5 Things Hulu’s Hardy Boys Does Better Than CW’s Nancy Drew (& Vice Versa)

In recent years, both Hulu and the CW have brought adaptations of classic teen detective stories to the screen. For Hulu, that’s in 2020’s Hardy Boys, while for the CW, that’s in 2019’s Nancy Drew. All of the titular characters were originally brought to life in books for kids from the Stratemeyer Syndicate, starting in 1927. The stories of the ’30s are a little different from a modern take on Frank and Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew.

Both series have provided new takes on the popular franchises – even both leaning into supernatural elements for their initial mysteries. They also both updated their cast of characters to better reflect society and made some changes to their ages. Each show does a good job at bringing a fresh perspective to the franchises, but each show also has different strengths.

10 Hardy Boys: Familial Connections

In CW’s Nancy Drew, not only is Nancy an only child, but she spends a lot of time not getting along with her father, even suspecting him of murder. She doesn’t have any other family that she can turn to, leaving her to bond with her new friends at The Claw, but leaving a void when it comes to that familial connection Hulu’s Hardy Boys has.

Not only do Frank and Joe Hardy have one another to lean on, but they also have their Aunt Trudy. Aunt Trudy goes from desperately trying to connect with her nephews to someone they trust with the secrets of the mystery they’re trying to solve, and the show is better for it. The same is true of the boys learning their grandmother isn’t who they think she is.

9 Nancy Drew: The Lost Mother

Nancy’s mother not being a part of her life has been true of nearly all of the versions of her story. The focus is always placed on her father, the lawyer that teaches her a lot of her detective tricks. The same isn’t true for Frank and Joe.

In fact, their mother is present in almost every adaptation of their story, though her role varies. While it’s great that they gave her a journalistic background and investigative skills as well, it’s a shame that the series writers decided to kill her off in order to spur the boys on their detective paths. There are times in the show where the audience almost forgets the mystery is really all about Laura Hardy. That’s not entirely true in the case of Nancy Drew, where the loss of her mother weighs on Nancy all the time – and the loss ends up being one Nancy feels doubled by the end of the first season.

8 Hardy Boys: The Season Long Mystery

Both shows begin with one big mystery. For Hardy Boys, it’s what got their mother killed. For Nancy Drew, it’s the death of a socialite in which she’s a suspect. While both series find other questions intertwined with those central mysteries, Nancy’s cases of the week tend to create a lot more separate storylines and lose a little focus.

Frank and Joe never forget that their focus is on a mysterious artifact connected to their family and how it leads to their mother’s death. Every piece of the puzzle in the season builds to solve that mystery instead of branching off into several different disconnected storylines. Of course, that is due in part to Hardy Boys having a shorter season, which makes it an easier binge watch in addition to that through line of story.

7 Nancy Drew: The Mysterious New Girl

Both series also feature a mysterious new girl showing up in a small town where everyone knows everybody. For Hardy Boys, that new girl is Stacy. In the world of Nancy Drew, that new girl is Bess.

It’s clear from the moment Stacy is introduced that there’s more to her than meets the eye. When she’s revealed as a more villainous person than Frank originally believes, it’s not exactly a surprise to the audience. Bess, on the other hand, is not initially so easy to read. Her slow reveal as a potential member of the Marvin family is a bit less expected.

6 Hardy Boys: The Setting

Though there is a tendency to favor small towns over big cities in television series centered on teenagers these days (like Riverdale), Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew differ in their time periods in which the show is set.

While Nancy Drew is a modern adaptation, Hardy Boys goes for nostalgia. Seemingly set some time in the 1980s, it’s able to draw on the look and feel of the series of novels published during that time. It’s sure to draw in fans of Stranger Things, but also fans of the books.

5 Nancy Drew: The Family Secret

Neither series begins with the promise of a big family secret being unveiled, but that is what happens in both shows. Because Hardy Boys is built around the search for an artifact and the truth about their mother, it’s not a huge shock that the two are connected. Doling out bits and pieces throughout the season is effective, but Nancy Drew does it even better.

The audience thinks the family secret in Nancy Drew will involve covering up a murder, but that’s not the case at all. Instead, Nancy finds out that there’s more to her birth than she ever knew, leading the show down an interesting new path.

4 Hardy Boys: Everyone Can Be A Detective

Nancy spends a lot of time coaching her friends into learning how to put puzzle pieces together. Though they are intelligent, most of them don’t come into their friendship with her instinctively wanting to uncover secrets, pick locks, and solve puzzles. Frank and Joe Hardy attract friends who do.

In Hardy Boys, everyone has their own particular skill sets that allow them to be assets to Frank and Joe without having to be coached through it. Callie is very good at recognizing patterns and putting together puzzles herself. Biff knows the ins and outs of every business and family in town. Phil, involved in every club and absorbing knowledge like a sponge, comes through in the clutch. Chet is willing to lend a hand to any scheme, no matter how strange it seems. Each of them have no problem picking up loose threads of the mystery themselves.

3 Nancy Drew: The Easter Eggs

It’s become common place for franchises that revive or reboot their properties to include nods to the past. Nancy Drew’s first season does that extremely well while Hardy Boys doesn’t include nearly as many nods.

Allusions made to cases solved when Nancy was a teenager are actually stories from her original 1930s book series. There are nods to board games based on the character, video games featuring the character, and the 1980s book series as well. Even former Nancy Drew actress Pamela Sue Martin makes an appearance. None of the Easter eggs detract from the story, but are fun nods for fans to catch.

2 Hardy Boys: Slow Building Relationships

When Nancy Drew opens, the title character is already in a dysfunctional relationship with Ned “Nick” Nickerson. While book fans know the two are destined for one another, there’s no build to that relationship, and it pretty quickly falls apart. Hardy Boys takes a different approach.

Though Frank Hardy’s long term relationship is with Callie Shaw in the novels, the series opens with Callie dating Frank’s new friend Chet. In fact, all three bond and become friends fairly quickly. As Callie and Frank grow closer, Chet and Callie find the tension driving them apart. Chet actually handles the situation pretty well, and Callie and Frank don’t even admit how they feel about one another until the end of the season.

1 Nancy Drew: The Supernatural

While some fans will argue that Nancy Drew incorporating supernatural elements into the storyline is to the show’s detriment, they do work well in the season overall. The reason they work is because the show really commits to them.

Nancy doesn’t just imagine being haunted; she is actually haunted. The series leans into the creepy legends in a way that Hardy Boys doesn’t. It makes Nancy Drew a bit darker of a show overall.

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