History Series / TheAdventuresOfShirleyHolmes

* Hypnosis: Shirley is hypnotised by a female named Stavko in "The Case of the Alien Abductions".

* DiplomaticImpunity: Robert Holmes was once accused of abusing his diplomatic status to sell information to another country. In another episode, it was believed he was harboring a suspected murderer ([[spoiler: a woman who turned out to be innocent]]). The police officer interrogating him acknowledged he couldn't arrest Holmes but warned he could lose his job over that. That risk was quite real.

** In [[spoiler:"The Case of the Rising Moon", a Princess was being targeted because some of her subjects didn't like the idea of a woman being their ruler]].

* Hypnosis: Shirley is hypnotised by a female named Stavko in "The Case of the Alien Abductions"

* ObfuscatingStupidity: Peggy Holmes has shades of this sometimes. Some other times, she's more of a BunnyEarsLawyer. Also Shirley often "disguises" herself as a ditz when she's trying to find clues.
* OfficialCouple: Shirley and [[spoiler: Matt]].

* PoliceAreUseless: Det. Tremain, takes on the role of a (mostly) useless InspectorLestrade. He once tells Shirley that a thief they were tailing only took 10-dollar bills because he's an underachiever.

** Not to mention Shirley herself - of course she could have been as good a detective even if her parents had named her Jane or Sarah or whatever, but that wouldn't sound as punny.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Molly's major weakness. "The Case of The Broken Oath" is a good example of this. Molly [[spoiler: creates an anonymous internet account using the name "Y" and blackmails up-and-coming rock band Oath into performing the terrible song that she wrote.]] When Shirley gets a copy of the lyrics to the song, she discovers that the first letter of the first word in each verse spells out "Molly Hardy." When Shirley confronts Molly, she points out that if she could have gotten away with the scheme if she'd resisted the impulse to literally put her name on it. Molly ends up getting away with it anyway, by blackmailing Shirley with the threat of exposing her detective work (which would obviously make it much more difficult).
* TheSociopath: Molly is directly referred to as one by a psychologist who analyzes her as part of her attempting to get an important job at the United Nations. Needless to say, she becomes obsessed with trying to find and destroy all the copies of the psychologist's report.

* StuffyBrit: While he's far from being emotionless, Shirley's father is a quiet, reserved man who enjoys his morning tea, some posh activities and never goes overboard with showing his emotions. Come to think of it, Shirley herself sometimes has shades of this as well. Well, considering their family history.
* SympathyForTheDevil: At the end of "The Case of the Crooked Comic", Shirley says that she feels pity for [[TheSociopath Molly]], because she's so empty inside that she'll never know true friendship.

* TomatoInTheMirror: In "The Case of the Left Thumbprint", someone steals a valuable decoder from Shirley's home. Shirley suspects that the same someone left a dead bird on her bed, put a sheet over a dollhouse, and set fire to some incriminating evidence, but they didn't. The person who did those things was [[spoiler: Shirley herself. The stress of her father being suspected of theft caused her to sleepwalk and unconsciously leave clues to the mystery that she would find once she was awake.]]

* UngratefulBastard: Shirley [[spoiler: saves Molly from being burned to death by Elyse and stops her MoralityPet horse from being put to death due to a fake case of rabies. Does this change Molly's attitude towards her? Nope.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Molly. Up to the very end she's got everybody convinced she's a model student. Only Shirley and Bo see her sociopathic side, initially.

** In "The Case of the Falling Star," Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''Series/HomeImprovement'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/LawAndOrder''."

** In "The Case of the Falling Star," Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''Series/HomeImprovement'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''LawAndOrder''."

** Bo refers to Shirley as "[[Film/JamesBond Miss Moneypenny]]" at least twice, once even using a SeanConnery accent.

* PlotAllergy: Shirley is allergic to wasp stings. In "The Case of the Puzzle from the Past'' she falls unconscious after being stung and we follow her dreams for the rest of the episode.

* Fainting spells : In "The Case of the Puzzle From the Past", Shirley faints after being stung by a wasp.

* Kidnapped: Shirley, in several episodes, by villains who are slightly unstable.

* Allergies: Shirley is allergic to wasp stings. In "The Case of the Puzzle from the Past'' Shirley falls unconscious after being stung.

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<<|CanadianSeries|>>

* BlondesAreEvil: Molly.

** In "The Case of the Falling Star," Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''HomeImprovement'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''LawAndOrder''."

** In one episode, Det. Tremaine tells Shirley that what she really needs is IndianaJones.

* DiplomaticImpunity: Robert Holmes was once accused of abusing his diplomatic status to sell information to another country. In another episode, it was believed he was harboring a suspected murderer ([[spoiler:a woman who turned out to be innocent]]). The police officer interrogating him acknowledged he couldn't arrest Holmes but warned he could lose his job over that. That risk was quite real.

* OfficialCouple: Shirley and [[spoiler:Matt]].

* UngratefulBastard: Shirley [[spoiler:saves Molly from being burned to death by Elyse and stops her MoralityPet horse from being put to death due to a fake case of rabies. Does this change Molly's attitude towards her? Nope.]]

* ClearTheirName: Shirley has to do this two times. In the pilot, she has to prove against the belief of police and school that Bo isn't the arsonist in the neighborhood. She does it again when her father gets accused of abusing his diplomatic status to sell information to another country.

* ViewersAreMorons: A possible reason why "Detective" was added to the show's title when the series was broadcast in the U.S. [[SarcasmMode Because no one would assume anyone named Holmes could be a detective.]]

!!''TheAdventuresOfShirleyHolmes'' provides examples of:

** Bo refers to Shirley as "[[JamesBond Miss Moneypenny]]" at least twice, once even using a SeanConnery accent.

** In ''The Case of the Falling Star'', Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''HomeImprovement'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''LawAndOrder''."

** In ''The Case of the Fallen Star'', Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''HomeImprovement'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''LawAndOrder''."

** In ''The Case of the Fallen Star'', Bo tells Shirley that in-universe TV sitcom "Cool Rule" is like "''HomeImprovement [[XMeetsY meets]] ''LawAndOrder''."

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: In the United States, [[Creator/ABCFamily FOX Family Channel (now ABC Family)]] only aired the first two seasons on Saturdays and Sundays before it stopped airing the show. To add insult to injury, the episodes were usually aired out of order.

Shirley's Dr. Watson is Bo Sawchuck, a street-smart former gang-member whom Shirley meets in detention; she helps get out of trouble and they become [[OddCouple best friends and sleuthing partners]]. Likewise, her Moriarty counterpart is Molly Hardy, a scheming, sociopathic mastermind of a teenage girl that is admired by everybody who doesn't know her true nature.