What are a couple of 20-somethings doing at home, living with their father, unemployed (except, of course, for assisting their father from time to time)?
shareThat's what great hair can do! You don't need a job.
shareFrank and Joe Hardy were 18 and 17 years old, Nancy Drew was 18. You can tell the difference between fictional characters and their actors, right?
Frank & Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew were all still high school students.
As for the actors, Parker Stevenson was 24 when the pilot aired. Shaun Cassidy was 18 when the pilot aired and could have been 17 when it was filmed since it aired just 4 months after his 18th birthday. Pamela Sue Martin had turned 24 just a few days before the Pilot premiered, so she was 23 when it was filmed.
(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny
They were in their teens and weren't "unemployed", exactly. Their detective work was their employment, although it wasn't necessarily full-time. It's never discussed on the show, but I think it's safe to assume that any time the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew help a client they receive some kind of remuneration. either directly, or by way of a payment to their fathers.
It's exactly the same in the books--the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are frequently hired by clients to investigate strange goings-on and solve crimes.
Well, like many TV shows about legendary youths, the actors who play the parts are older than the youth they are portraying on the Tv show. Frank is supposed to be 18 and Joe 17. But, Parker was born in 1952 and Shaun in 1958, so as you can see, they are both older than the characters they portrayed, with Parker being much older.
Don't give up on it after the first show - it gets better, IMO.
And, always keep in mind that you really aren't watching the Hardy Boys. You're watching a mystery/adventure show based very loosely on the Hardy Boys series of books. Very loosely based...but, still pretty good.