ABC Television Network
PRESS RELEASE - ENTERTAINMENT - NANCY DREW (10/20)

NANCY DREW, THE LEGENDARY GIRL DETECTIVE, RETURNS IN AN ORIGINAL MOVIE FOR THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK, PREMIERING SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, ON "THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY"

Maggie Lawson Stars as Teenage Sleuth Nancy Drew


Inspired by the Stratemeyer Syndicate's literary classics penned under the nom-de-plume 'Carolyn Keene,' "Nancy Drew," an original film for the ABC Television Network, takes up the adventures of the legendary girl detective with a brand new mystery starring Maggie Lawson ("Inside Schwartz") as the brilliant, beautiful and indefatigable teenage sleuth. "Nancy Drew" will air with video description as a presentation of "The Wonderful World of Disney", SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 (7:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

In this contemporary version of the still popular mystery series, Nancy is a young college-bound teenager whose reputation for solving crimes already precedes her. She enters freshman year at River Heights University, accompanied by childhood girlfriends George (Lauren Birkell) and Bess (Jill Ritchie). The trio joins their new roommate, Teeny (Marieh Delfino), in the throngs of sorority rush, where they are immediately impressed by Allison Price (Sabine Singh ), sorority president, pre-med student and fiancÈe of the school's star football player. But Allison's life takes a sudden downturn when her boyfriend slips into a coma after abusing performance-enhancing substances... and the immediate evidence points to her as the supplier! The ever-inquisitive Nancy is determined to find out the truth, even if she risks ruining her academic career and her close relationship with her widowed father.

Created during the height of the Great Depression, the series of Nancy Drew mystery novels introduced the original empowered teenage girl more than sixty years before today's crop of dynamos on television. She was so modern, in fact, at the time of her creation - she drove her own car, was unrepentantly intelligent and demanded that adults treat her with respect - that producers of today's "Nancy Drew" found she needed virtually no updating. And with the books being as popular as ever, not to mention the successful CD ROM game, "Nancy Drew" is primed to return to network television.

"Nancy Drew" also stars Brett Cullen as Mr. Drew, Heath Freeman as Patrick Daly, Charlie Finn as Hank Greenberg and James Avery as professor Shifflin.

Kevin Brown ("Roswell," "Anatomy of a Hate Crime") is executive producer with Academy Award-nominee Lawrence Bender ("Good Will Hunting," "Pulp Fiction"). DGA Award-nominee James Frawley ("Ally McBeal; "Ed" and ABC telefilm "The Three Stooges) is co-executive producer and director. Hans Proppe (Emmy Award winner for ABC's "Anne Frank") is producer. Ami Canaan Mann wrote the screenplay. "Nancy Drew" is a production of Touchstone Television.