the beginning of season three.

SPEAKER_03 37:47

Yes, and it showed Sean more than Parker. I think in the beginning it showed Parker more than Sean. Like Sean would have followed him around, but now I see Sean more out in the front. Yes. With And he became a better actor each time. Yeah, and he he he loved that. And uh it just showed his character, yeah, like you said, maturing and growing up. Yeah. So each time they gave Frank or Joe a little bit more in the episode. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 38:12

Yeah, and it was fun to watch. It was so they still made the show, but Valerie, I was neat that she was in it, and it's neat that she just recently got to see Sean at his show, and now she has a book out called Getting Naked. It's about well, it's about childhood emotional patterns, you know, and so it goes with this. And it says, you know, accepting aging, stop people pleasing, and dealing with the age that we are in now.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

So it's like a a woman's kind of like own yourself kind of help people like and stop people pleasing.

SPEAKER_04 38:52

You're old enough now. Yeah, you're old enough now, you don't have to do that.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

Life lessons. Say it like it is. So that's tell me again the name of her book, Getting Naked.

SPEAKER_04 39:04

Yes, that is and you know, girls. I thought this was interesting too. I thought it was neat that she had signed ones that you could get for like$29. But now on Amazon, I checked it out this morning, and you can get her book for$20, but I don't see any that are left that are signed. So I went to eBay, and there on eBay it's twice as much. Of course.

SPEAKER_03 39:27

But I was so glad that Valerie and Sean were able to reunite at one of his shows.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Yeah, that's so cool that she went to one, and after all these years of not even talking or seeing each other, they were able to connect.

SPEAKER_03 39:42

That was very So not only is he connecting back with his fans, he's connecting back to previous co stars and people he knew. Yes. People he was full circle. Full circle, yeah. People that started in the shows he did.

SPEAKER_02 39:56

Yeah, this um this tour is definitely bringing everybody. Body out and back together again.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Which is great. It is. I think it's good for everybody. You know, Sean, Sean loves connecting again and all those stories come out, which we all enjoy too.

SPEAKER_05 40:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:13

And it shows that other side of Sean, you know, especially that he's doing this for us and that he feels good about it, that he's doing this for us. And it's bringing you and I and you know our other friends together. All of us together in one big shared community, like he says.

SPEAKER_03 40:27

Yeah. And he loves watching that part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

He does. I I love doing our deep dives into this episode. So what do you guys think? We do one more in the future sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Yeah, and if anybody out there has an idea of which one we should review, let us know. Yeah, which one was your favorite?

SPEAKER_02 40:44

We have all three seasons and we could watch all three. I mean, there are plenty to review. We can, yes. That would be fun. They could send us an email at Sean Squad Society at gmail.com, or they could uh leave us a message and and boss brown, or they could follow us on Facebook and Instagram and put something in comments. Just let us know which one you like to hear us talk about.

Credits And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_03 41:14

Because we don't mind talking about these at all, and it's kind of fun because, like you said, back in the day, we were just watching Sean. Yeah, we didn't really just pay attention to the story. But it is fun to go back now and see what they really were doing with the episode. And especially since you haven't seen the episode for how many years. Yes, and I don't remember some things. You know, even this Harry Burtonelli episode, I was like, oh yeah, I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_02 41:39

I forgot, to be honest, I have forgotten about all of it except the ending.

SPEAKER_03 41:44

That ending is what stayed in my head. No, I forgot the ending, so that was good for me to watch it again.

unknown 41:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Hey, Cindy, you had not that it's um a real big fun fact, but you had a fun fact about the hospital that she was in. Oh, yeah, the hospital that they filmed it at. It was the same set for the hospital, Rampart Emergency. Yes. Rampart General, whatever it was called.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

It's called Emergency, and it was Yeah. And they filmed that scene at that hospital they used in that show. Emergency. In addition to the skull found in the fun house. Oh, tell about that. That's not fun. Yeah, unexpectedly, they found a human skull in the amusement park, fun house, while they were filming there. Totally unrelated. And I don't know the whole story behind it, but all I know is they found it. Oh boy, that that's kind of creepy. Yeah, that'd be creepy. Need Joe and Frank on that one for sure.

SPEAKER_04 42:39

At least it wasn't Joe. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

Exactly. So, okay. So it was fun. I love doing this. This is great. Thank you guys. Thank you from the bottom of our teen dream hearts. Keep on crushing. Always believe in magic.

SPEAKER_04 42:56

And have a peaceful, fantastic week. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Thread, and subscribe to our new YouTube page.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Make sure to keep in touch with us at our email. Sean Squash Society at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_03 43:14

The Sean Squad Society Podcast, including past, present, and future versions, and its contents are owned and controlled by the Sean Squad Society. The podcast is written, produced, and recorded at the Ford Studios, and the views and opinions are solely those of the Sean Squad Society Podcast. We may think we are always right, but we may get things wrong from time to time. So we assume no responsibility for errors of submission of content.