10. The Return of the World’s Greatest Detective (1976, TV)
IMDB score = 6.3/10
Holmes and Watson? = Larry Hagman and Jenny O’Hara
Synopsis = A Los Angeles cop has an accident with his motorcycle. It strikes his head and he wakes up believing himself to be Sherlock Holmes.
Defense by Paul Thomas Miller:
Clearly inspired by They Might Be Giants, this pilot is way better than it sounds on paper. Sherman Holmes is a 1970s Holmesian who is a rubbish cop but when a bike falls on his face, he wakes up with the delusion that he is Sherlock Holmes. