Nancy Drew has premiered on The CW! The latest TV series version, which stars newcomer Kennedy McMann, is the culmination of years of attempts to revive the venerable literary franchise focused on the eponymous young female detective, which launched back in 1930. The creation of publisher Edward Stratemeyer, the books have passed through the hands of myriad writers and has seen several adaptations.
read more: The CW’s Nancy Drew Will Never Use Guns
While Warner just released the film, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, starring It actress Sophia Lillis, its TV arm has its own plans. The effort to revive Nancy Drew for TV most recently manifested with a project eyed by NBC after CBS passed on a Sarah Shahi-starring pilot. The CW series is run by a sizable team of writers/executive producers consisting of Noga Landau, Melinda Hsu Taylor, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, joined by co-executive producer Lis Rowinski.
You can read our review of the latest episode here.
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Up next? “The Case of the Wayward Spirit”! Check out the promo…
And here’s the official synopsis…
When Nancy realizes that George is possessed by Tiffany’s spirit, she must act quickly to rid her friend of the ghostly passenger before it’s too late; a mysterious stranger wanders in to The Claw and asks the gang to cater a charity gala.
Nancy Drew CW Episode Guide
The latest news on Nancy Drew reveals that even more small-screen sleuthing is set, with The CW’s backorder for nine more episodes! Justified by a cited 114% jump in Live +7 Nielsen numbers, the series – along with fellow newcomer Batwoman – is now set for a full frame, giving the first season of Nancy Drew a total of 22 episodes.
Click on the blue links below to read our full review of each episode.
Nancy Drew Episode 1: Pilot
Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) is a brilliant teenage detective whose sense of self had come from solving mysteries in her hometown of Horseshoe Bay, Maine – until her mother’s untimely death derails Nancy’s college plans.
Devastated by her mother’s passing, Nancy swears off crime-solving while crossing off the days until she can re-apply to college. But when a socialite is murdered, Nancy finds herself a prime suspect in the crime, along with a group of other teens present at the scene: Nancy’s nemesis from high school, George Fan (Leah Lewis); a rich girl with a mysterious past, Bess Marvin (Maddison Jaizani); Nancy’s secret boyfriend, Ned “Nick” Nickerson (Tunji Kasim); and amiable burnout Ace (Alex Saxon).
The five of them must team up to clear their own names – encountering emotional entanglements and even more mysteries along the way. Nancy’s reawakening brings her into conflict with her widowed father, Carson Drew (Scott Wolf), who is dating Detective Karen Hart (Alvina August).
And, when a supernatural presence begins to haunt Nancy’s investigation, she discovers that the current crime has an astonishing connection to the long unsolved murder of a local girl. Whether the ghost is here to help, or hinder Nancy remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: Nancy’s going to have to unravel the clues from both the living and the dead to solve the crimes.
Original airdate: 10/9/19
read more: Does The CW’s Nancy Drew Believe in Ghosts?
Nancy Drew Episode 2: The Secret of the Old Morgue
When Nancy (Kennedy McMann) learns that Tiffany Hudson’s corpse is being moved out of Horseshoe Bay for a private autopsy, she puts her investigation into Lucy Sable’s dress on hold to pull off one of her most risky missions yet. Meanwhile, Bess (Maddison Jaizani) and Ace (Alex Saxon) enlist the help of a stranger (guest star Katie Findlay) in an attempt to help Nancy. Lastly, the town gathers to participate in the annual bucket ritual done on the last night of the Summer Festival.
Original airdate: 10/16/19
Nancy Drew Episode 3: The Curse of the Dark Storm
A nor’easter hits Horseshoe Bay and Ace warns everyone that the storm has been known to blow restless spirits ashore; Nancy confronts Nick about the secrets he’s been keeping.
Original airdate: 10/23/19
Nancy Drew Episode 4: The Haunted Ring
As the funeral for Tiffany Hudson nears, her confused spirit seemingly haunts Horseshoe Bay; Nancy invites Bess to stay with her, allowing Nancy to figure out what Bess is hiding; Nick struggles with what he learned about Tiffany.
Original airdate: 10/30/19
Read our full review of “The Haunted Ring” here.
Nancy Drew Episode 5: The Case of the Wayward Spirit
When Nancy realizes that George is possessed by Tiffany’s spirit, she must act quickly to rid her friend of the ghostly passenger before it’s too late; a mysterious stranger wanders in to The Claw and asks the gang to cater a charity gala.
Original airdate: 11/6/19
Nancy Drew Episode 6: The Mystery of Blackwood Lodge
While trying to uncover the truth about a long-buried history between Lucy Sable and Ryan Hudson, Nancy finds herself in the curious position of having to strike a deal with Horseshoe Bay’s newest and most.
Original airdate: 11/13/19
Nancy Drew CW Cast
Scott Wolf will play the role of Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, replacing the previously-cast Freddie Prinze Jr., reports THR. The character is described as “an attorney who has become estranged from his daughter after the death of his wife. His relationship with Nancy is thrown into disarray when the sleuth’s murder investigation reveals secrets from his past.”
The recasting with Wolf was the result of an amicable split between Prinze and the producers, who reportedly wanted to head in a different direction with the character. Yet, it maintains The CW’s stratagem of casting ‘90s era teen idols for parent roles, best exemplified by Riverdale’s parent cast of Molly Ringwald, Skeet Ulrich and the late Luke Perry.
Wolf became a household name off the success of the 1994-2000 Fox drama, Party of Five – a vehicle that provided more than its share of household name endowments. However, he came into that series off a TV run on Saved by the Bell and a co-starring role as Billy Lee – with Mark Dacascos’s Jimmy Lee – in the infamous 1993 video game movie flop, Double Dragon. His post-Party CV consists of TV runs on shows like Spin City, Everwood, The Nine, ABC’s V reboot, NCIS, Perception and, most recently, the NBC medical ensemble drama, The Night Shift.
Pamela Sue Martin, television’s original Nancy Drew, is set to appear on The CW’s rebooted series, reported Deadline. She will play Harriet Grosset, who’s described as “a small-town psychic who offers her talents to help Nancy investigate a murder — and ends up delivering an otherworldly clue that neither of them bargained for.” As the report observes, the name, Harriet Grosset, seems to be a kind of homage to the franchise’s literary history, referencing key contributing author Harriet Adams and first book series publishers Grosset & Dunlap. Should Martin’s character resonate in the pilot, then it’s possible that this could become a recurring role.
Martin, known for her role in 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure, became an instant household name in January 1977 with the launch of ABC’s franchise-combining detective series, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, in which her portrayal of Nancy Drew shared the spotlight with Shaun Cassidy as Joe Hardy and Parker Stevenson as Frank Hardy.
However, the show’s success would be short-lived, since Martin quit the series midway in Season 2 over her reduced role, leading to Nancy Drew getting recast with Janet Louise Johnson; a move that led to the character getting dropped in the show’s third-and-final season, retitled The Hardy Boys. In what seemed to be a parting middle finger to the producers of the family-friendly series, Martin subsequently posed for Playboy in a 1978 issue, provocatively gracing the cover in a Nancy Drew-evoking getup. While she co-starred with Robert Conrad in the 1979 Depression-era gangster film, The Lady in Red, and fielded a 1981-1984 run on Dynasty, she would essentially withdraw from show business, barring the occasional TV guest spot, notably on That ‘70s Show and The L Word.
read more: Nancy Drew Creators Comment on Potential Hardy Boys Cameo
Here’s the rest of The CW’s Nancy Drew cast:
Kennedy McMann (see title image,) will star as Nancy Drew. It’s quite a coup for her burgeoning career, since her only two existing credits consist of TV guest roles, respectively in episodes of Law & Order: SVU and Gone.
McMann is joined by Leah Lewis (Charmed), Maddison Jaizani (Into the Badlands), Tunji Kasim (Cold Feet) and Alex Saxon (The Fix).
The series is a production of companies CBS Television Studios and Fake Empire.
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Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.