WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY, THE: NANCY DREW (TV)

Summary

One of this series of Disney movies presented under the umbrella title "The Wonderful World of Disney." This made-for-television mystery film, inspired by the book series created by Edward Stratemeyer and published under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, follows aspiring young detective Nancy Drew as she heads off to college with her friends. The program begins as Nancy arrives at River Heights University and meets up with her two best friends, boy-crazy Bess and her cousin George. At their dorm, they encounter oddball Hank, who is thrilled to meet the famous teen detective whose work he has long admired. In their suite, the trio meets their fourth roommate Teeny, a former debutante from Texas. Nancy heads off to Journalism 101, taught by the irascible Professor Shifflin, who informs the class that they have little chance of making it in the world of news and adds that only one freshman will be selected to join the school paper, based on the quality of their first writing assignment. Nancy, determined the score the spot, visits a coffee shop with Bess, again running into the hapless Hank. Later, the girls visit Tri-Pi, an elite sorority for which Teeny is already a legacy, thanks to her overbearing mother. Just as vice-president Jaclyn and president Allison begin to address the new pledges, Allison's fiancé Jesse, a football star, is whisked away in an ambulance. Another sister, Bitsy, comments that Jesse is a drug user, and Nancy immediately decides to follow the "scoop."

Despite her friends' doubts, Nancy begins to investigate and heads off to question Allison at the sorority house, where she instead encounters young Detective Daly. Nancy and Bess sneak upstairs and, finding that Jaclyn has taken over as president, wonder why Allison has abruptly resigned. After making a narrow escape, Nancy calls her father Carson, a lawyer, and asks for his help in sweet-talking the police, though the cops prove uninterested in helping her. Daly, however, reveals that Jesse was not, in fact, on any common narcotics, and urges her to drop the matter. Undeterred, Nancy stakes out the hospital, and Teeny calls and tells Nancy about her boyfriend Ned's messages, noting that Bess and Hank seem to be hitting it off. Nancy follows Allison into Jesse's room, though Allison quickly shoos her out, and Nancy sneaks a peek at Jesse's files by posing as a candy striper and finds that he suffered a stroke, likely because of his use of ephedrine. At home, Nancy researches the drug and finds that it is used by athletes as a performance-enhancer, and then updates her father on her findings, though Carson advises her to focus on school rather than her investigation.

Nancy confronts Allison, who begs her not to write the story of Jesse's drug use, explaining that all of the school's players are pressured to win at any cost. She tearfully admits that she gave Jesse the ephedrine, believing that she could monitor the dose, as she is pre-med, but that combined with his pre-existing hypertension, the drug caused a stroke. Coach Jeffries refuses to answer Nancy's questions, though athletic director Mitchell urges her to write the story but makes it clear that he intends to place the blame solely on Allison. Shifflin scolds Nancy for her nosiness, warning her that the athletic department will likely suppress the story. She tells her father and grandmother about the potential conspiracy, sure that the school has secretly encouraged or engineered the players' drug use, but Carson heatedly tells her that she is putting herself at risk by following the story and she heads back to school, upset. The four roommates head to a Tri-Pi party, and though Nancy learns that Jaclyn has placed her on the "bad people we can't talk to" list, she attempts to question Franklin "Sweet Money" Sanderson, another football star. He informs her that the team and the players are seen as little more than "commerce" for the school and refuses to talk about the drug scandal, sure that he will ruin his own chances of a successful sports career by doing so.

Nancy, still fielding messages from Ned, meets up with Daly at a diner, and he tells her that there is little that the police can do, as ephedrine is not actually an illegal drug. Nancy is startled to belatedly realize that he intended the meeting as a date, but she then learns that Allison has been blamed for Jesse's stroke and expelled from the university for the drugs. She quickly calls Carson and begs him to take Allison's case, though he tells her that it is "unwinnable" and that Allison will simply appear to be a girlfriend desperate to help her athlete boyfriend succeed. Desperate, Nancy recruits Hank and breaks into Mitchell's office, where she finds not only records of expensive dinners and trips to Vegas for the players, but evidence that another athlete's death from ephedrine use was covered up by a payoff. Nancy is then caught and arrested, but when Jeffries angrily demands an explanation, she accuses him and the athletic department of forcing the players to use the dangerous drug. A furious Carson bails Nancy out but refuses to speak to her, and George and Bess express their concerns about Nancy's reckless actions, pointing out that she is neglecting her regular college duties. Nancy laments her sense of guilt over Allison's plight, however, and her friends agree to help her set things right.

Nancy effectively shames the Tri-Pi members into helping their "sister" Allison and then again confronts Sweet Money, reminding him about the player who died and encouraging him to do the right thing despite the risks to his future. Sweet Money relents and talks to Daly, while elsewhere Nancy finally reunites with Ned and apologizes for ignoring him while consumed with the case, and he is relieved to know that she is still "his girl." Nancy then visits Allison at the hospital again and shows her the exposé piece that she has written, assuring her that she will be reinstated at school thanks to Sweet Money and the Tri-Pi girls' evidence. Nancy turns the assignment in to Shifflin, who quickly invites her onto the school paper, and as everyone on campus reads her shocking front-page story, Daly arrives to question Mitchell about the cover-up. Carson, now suitably impressed with his daughter's determination, promises to take Allison's case after all. Includes commercials and promos.

