4 TV Geniuses You Didn’t Know Were Actually Sherlock Holmes' Knock-Offs
The most famous detective in history has many faces.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, having created a combination of genius and partner, came up with the perfect way to introduce people who at first glance seem insane. Ahead of their time, introverted and reluctant to fit in, they possessed a certain set of qualities first captured in the original Sherlock.
Not only has Sherlock been adapted numerous times, but he has also become the prototype for seemingly unrelated to him characters.
1. True Detective – Rust Cohle
One of the most realistic attempts to imagine how the relationship between Holmes and Watson would have developed in the real modern world. Marty Hart, like Watson, is the best of his kind – a Louisiana cop, a womanizer, and, like Watson, hot-tempered.
He has nothing in common with the asocial smart guy Rust Cohle, who has become a kind of modern Sherlock, and he doesn't even try to find something common – their forced partnership is of no interest to either character.
2. House, M. D. – House
David Shore, the creator of House M. D., was a big fan of Conan Doyle and gave Dr. House some characteristics of Sherlock. Thus, House has a loyal friend, Wilson, a love of music, and an addiction to drugs.
Some references to Holmes in the show are on the surface (for example, House's apartment number is 221B), while others are hidden deeper. For example, a family friend, whom House considers his real father for almost all eight seasons, bears the surname of the Holmes prototype – Bell.
In the fifth season, House receives a real-life book by Joseph Bell, Manual of Surgical Operations, and Wilson jokingly mentions House's fictional patient, Irene Adler.
3. Monk – Adrian Monk
The series is dedicated to the former San Francisco police detective Adrian Monk. Former, because after the death of his wife he can not be a full-time detective.
Monk's phobias, OCD, and other peculiarities were the result of the tragedy. This is the hallmark of the series – a strange, brilliant and deeply unhappy man will solve any murder thanks to his extraordinary abilities. Sound familiar? Moreover, Monk's condition makes him an outsider in the police force, just as Sherlock was something of an outcast at Scotland Yard.
4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Gil Grissom
The character of forensic scientist Gil Grissom is inspired by three people: a real-life criminologist who was an on-set consulter, Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin, and Sherlock Holmes. In one episode, Gil performs the same investigative experiment on a pig that Holmes does in one of the stories.
Grissom's Watson was Dr. Albert Robbins, and they made a canonical couple – an antisocial scientist-genius and his more well-adjusted friend.