Nickelodeon never believed in putting all their eggs in one basket. Their philosophy has been, and will remain until someone convinces them otherwise, is to take a hit series and drive it into the ground. Somehow, some of their live-action shows have avoided this dubious fate.
One of those shows was The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, about an Asian-American teen (Irene Ng, who was actually out of her teens when the series began) who solves crimes that baffle the police. Oddly enough, she works as an intern at the police department, and that's how she gets her cases.
Helping Shelby is her sage grandfather (Pat Morita, ex-Happy Days, in his final TV series role), an innkeeper, who keeps advising against solving crimes, but still ends up coming to his granddaughter's aid. The first three seasons were set in Florida, but after the Canadian studio, Cinar, joined the production of the series, the Woos were relocated to Boston. Go figure.
Here's a sample intro:
I think Shelby was meant to be an Asian Nancy Drew, but, aside from a rerun airing in 2011 during TeenNick's The 90's Are All That block, Shelby's been locked in the Viacom vaults. How's that for respect?
Rating: B.
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