TV

5 Best Family-Friendly Detective Shows to Watch Instead of So Help Me Todd

5 Best Family-Friendly Detective Shows to Watch Instead of So Help Me Todd
Image credit: ABC, CBS

No blood or gore, just cozy mysteries.

So Help Me Todd, the story of a private detective and his lawyer mother, was canceled after two seasons, but don't despair – there have been plenty of light-hearted crime shows in the history of television that you can watch with your kids.

1. The Hardy Boys, 2020-2023

Frank and Joe Hardy are ordinary boys, sixteen and twelve years old. They play video games and ride bikes. The boys are very close to their mother, Laura, and their father Fenton, a police detective, is rarely involved in raising his sons.

The Hardy family's near-perfect life is shattered when Laura is tragically killed in a car accident. To help the boys cope with their grief, Fenton decides to move to Bridgeport for the summer to live with the boys' aunt and grandmother. It is here, in a quiet provincial town, that Joe and Frank's mysterious adventure begins as they search for clues to their mother's death.

2. Alex Rider, 2020-2024

Teenager Alex Rider learns that his uncle was an English spy who died on a secret mission. Soon Alan Blunt, the head of the secret branch of MI6, comes to Alex and reports that the boy is ready for operational work.

Forced to investigate the circumstances of his uncle's death, Alex reluctantly takes on the case and goes under a different name to the mysterious Point Blanc private school in the Alps.

3. Murdoch Mysteries, 2008-...

Ahead of his time, cunning Toronto police detective William Murdoch uses gadgets and police techniques in his investigations that were not yet in use in reality at the beginning of the 20th century. The series is also notable for the fact that the writers regularly bring the main character together with real-life famous people such as Nikola Tesla and Jack London.

The Canadian project is based on a series of novels by Maureen Jennings. William Murdoch was inspired by John Wilson Murray, Ontario's first detective.

4. Moonlighting, 1985-1989

Top model Maddie Hayes' accountant fled to an unknown destination with all of her savings. Maddie is left with many small, unprofitable businesses. To avoid bankruptcy, she sells off her nail salons, portrait studios and sporting goods stores, and that's when she meets David Addison, a talented and charming man who also happens to be the head of a detective agency.

Addison's charisma and the adrenaline that always accompanies his private, not-always-legal investigations quickly draw Maddie into a criminal maelstrom.

5. Poirot, 1989-2013

Belgian expatriate and former policeman Hercule Poirot investigates crimes in London.

One of Agatha Christie's main characters had many different incarnations, but David Suchet received the most public love. Thanks to his incredibly accurate interpretation of the character (it was Christie's family who recommended the actor) and the excellent work of the scriptwriters, the audience's interest was enough for the most important thing: over two decades, the creators of the series managed to film all the main works of the author about the Belgian detective.