The Hardy Boys
The Hardy Boys is an animated series, produced by Filmation and aired Saturday mornings on ABC in 1969. It featured the Hardy Boys, Joe and Frank, along with their friends Chubby Morton, Wanda Kay Breckenridge, and Pete Jones (one of the first black characters to appear on Saturday morning television) touring as a rock band while solving mysteries. The series is also notable for its opening and closing credits, which the Hardys appeared in live action. The series debuted at the same time as Hanna-Barbera’s similarly themed Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which was scheduled against the show on CBS.
Two 12 minute mysteries, based on the original book stories, made up one 22 minute television show. The 1969/1970 shows were repeated for a second year in 1970/1971. Two live action songs were inserted in the middle of the mysteries and also used for the main and end titles, performed by a group calling themselves “The Hardy Boys”. These songs were sold at stores on records and audio tapes.