'Watson' with Morris Chestnut: Sherlock Holmes show uses medical cases 'at the very edge of human knowledge'
Showrunner and executive producer Craig Sweeny took inspiration from his mother's job at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Boyz n the Hood, Nurse Jackie, and The Resident alum Morris Chestnut stars in the new show Watson (premiering on CBS in the U.S., Global and StackTV in Canada on Sunday, Jan. 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT), which blends the Sherlock Holmes universe with a medical procedural drama. From showrunner and executive producer Craig Sweeny, the show takes place six months after the death of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of the villain Moriarty, and follows Holmes' partner and friend, Dr. John Watson (Chestnut).
Watson moves back from London to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to resume his medical career as the head of a clinic that focuses on rare medical cases. While each episode of the show takes on a rare disorder, Watson is also dealing with the repercussions of his decision to leave his wife to work with Holmes, and the ongoing threat of Moriarty.
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For Sweeny, after his work on Elementary, taking on this "doc detective" story was heavily inspired by his upbringing, specifically his mother's work at a Pittsburgh hospital.
"The show Watson for me represents the chance to express a lot of things I've always been interested in as a writer," Sweeny told reporters at a virtual Q&A ahead of the show's premiere. "I grew up in the city of Pittsburgh, where the show is set, with my mother working in at [University of Pittsburgh Medical Center] hospital, the massive hospital system that dominates that city, in the organ transplant department."
"Probably she would have preferred me to be a doctor, but here I am, and this is my chance to make up for that, and the chance to express that world on screen. ... It also represents something I didn't expect, which is the chance to revisit the world of Sherlock Holmes. Elementary, prior to Watson, had been my happiest professional experience, writing Holmes and Watson and the surrounding characters always has fit me like a comfortable shoe, and the chance to develop a new take on that, it wasn't something I ever thought that I would do. But when I had the idea, it's just been so comfortable and fun to revisit."
Sweeny added that he particularly enjoys writing in the procedural genre with a focus on cases that exist "at the very edge of human knowledge." In this case, there's also a focus on the science of genes and genetics-related medical conditions.
'He's brought new skills back, but he's also done a lot of damage'
As Sweeny explained, blending a whodunit, mystery story with a medical drama comes with its own unique set of beats to craft the show.
"There are certain rules to a whodunit, ... generally, you're going to meet the person somewhere in the first two, three acts, so that you've met your guilty party. That's not possible when the guilty party is a microbe," Sweeny said. "There are tropes in murder mysteries, but they're different in medical mysteries."
"So it's all about finding what works, but the underlying sort of rhythm of the shows is the same."
But a core element of how Watson operates throughout this show is the cloud of Holmes' death that hovers over him.
"When you read the books, ... they're obviously from the perspective primarily of Sherlock," Sweeny said. "It's just sort of assumed there's this guy who threw off everything about his life and now he lives with Sherlock, and they solve mysteries together."
"It's quite a strange thing when you really think about it. I mean, imagine saying, 'Yeah, I met this guy and he looked at my watch, and he told me some things about myself, and now I'm going to move in with him, and we're going to solve mysteries together.' When you think about it, Watson's life, it's quite an unusual thing. And so the chance to dig into that was what really appealed to me about the premise, and he's now dealing, Watson, the character, with the aftermath of that choice. He put his life on hold. He put his wife on hold. He put his practice of medicine on hold. He's brought new skills back, but he's also done a lot of damage, and so we're going to see him try to fit back in, despite being an entirely new person."
