The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV Series) Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom, Part II (1977) User Reviews

And He Would Have Gotten Away With It If It Weren't For Those Meddling Kids

[alanduran-62543 · 8/10 · 8 May 2022]

Casey Kasem, the voice of Shaggy in the classic Scooby-Doo! Series, turns out to be the man behind the mask in this classic mystery! Casey does look quite a bit like Columbo. This mystery contained cameos from Jacklyn Smith of Charlie's Angels, Robert Wagner of Hart To Hart, and in Part 1, we got Dennis Weaver from McCleod. It's like a smorgasbord sampler of ABC in the late '70s. Pretty fun episode overall. Who knows? Scooby was on ABC at the time so maybe they were ripping Mystery Inc. Off.

There's No Business Like Detective Business Except The One They Call Show!

[cutterccbaxter · 30 January 2024]

I first visited the Universal lot as a three year old in 1966. During the tour you got to watch a stuntmen performance on a western set. The tour in 1985 was slicker and similar to the 1970s Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew experience. The last time I was there was in 1991. The band I was in won a trip to Hollywood (the one time my life felt like a plot from a sitcom) as part of a contest and we stayed in the Universal Sheraton.

I enjoyed this two parter because of the setting. Instead of the Universal lot pretending to be something else, it was actually the Universal lot in Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom.

Lucky Parker Stevenson gets to kiss Pamela Sue Martin and Jaclyn Smith. Robert Wagner gets to punch Casey Kasem. Prolific TV director Lou Antonio gets to play a TV director. And Shaun Cassidy gets his trousers dirty. What's not to love?