Detective Nancy Drew returns to TV

LOS ANGELES -- Maggie Lawson believes she was born to play Nancy Drew. \nIt would sound corny coming from anyone other than the ebullient Lawson, a Louisville, Ky., native who unapologetically admits she sees the good in everything. \n"When I told my friends and family about the role, they're like, 'It's perfect. You are her,''' Lawson said, adding, "I never look for the bad.'' \nUnless, that is, she's playing the girl detective nosing into why the star football player at River Heights University has slipped into a coma after taking performance-enhancing drugs. The president of the sorority Nancy rushes is the suspected supplier. \nThat's the ripped-from-the-headlines plot of "Nancy Drew,'' airing as part of ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney'' 7 p.m. EST Sunday. \nThe feisty detective, her gal pals George and Bess, father Carson Drew and long-suffering boyfriend Ned are along for the adventure set in present day rather than the 1930s, when the Nancy Drew books began. \nThe pilot is dedicated to Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote most of the original books under the pen name Carolyn Keene. She died in May at 96. \nThe character returns to television for the first time since 1977, when Pamela Sue Martin played Nancy and shared airtime with the more popular "Hardy Boys Mysteries'' starring teen heartthrobs Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson. \nExecutive producer Kevin Brown ("Roswell'') said the biggest challenge was reinventing Nancy for the 21st century without alienating her legion of fans. \n"Our approach was to take her out of high school,'' he said. "We put her in college because we wanted to put her in an environment where she could make mistakes, where she's not Miss Know-It-All.'' \nLawson's Nancy pursues a journalism degree at River Heights, which is populated by ethnic characters not seen in the books. Her journalism professor is black and a roommate is Cuban. \nOne thing that hasn't changed much is Nancy's car. Lawson tools around town in a baby blue sportscar, a Corvette instead of the original roadster. She's decked out in cool shades, a leather jacket and totes a cell phone. \nNancy Drew was ahead of her time when she was created during the Depression. She had her own car, came from a wealthy family and had the complete faith of her widowed father. \n"It's not like Nancy Drew had to catch up with the world,'' Lawson said. "The world caught up with her.'' \nBrown said he didn't update the character, only her mysteries. \n"If you're doing Nancy Drew for a prime-time audience, then it can't be about The Mystery of the Missing Will and The Old Clock," he said. "You really have to raise the bar in terms of what the characters are doing because kids, young women, young men, are really hip when you're trying to play down to them.'' \nBrown said producers "saw everybody'' in casting the role. Potential candidates were asked if they'd read the books, and Brown was astounded by their answers. \n"We had one girl who said, 'I never really was much of a reader. I liked to watch TV,''' he said. "They'd say things like, 'Boy, this character uses really big words and she talks really fast.''' \nSo does Lawson, whose TV credits include "Inside Schwartz'' and "Party of Five.'' \n"I like to talk very fast. She has this quick-witted way of looking at things. It is a lot like me,'' she said. "She has my heart. This character is probably closest to my personality that I've played.'' \nBrown said ABC executives bought his pilot pitch over the phone and loved Lawson's brains and energy. \n"They think Maggie Lawson is a superstar,'' he said. \nIf the ratings are good, the show could become a series. Scripts have been ordered and the actors are under contract. \n"We will return to the jeopardy and glory of her early years and have her get into scrapes,'' Brown promised. \nAlthough several writers wanted to kill off boyfriend Ned, he'll stick around, although Nancy is hit on by a detective in the pilot. \nBrown said future episodes could show Nancy kissing. \n"Ain't nothin' wrong with that,'' Lawson said. "I kind of hope the Hardy Boys show up.''