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So this afternoon Nog and I were escaping The Heat by staying in and rewatching this rather delightful interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, starring the fabulous Robert Downey Jr.
And during a scene in which Holmes and Watson were bickering I said to Nog – ” Hey, they sound just like House and Wilson!”
And then the penny dropped!
Is House a play on words for Holmes? Both famous for their detective work, and both with a sidekick that has the initials J.W.
What do you think?
Am I on to something? Or have a zillion other people come up with this before me and it’s a load of bollocks?
I have to say that I’m tiring a bit of House as there doesn’t seem to be much development going on there with the various characters and storylines.
On the other hand, I am waiting with baited breath for season two of the fabulous Sherlock, which is a very innovative take on the Doyle classic, taking place in modern day London (and the next season will also have Stephen Fry in it!).
I first read The Complete Sherlock Holmes when I was about 15 and, even though the stories did get a bit repititious towards the end of the two volumes, I enjoyed them very much. He’s still my favourite detective.
Who is your favourite detective?
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My favourite detective changes every now and then. Currently, it might well be Nestor Burma (the one from books, not the 1990s TV depiction).
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I have never heard of Nestor Burma! Must check him out.
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Only ever watched House once. Couldn’t cope with the dreadful American accent, the limping and the pill-popping. Much prefer Nurse Jackie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_Jackie. At least her pill-popping is enjoyable.
Good detective work there!
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I LOVE Nurse Jackie! Have you noticed that all the female characters in that series are amazing and all the men are dweebs?
You really should give House another chance. I think the earlier seasons are the best.
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Just checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_%28TV_series%29 and you are absolutely right with your, er diagnosis!
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Well darn, and here I thought I was being all original. But I did think of it on my own!
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And you are to be congratulated! Reading those Conan Doyle stories made a big impact.
Did you ever read The White Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Company? This should be preferred reading for anyone living in Spain.
And his ideas about spiritualism http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/sherlock-holmes/features/conan-doyle-and-spiritualism.
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The White Company sounds great! The spritualism stuff not so…
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Oh Goddess, Sherlock Holmes is not just my favorite detective but my heart-throb and always has been (in various of his incarnations — Holmes pastiche of course ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous). I read the Canon to tatters and have a couple of entire bookshelves devoted to the best of the imitators — I’m right now scoffing down the most recent in the quite nervy interpretation by Laurie King.
I allow myself to fantasize immoderately owing to Holmes’ fascination with Irene Adler, a chestnut-haired American opera contralto with a colorful romantic life and a knack for going incognito in drag. (Hair: check. Tessatura: check. Checkered past: check. Been called “sir” lots of times… )
Second place goes to Marcus Didius Falco, I think
http://www.falcophiles.co.uk/
And a strong third to David Brandstetter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Hansen_%28writer%29
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I have to agree with you about Marcus Didius Falco, but haven’t heard of Brandstetter.
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Brandstetter is classic Los Angeles mid 20th century noir, except that he’s a gay insurance investigator.
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And, by the way, the best detective stories are by Lee-Burke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lee_Burke Dave Robicheaux the best detective is fabulous. Better than SH? Probably.
Then, if that doesn’t do it for you, try Aurelio Zen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelio_Zen by Michael Dibdin, who was influenced by Sherlock http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dibdin
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MORE detectives I have never heard of!
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Oh yes, Sherlock Holmes is my all-time favourite detective, but I’m also partial to Harry Hole (of Jo Nesbo’s books) and the Aurelio Zen portrayal by Rufus Sewell that I caught on TV recently (only one series, sadly).
And I’m very much looking forward to the second series of the new Sherlock Holmes, too 🙂
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If Stephen Fry isn’t Thaddeus Sholto or his 21st century equivalent, I shall SPIT.
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I don’t watch “House”. I’ve seen it a couple of times and just find it repetitive… Same premise and the side story of bickering, not to mention the completely unrealistic methods of “solving” the medical issues. I don’t even watch many medical dramas any more because they are all so formulaic.
Regarding mysteries. I am a huge fan of a lot of different detectives. My recent favourite Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are in the recent series “Sherlock” with Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman (“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”) as Dr. Watson. It is the most psychological of the adaptations. And Andrew Scott is the most devilishly twisted Moriarty… EVER…
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Oh… and I really enjoy the Scottish Noir genre of mystery novels.
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Haha! I was just watching Poirot on Masterpiece Theatre. Just as I posted, they had a snippet of an interview with Jean Marsh. She was talking about her favourite detective and she mentioned the Benedict Cumberbatch incarnation and they showed a clip from it. Talk about coincidence!
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Benedict Cumberbatch sounds like a made up name for one of Doyle’s characters.
After rewatching the film we also ended up rewatching an episode of the new Sherlock series. What the heck, it was Sunday afternoon…
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Have just (yesterday) gotten around to watching the first of the new Sherlock programmes, recorded when the BBC repeated them. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and you can play the game of working out how much of the detail is stil there from the originals – like being ale to tell a drunk from his watch becomes Mobile Phone (hers in this case)!
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Yes, I love the clever way they’ve transported it to the here and now.
Series 2 won’t be available on Amazon until March 2012… patience…
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I loved picking out those rebooted references — even when they were a little strained. (I don’t think my cell phone’s carapace is scratchable…)
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Two more to watrch from the first run – then I need the BBC to show series 2 (again?).
Very watchable – and what was even more surprising was that after about 20 minutes, Mrs. BBJP said – can we start this again from the beginning so that I can watch it properly? She hadn’t been paing attention, assuming it was just “more of your old tosh”!
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