User Reviews

A wonderfully cheesy ripoff of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" mixed with a bit of "Escape to Witch Mountain" -- what's not to like?

On their way to Las Vegas, Frank & Joe Hardy detour to New Mexico to help an old friend, Sharon, whose boyfriend is missing. Joe is naturally dismissive, since Sharon has a history of psychological problems, but Frank soon decides there's more to Sharon's story than just a jilted lover...and drags Joe into a plot involving aliens, men in black, a threatening sheriff, a mysterious government installation on top of a spooky, fenced-off mountain, possible flying saucers...and...and...you get the picture. The solution turns out to be even more silly than the whole UFO thing, but hey, it's the '70s. You don't watch this show for logical plot...though this episode does take an unexpectedly dark turn towards the end, when Joe is forced into a life-or-death moral dilemma: to save a complete stranger from being gunned down at the cost of his brother's & Sharon's lives.

The episode has its definite dumb moments (even by the show's standards): Frank & Joe can't recognize a helicopter when it's right in front of their faces and Frank's insistence on nay-saying the logical explanation of "jilted lover" doesn't have any real backing in clues or common sense. But Shaun & Parker's performances are wonderfully dry and earnest in the face of the silliness: Parker giving us a Frank Hardy who will stand firmly behind his friend's story, no matter what it sounds like, Shaun as a Joe Hardy exasperated over his brother's insistence on looking into the matter in defiance of all reason. The other actors also seem to be having a good time throughout this episode -- the two "government agents" in particular give us a great scene when confronted with Sharon's belief that UFO's kidnapped her boyfriend. Bonnie Ebsen plays Sharon as believably out-there & emotionally unstable (I knew several folks like her, during the height of the New Age movement).

In all, don't watch this series or episode expecting great TV. Pop a bowl of popcorn and settle in for a cheesy night of good-looking guys taking on a mountain full of aliens. Good stuff!

Interesting and thrilling episode with a more supernatural nature involving aliens coming from outer space. Outside of Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy most of the cast are bad actors, especially Bonnie Ebsen. The Hardy Boys seem fairly dimwitted in this episode. When they encounter the "alien" it is obvious that it is a helicopter but the boys think otherwise. I think the story was interesting but the teleplay could have been written better.

I do love the cheesy, comforting nostalgia of this series and have done repeated viewings. This episode is definitely not one of the better ones. Obviously you've got the super annoying performance of the wannabe-actress-with-a-famous-dad playing Sharon. But the writing is the real problem. It seems like just a few tweaks could have made this so much better. After all, the mysterious craft in the sky menacing drivers has been done a zillion times by now and often quite well.

As others have pointed out, Frank immediately buying Sharon's story is ridiculous. She met a guy a few times but only at the same bar who then ghosts her. Why would anyone not react like the sheriff? Like maybe he's married and out to have an affair? Why not just have a Frank and Joe approach it like they'll find the guy who was a jerk to their friend and give him a piece of their minds? Yet the sheriff is portrayed as incompetent and sexist so we know he's wrong. Dun dun dun.

Then you have the "rangers" who told the guys to take a different route after the fire. If I was driving though an area that just had a huge fire and some ranger said "that way's unsafe right now", of course I'd thank him and turn around. But Frank says he'll drive it anyway. And when he got pushback, it's instantly telegraphed to viewers something mysterious and sinister is going on.

It's all super illogical nonsense to get us to where the boys find the guy in the radar station (a welcome cameo by Tony Dow) then find a fenced facility that Frank decides to break into. That's when the show actually gets going but it's almost halfway through the episode. By that time it's hard to buy into it. It's a shame because everyone does a good job, besides the whiney, neurotic Sharon who mercifully shows up less in the second half. Many of the actors were familiar faces in the seventies. The mountain scenery is gorgeous. The idea for show was decent. It's just the details of the plot and the execution that sucked.

I do love how it seemed like almost every show in the seventies took place outside, with natural sunshine, and often a country setting as opposed to controlled, artificial and sterile looking sets and actors shot with controlled lighting. Everyone's hair back then was shiny from the sun and they looked healthy and natural. Not caked in makeup with a face full of injectables. I really miss that on current tv.

It's a shame the far below average opening for the episode hurts its great setting and fun cast. I do wish more time was spent in the first half letting the guys come to the alien conclusion themselves, with more creepy moments before finding the facility. Also more of a part for Tony Dow. What a wasted opportunity. Anyway, just when the episode had become its more usual, fun self, it's over.

Frank's loyalty to an old friend is admirable in The Creatures Who Came On Sunday. Especially since she has a history of being neurotic and Buddy Ebsen's daughter. His map reading skills, however, leave a lot to be desired. Supposedly the Hardy boys are in New Mexico, but early on when Frank pulls out a map and points out where they need to go, the map is of Montana. No wonder they ran out of gas!

Normally Joe is all in for solving a mystery. In this episode all he wants to do is get to Las Vegas. Did he have an upcoming gig at The Sands or something?

I actually live near an abandoned Cold War era Air Force base. It is now privately owned with no trespassing signs posted at the gate. I'm pretty sure it's a rest stop for UFOs. If the Hardy Boys ever blow through town, and given Frank's trouble reading maps they probably will, I think I will have them investigate.