On occasion, mentions of the Hardy Boys turn up on various news sites or other interesting web sites. After weeding through the wrestling and quick library nastalgia mentions, one does find a few article gems.
Once such gem was posted to themillions.com (http://www.themillions.com/2010/10/the-hardy-boys-need-no-eulogy.html) recently. This article by Frank Kovarik (http://www.themillions.com/author/frankkovarik) goes beyond just the 'originals' and hits upon the Casefiles as well.
Below is an excerpt from the article (http://www.themillions.com/2010/10/the-hardy-boys-need-no-eulogy.html) which can be read in its entirety on themillions.com (http://www.themillions.com/2010/10/the-hardy-boys-need-no-eulogy.html) web site.
Quote...The Hardys could never be the Scooby-Doo gang with its Mystery Machine, nor have a Hardymobile in which to pursue criminals. These developments surely offended other Hardy purists as much as they offended me; as the old series wandered off into outer space (literally; in #85, The Skyfire Puzzle, Frank and Joe man a space shuttle flight), a new beginning was clearly needed; the slate needed to be wiped clean....
I imagine top management at Simon & Schuster laying off the old stale Dixon crew and bringing in a fresh batch of Franklins, recent graduates of Ivy League schools who were ready to pour their intelligence and energy into making the Casefiles the Hardy books they themselves never had as adolescents. However, S&S must have given the stale Franklin W.?s some severance work, because the middle series perpetuated into further idiocy; clearly all of the publisher?s real energy was thrown into the Casefiles....
Sadly, the creativity of the new series did not last. After the unexpected dullness of The Borgia Dagger and its successor, No. 14, Too Many Traitors, I lost interest in the series. It is hard to say whether I simply outgrew it or the Ivy League Dixons had burned out. My parting with Frank and Joe was neither bitter nor regretful; we had been tight pals for several years;...
I saw this one. Interesting article and take on The Hardy Boys. Fun read. :D
Great article. A very interesting look at the Hardys. Thanks for sharing, CJ!
OK I didn't read the whole article...just this excerpt. I found it to be negative against my boys. Am I missing the part where it's a "fun read" and full of good things about the Hardys?? Am I just too tired and read it incorrectly? :-\
Quote from: hardygirl847 on October 11, 2010, 05:09:58 PM
OK I didn't read the whole article...just this excerpt. I found it to be negative against my boys. Am I missing the part where it's a "fun read" and full of good things about the Hardys?? Am I just too tired and read it incorrectly? :-\
Read the whole thing. Great stuff.
OK I will...apparently I'm missing something. I shall do it later though.