The Hardy Boys are returning to the screen in a modern adaptation for kids and parents alike.

The 13 x 60-minute series, which premieres today (Dec. 4) on Hulu in the U.S. and in early 2021 on YTV, is one of the few live action properties produced by the Corus Entertainment-owned Nelvana, known largely for its animated content, and Joan Lambur’s banner Lambur Productions. The modern version of the near century-old book franchise sees the boys move to a new town after a family tragedy, and soon discover it’s shrouded in mystery.

Both Lambur and Athena Georgaklis, head of development at Nelvana, were fans of the series and had ambitions about what a modern take would look like. When Georgaklis discovered Nelvana held the rights a few years ago, she knew they had to jump on it and bring in Lambur as a partner.

“From Nelvana’s perspective, we know what we don’t know and we don’t do live action,” Georgaklis tells Playback Daily. “We needed a strong partner and we needed someone to take the show and this concept on and produce it the way it should have been produced.”

In the end, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. “When Athena got in touch with me [about The Hardy Boys] she said, ‘so what do you think?’ And I said, ‘I’ve got news for you too – I’m opening my own company,'” says Lambur. “It was this great moment.”

The deal with Hulu came early on in the development process when they were looking for a strong partner to launch the series in the U.S. market. “We wanted to do something big, bold and different, and we thought Hulu was the perfect home to do that,” says Georgaklis, adding that YTV was a natural partner as the Canadian broadcaster.

In the end it changed the trajectory of the series, with Lambur revealing it was Hulu that suggested the series skew to an older audience and bump the episode lengths from half-hour to a full hour.

Georgaklis admits it was a challenge for the companies to strike the right balance for content that would get kids attention and be as exciting as a teen drama, while still being appropriate for their age. However, getting it right meant opening the door for co-viewing opportunities, a trend that has accelerated during the pandemic. “It was perfect timing, in hindsight,” she says.

Georgaklis says that while “the majority of [Nelvana’s] business is in animation,” the company is in development on other live action properties now that The Hardy Boys has given them the opportunities to expand to a slightly older audience.

“We’re so excited about creating content for these kids who are stepping outside of the animated shows they were watching in the past, but aren’t yet ready for the big dramas in the grown-up world,” she says.

While live action production during a pandemic throws a unique complication on the evolving content strategy for Nelvana, it hasn’t dissuaded them. The Hardy Boys has yet to be greenlit for a second season, but Nelvana and Lambur Productions are currently in development on what the sophomore season could look like.

Production on The Hardy Boys wrapped on Jan. 30, less than two months shy of the mass shutdowns in March, but did suffer an eight to 10 week delay for post. Another live action Nelvana project, Treehouse preschool series Miss Persona, was forced to shut down three weeks into production. Georgaklis says it was support from Treehouse that helped the series remount and safely wrap production, giving them the tools they need to prepare for pandemic-era production.

Lambur, who is in pre-production for a yet-to-be-announced greenlit title in the spring, says she is fully aware that her four-person production company, which launched in 2017, can’t afford to take the hit of a production shutdown.

“The difference is huge in terms of the costs attached,” says Lambur. “We’re uncovering all kinds of costs. If you have a SAG number up here, the guild requires three tests a week. All the costs that go along with that is super significant. I take my hat off to the producers that went ahead this year and pushed through.”

The companies are also working on another concept together that is set to be announced in a few months, and Georgaklis says 2021 will bring several new announcements from Nelvana. “For the overall content strategy at Nelvana, this is just the beginning,” she says.