Monday, December 20, 2021

Countdown to Christmas: Will The Real Santa Claus....? (Nancy Drew Mysteries, 1977)

 From season 2 of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries:

An elderly drifter (Dan O'Herlihy) who thinks he really is Santa Claus, shows up in River Heights, pursued by two gunmen. Nancy (Pamela Sue Martin) and her father (William Schallert, ex-The Patty Duke Show) pick up the case. John Ericson (ex-Honey West) and Rick Springfield are among the guest stars, which also includes early roles for a pair of child actors, Sparky Marcus, later of The Bad News Bears and the 1st Richie Rich cartoon, and Missy Gold (later of Benson).


This series was beset with casting changes throughout. In season 1, Nancy's beau, Ned, was now rebooted as a paralegal assistant to her father. Second generation actor George O'Hanlon, Jr. played Ned then, but was let go after the first season, and it looks like the part was taken over by Rick Springfield here. This, then, might have led to Rick being cast on General Hospital about 2-3 years later.

No rating. Just a public service.

2 comments:

Mike Doran said...

That's Dan O'Herlihy (or Daniel O'Herlihy if we're being formal) as Santa in this show; he was all over TV for several decades.

For the record, Ed Herlihy (no O) was the long-time voice of Kraft Cheese in commercials (but that's another story ...).

hobbyfan said...

I'll fix that, Mike. Got the two of them mixed up.