DADADEL
Morris Chestnut is set to take the lead and executive produce “Watson,” a medical drama inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries. CBS has given a straight-to-series order for the 2024-25 broadcast season, created by Craig Sweeny (Elementary) and produced by Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and CBS Studios.
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In January of last year, CBS commissioned two drama pilots—Elsbeth featuring Carrie Preston and Matlock featuring Kathy Bates—along with initiating writers’ rooms for two medical drama ventures, Watson and The Pact.
CBS and CBS Studios have secured Morris Chestnut as the lead and Larry Teng as the director and executive producer for the first episode, signaling a step closer to the formal greenlight for the anticipated series.
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The CBS/NAACP Production Venture’s project, The Pact, follows a distinct timeline. Despite bringing on a supervising writer before the WGA strike, it is still in development and set to move to a writer’s room soon.
Watson is portrayed as a medical drama with a robust investigative core, showcasing a contemporary iteration of a legendary detective. Transitioning from crime-solving to unraveling medical enigmas, the series exists in a realm where Holmes meets his demise, a direction reportedly intended by Conan Doyle in The Final Problem.
A year post-Sherlock Holmes’ demise, Dr. John Watson (played by Morris Chestnut) restarts his medical career, leading a clinic for rare disorders. Yet, Moriarty resurfaces, and a new chapter unfolds in the age-old saga that has captivated audiences for over a century.
“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,” said Amy Reisenbach, President, CBS Entertainment. “Craig Sweeny’s bold new vision for the complex Dr. Watson deftly interweaves rich character storytelling with edge-of-your-seat medical mysteries.”
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Having dedicated five years to CBS’ Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson series “Elementary,” Sweeny, the former executive producer, is now the showrunner for “Watson.” He collaborates with Chestnut, Kaplan, Brian Morewitz, and Shäron Moalem MD, Ph.D., as executive producers on the series.
Watson, CBS’ third new scripted series for the 2024-25 season, joins Matlock and Poppa’s House. Morris Chestnut makes a return to the medical genre, following his roles on The Resident, Nurse Jackie, and as the lead in Rosewood. Chestnut is concurrently working on a Netflix movie and a BET series through his MC8 Entertainment banner.
In 2023, Morris Chestnut secured his second NAACP award for Peacock’s The Best Man: The Final Chapters. Last year, he joined Onyx’s Reasonable Doubt Season 2 on Hulu and BET+’s Diarra. Renowned for his roles in Boyz n the Hood and The Best Man franchise, he received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2022. Chestnut is represented by Verve and LINK Entertainment.
