Sherlock meets ‘House’ in absurd drama

On By Littum

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If you wanted a perfect encapsulation of the chaotic state of television in 2025, look no further than CBS’ Sherlock Holmes-inspired procedural, “Watson.”

The new series starring perennial network hunk Morris Chestnutis completely nonsensical and ridiculous and also known enough to be derivative. That’s a lot “House”: A medical mystery in which Kastanjers Watson and a team of attractive young doctors diagnose baffling illnesses in a Pittsburgh clinic due to their collective eccentric genius. And then you remember that Chestnut plays Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, and your brain explodes a little.

The two parts of “Watson” (premiering Sunday, 10 EST/PST, ★ ½ of four) don’t go together. The medical procedural is fine, bland and perfectly standard CBS. But then a patient-week drama is crashed into this half-hearted Sherlock mythology, and the wheels just fall off.

It’s ridiculous and kind of funny at times, especially in the last few minutes of the premiere, which goes in a direction you totally expect, but in a way you definitely don’t see coming. It’s not a happy marriage of two TV shows, but rather a non-consensual coexistence of two ideas with completely different tones and themes smoothed out by Chestnut’s soothing baritone. It wasn’t supposed to work! Maybe do it once or twice? It’s impossible to tell, even after watching six episodes, because it’s so all over the place: a bunch of ideas thrown at the wall by producer Craig Sweeney (who mined Holmes territory in Jonny Lee Miller’s “Elementary”) and picked up by CBS, because why why why not? Ratings are down, the most random shows hit it big, so why not try Dr. Watson in Pittsburgh? They already did “NCIS” in Australia.

How does Sherlock’s famous partner go from London to the Steel City, you ask? Well, Watson and his bestie lived it up in London, solving cases and fighting the evil villain Moriarty until they wound up on the Cliff of Reichenbach Falls (Holmes fans will recognize the familiar location). Three men went over the falls, but only Watson was saved. Now, with a debilitating blow to the head that probably should have prevented him from practicing medicine, Watson is returning to his hometown of Pittsburgh. And hey, Sherlock left him a lot of money and a plan to open a medical clinic specializing in diagnostic mysteries! So helpful.

Watson is aided in his endeavor by fellow Sherlock Associate Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), a wandering Cockney stereotype, and a group of handpicked medical geniuses. Oh, and he gets a case or two referred by his ex-wife, Dr. Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes), who is the head of the local prestigious hospital.

Yes, it sounds a lot like Fox’s 2004-12 drama “House” from the wounded genius detective doctor to the EX head of the hospital. (It also sounds like Fox’s new drama “Doc,” which also features a doctor with a traumatic brain injury and an ex at the top of the hospital’s org chart). “House” was a much better show than “Watson” is; The new show’s medical whodunits are kind of boring, and the team of paramedics is distinctly unappealing. But the day (and the quality of the episode) is often saved by the sheer charm of Chestnut, who doesn’t look and act like Martin Freeman or Jude Law or any Watsons you’ve seen before. He’s just kind of playing his chubby, handsome self and occasionally referencing his pal Sherlock.

When the show revolves around dissecting bits and pieces of Sherlockian mythology, it becomes so ridiculous that it’s ridiculous. Without spoiling the premiere’s big twist, I can only say that this style of adaptation of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle characters has been done with far more creative success with the likes of “Sherlock” and “Elementary.” It turns out that Sherlock is a pretty central part of any Sherlock Holmes story!

No one wants to turn on “Watson” without knowing exactly what they’re getting into. I expected formulaic episodes, attractive doctors in scrubs and lab coats, and lots of ridiculous medical terms. I didn’t expect to be so bored. I didn’t expect to be this confused either. “Watson” wins the award for the most boring series of the year, which I also can’t stop thinking about because of its sheer weirdness.

But maybe it’s just a concept that would never work as a TV show. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out.