NOW ENTERTAINMENT Jan. 26 00 - Feb. 2025 Month - 00,1, 2023
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Morris Chestnut (“The Resident”) stars as the titular doctor in “Watson,” premiering on CBS and Paramount+ following the NFL’s AFC championship game, Sunday, Jan. 26. Morris Chestnut in “Watson”
Cover Story The doctor will see you now: Chestnut series ‘Watson’ premieres on cable, streaming By Dana Simpson Throughout history, there have been many notable Watsons in the public interest, but one of the most famous and most referenced is a Watson of fiction; one who dedicated his on-page life to helping mastermind detective Sherlock Holmes solve mysteries in the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While much of Doyle’s work focused on the detective leading the charge in his deerstalker cap, plenty of thought has since gone into Dr. John Watson’s own ambitions, and CBS is the latest to take on the task of modernizing the good doctor’s story for contemporary times. The network’s new hourlong medical drama series “Watson” premieres Sunday, Jan. 26, on CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service. Scheduled to begin immediately following the NFL’s AFC championship game, the exact start time may vary slightly from its anticipated debut. Hailing from Craig Sweeny, executive producer of “Limit-
less” and “Medium,” “Watson” marks the second Sherlock-inspired drama for the producer and showrunner after “Elementary,” the procedural dramedy — in which Lucy Liu (“Charlie’s Angels,” 2000) portrayed Dr. Watson — that ran from 2012 to 2019, also on CBS. Despite the evident tie-in opportunities, it appears Sweeny’s new series is completely devoid of any references to “Elementary” and remains staunchly unrelated to its predecessor, with the exception of drawing inspiration from the same source material. Starring Morris Chestnut (“The Resident”) as the titular character, the series follows Watson and his team of sleuth-adjacent doctors at Holmes Clinic as they work overtime to find answers to some of the most curious ailments known (and unknown) within the medical world. This may sound like a familiar premise to fans of the 20042012 series “House,” but there is an additional, literary
tie-in to the Sherlock Holmes stories outside the clinic. “’Watson’ takes place six months after the death of the titular character’s friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty,” reads the Paramount news release, which later adds that Watson “resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. “Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though,” the release continues, confirming “Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century. ‘Watson’ is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of one of history’s greatest detectives as he turns his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries.” As of writing, however, there is no news as to whether the series will allude to Watson’s past as a military surgeon or his time spent (and injured) in Afghanistan.
In a statement on Paramount Press Express, the official CBS press site, Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, said, “We are thrilled to feature such a beloved character from the world of Sherlock Holmes at the center of this series and have it brought to life by Morris Chestnut in a fresh and unexpected take on the immortal doctor. “Craig Sweeny’s bold new vision for the complex Dr. Watson deftly interweaves rich character storytelling with edgeof-your-seat medical mysteries,” Reisenbach added. Appearing alongside Chestnut is “The Night Agent” actress Eve Harlow as fellow Holmes Clinic doctor Ingrid Derian; “The Dark Knight’s” (2008) Ritchie Coster as Shinwell Johnson; “So Help Me Todd” actress Inga Schlingmann as Dr. Sasha Lubbock; Rochelle Aytes (“S.W.A.T.”) as Dr. Mary Morstan; and Peter Mark Kendall (“The Americans”) doing double duty as doctors Stephens and Adam Croft.
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