(Series title varies: From 1954 to 1958 this series was telecast under the title "Disneyland"; from 1958 to 1961 this series was telecast under the title "Walt Disney Presents"; from 1961 to 1969 this series was telecast under the title "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color"; from 1969 to 1979 this series was telecast under the title "The Wonderful World of Walt Disney"; from 1979 to 1981 this series was telecast under the title, "Disney's Wonderful World"; and from 1997-2005 this series was telecast under the title "The Wonderful World of Disney.")

(Network varies; this series was telecast on ABC from 1954-1961, on NBC from 1961 to 1981; on CBS from 1981 to 1983; and on ABC from 1997-2005.)

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: December 15, 2002 7:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:55:48
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:74892
• GENRE: Mystery/suspense
• SUBJECT HEADING: Mystery/Suspense; Detectives; College students
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1997-2008
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - Aleve Cold & Sinus medication
  • TV - Commercials - All fabric softener
  • TV - Commercials - Applebee's restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Campbell's soups
  • TV - Commercials - Colgate Simply White teeth whitener
  • TV - Commercials - Duracell batteries
  • TV - Commercials - Excedrin QuickTabs pain relief
  • TV - Commercials - Ferrero Rocher candies
  • TV - Commercials - Hallmark greeting cards
  • TV - Commercials - Hershey's Kisses candies
  • TV - Commercials - Iams cat food
  • TV - Commercials - Kay Jewelers
  • TV - Commercials - Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Kleenex tissues
  • TV - Commercials - Kodak film
  • TV - Commercials - Kraft Cool Whip whipped topping
  • TV - Commercials - Lowe's stores
  • TV - Commercials - Mailboxes Etc. shipping service
  • TV - Commercials - McDonald's restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - National Football League Caring For Kids charity
  • TV - Commercials - Oxi-Clean stain remover
  • TV - Commercials - Pedialyte children's drink
  • TV - Commercials - Pier 1 Imports stores
  • TV - Commercials - Pillsbury products
  • TV - Commercials - Pine-Sol household cleaner
  • TV - Commercials - Rubbermaid storage containers
  • TV - Commercials - SC Johnson products
  • TV - Commercials - Sears stores
  • TV - Commercials - Sprint cellular services
  • TV - Commercials - State Farm insurance
  • TV - Commercials - Subway restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Swanson frozen dinners
  • TV - Commercials - Target stores
  • TV - Commercials - The Anti-Drug campaign
  • TV - Commercials - Tiger Electronics Kid Clips Disney Tunes toys
  • TV - Commercials - Toys 'R' Us stores holiday toy drive
  • TV - Commercials - Tropicana orange juice
  • TV - Commercials - Vaseline hand lotion
  • TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless cellular services
  • TV - Commercials - Visa credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - Wal-Mart stores
  • TV - Commercials - Wendy's restaurants
  • TV - Promos - "8 Simple Rules...For Dating My Teenage Daughter"
  • TV - Promos - "According to Jim"
  • TV - Promos - "Alias"
  • TV - Promos - "Barbara Walters: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2002"
  • TV - Promos - "Celebrity Mole: Hawaii"
  • TV - Promos - "Dinotopia"
  • TV - Promos - "George Lopez"
  • TV - Promos - "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
  • TV - Promos - "Less Than Perfect"
  • TV - Promos - "Life With Bonnie"
  • TV - Promos - "My Wife and Kids"
  • TV - Promos - "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" home video
  • TV - Promos - "The Practice"
  • TV - Promos - "The Sound of Music"
  • TV - Promos - Disney home videos
  • TV - Promos - Monday Night Football

CREDITS

• Kevin Kelly Brown … Executive Producer
• Lawrence Bender … Executive Producer
• James Frawley … Co-Executive Producer, Director
• Hans Proppe … Producer
• Ami Canaan Mann … Co-Producer, Writer
• Deborah Romare Sahagun … Associate Producer
• Edward Stratemeyer … Inspired by the character created by
• Richard Marvin … Music by
• Maggie Lawson … Cast, Nancy Drew
• Jill Ritchie … Cast, Bess
• Lauren Birkell … Cast, George
• Marieh Delfino … Cast, Teeny
• Charlie Finn … Cast, Hank
• Heath Freeman … Cast, Det. Patrick Daly
• Brian White … Cast, Franklin 'Sweet Money' Roosevelt Sanderson
• James Avery … Cast, Prof. Shifflin
• Brett Cullen … Cast, Carson Drew
• Kevin Tighe … Cast, Coach Jeffries
• Sabine Singh … Cast, Allison Price
• Dale Midkiff … Cast, Jimbo Mitchell
• Jenny O'Hara … Cast, Hannah Green
• Nick Stabile … Cast, Ned Nickerson
• Hoku … Cast, Bitsy
• Joanna Canton … Cast, Sue
• Michelle Morgan … Cast, Jaclyn Kennedy Calberson
• Claudette Sutherland … Cast, Waitress
• Ellen Geer … Cast, Librarian
• Dayton Callie … Cast, Desk Cop #1
• Wiley Pickett … Cast, Desk Cop #2
• Sloan Robinson … Cast, Head Nurse
• Todd Sandler … Cast, Security Guard
• Giselle Loren … Cast, Police Officer
• Jeff D'Agostino … Cast, Heavy Metal Kid
• Andrew Harrison Leeds … Cast, Newspaper Kid
• Ryan Scott … Cast, Frat Brother #1
• Drew Bell … Cast, Frat Brother #2