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Entertainment
TV shows inspired by Sherlock Holmes
Published 3:30 PM EDT, Sun October 25, 2015
Simon Baker’s “Mentalist” character Patrick Jane purported in the past to have psychic powers. After renouncing his claim to extrasensory perception, Jane worked as a law enforcement consultant to solve crimes using his well-honed observational skills. The twist: He wants to investigate the murder of his own family.“Sherlock,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, takes place in present-day England. A 90-minute special airing in January takes the characters back in time to 1890s London, the original setting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes tales. Television has mined Doyle’s detective tales for inspiration for many shows:“House” creator David Shore has acknowledged that the cantankerous and drug-addicted doctor who solved all manner of medical mysteries was based in part on detective Holmes. Even the character and series name played off of Holmes, “although he was kinder than House,” Shore told the <a href=”http://magazine.utoronto.ca/cover-story/david-shore-house-creator-television-producers/” target=”_blank” target=”_blank”>University of Toronto magazine</a>.“Elementary,” my dear Watson. The phrase is familiar to even the casual reader of Holmes tales. In this case, Watson is Joan Watson, played by Lucy Liu. She’s sidekick to Johnny Lee Miller’s modern-day Sherlock, who has jumped the pond to New York City.“Backstrom” is based on a series of novels by Swedish criminologist Leif G.W. Persson. The character Everett Backstrom, right, played by Rainn Wilson, has more in common with “House” than Holmes — he’s pretty rude and his personal life is a mess, but he’s a gifted detective.In “Forever,” Holmes-inspired character Dr. Henry Morgan’s biggest mystery is himself. Played by Ioan Gruffudd, Morgan is a medical examiner who spends each episode investigating causes of death while simultaneously attempting to figure out the key to his immortality — and how to end it. Oh yeah, he’s 200 years old.“Psych” teams up two investigators played by James Roday, center, and Dulé Hill, left. Though his cases can get a little out of hand, Roday’s Sherlock-ish character Shawn Spencer is an especially good detective. He’s so good that he manages to convince the cops that he’s psychic. His unorthodox methods lend lots of comedy to this detective drama.
