Back in the day, you didn’t need much to make a medical drama that people could relate to.
All you had to do was combine some interesting characters with strange illnesses and hope everything mixed just fine.
Watson doesn’t have it as easy.
TV has come a long way from the likes of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman but even that show had the gimmick of being set in the Wild West.
Thankfully, CBS has been in the medical drama business since the ’50s with City Hospital, one of the first medical procedurals on television.
Now that the network has added Watson to its catalog of primetime shows, does the series have enough to offer audiences something fresh?
Well, despite numerous medical dramas about genius doctors who favor knowledge over feelings, none of them had the classic character of Sherlock Holmes’ trusted right-hand man.
On the other hand, Watson is swinging big by bringing a beloved literary character into the modern world. Right away, you know there are going to be a lot of people who are flabbergasted by the idea, and not in a good way.
Watson Knows You Can’t Have A Successful Medical Drama Without Some Eye Candy
One thing the series got right was casting Morris Chestnut (All American) as the titular character. Not to get gross, but that man is fine as hell. He’s a tall drink of water, and I am parched.
All kidding aside, the actor has been in the entertainment business going on forty years. I know because he started acting the same year I was born.
Believe it or not, the man is almost in his sixties, looking like a smoke show with his chiseled abs and flawless face. Plus, everyone knows you can’t have a successful medical procedural without some eye candy — I’m looking at you, ER, and Grey’s Anatomy.
Chestnut’s ridiculous good looks aside, the man is as talented as he is handsome, and his resume says just that. Morris has a laundry list of shows and films going back decades. So, while not every viewer will know his name, they’ll likely recognize his striking features.
His approach to Dr. John Watson is nothing short of a genius take on a character that has been around for almost a century and a half. Still, to my knowledge, no iteration of the character has had quite the smolder of Chestnut’s version.
What I gleaned from Watson’s Season 1 Episode 1 was that Morris is the right man for the job. However, a show is only as good as the sum of its parts, and Watson is working with many fresh faces.
The Supporting Characters Need a Little Work, but There Is a Lot of Potential There
Another thing the series has going for it is the meta-approach to the cast of supporting characters. In the pilot, Eve Harlow’s Ingrid establishes that Watson has hired all the doctors under him as an experiment — we’ll get to that in a minute.
All of the new doctors have unique personalities, and I’m not talking about being germophobic or having OCD tendencies.
While Ingrid’s thing is that she lies for the sake of her ambition, we can hardly call that a gimmick since what person wouldn’t lie on their resume to advance their career?
Then there is Inga Schlingmann’s (So Help Me Todd) Sasha Lubbock, who has the thickest Texas accent I have ever heard — and I live in the South.
I’ve never heard the actress speak outside of her role on Watson, so I don’t want to offend anyone by calling out her accent, but she might as well be wearing a Dalla Cowboys jersey in every episode.
Finally, and this might just be me, the weirdest addition to the physician’s roster is Peter Mark Kendall’s (Chicago Med) twin characters, Stephens and Adam Croft.
I don’t even know what to say about those two because it seems like the writers are trying way too hard to differentiate between the characters. Putting glasses on one twin and a leather jacket on the other doesn’t work that well with identical twins.
While the premise is creative and the subplots seem intriguing, how these doctors are developed will decide Watson’s staying power. Luckily, there is still one more character who could make or break this series.
Everyone Likes a Fun Villain They Can Love to Hate, But Watson’s Might Be a Little Too Likable
If you have not watched the Watson pilot, turn around now because I’m about to trot out a SPOILER. Then again, you may be like this TV Fanatic and enjoy knowing the twists before watching something.
I can’t be the only person who reads the entire plot of a movie just to see if they like the ending before wasting two hours, right?
Anyway, here’s the big twist at the end of the Watson pilot: Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) plays Sherlock Holmes’s greatest enemy, Professor James Moriarty. Now, that is what you call “swinging big.”
I’ve actually heard it both ways about this casting. Some people love the refreshing take on the character with an actor known for his comedic roles, while others are not quite as on board.
I’m going to sugarcoat it, but basically, a lot of viewers feel this is a travesty and an offense to the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and that the Watson writers should hang their heads in shame. Again, this was me sugarcoating the comments.
Personally, I’d like to see what Park can do with the character. The actor has a lot of charisma and charm, which is why most people enjoy him when he appears in a movie or series.
To be honest, I doubt Randall Park would have taken on this rather risky role if he didn’t believe he had the chops to do Moriarty justice.
Since I’ve only seen the pilot, I can only guess at his approach, but I imagine it’ll be the type where he says something sinister but then follows it up with a big smile, Joker style.
Still, Park’s casting is possibly the greatest risk that CBS‘s Watson has made since it has had such a polarizing effect on viewers — about ten million of them, to be exact.
Also, remember that little experiment of Watson’s? If you don’t, the titular character hired the doctors he did because they all share traits similar to that of one mysterious individual. I wonder who it could be.
One thing to keep in mind is that many shows make small but fundamental changes after a pilot airs because the first and second episodes usually have a lot of time between their respective filming.
For all we know, Watson could come back with even more “intriguing” characters when the series returns for its second episode.
I was going to ask what kind of show takes a weeks-long break after its premiere, but then I remembered Matlock.
What did you think of Watson after watching the pilot?
Which supporting character do you think has the most potential to keep the show going?
Drop a comment below to let me know what you think, and join me again when I bring you more fun questions and opinions about Watson!
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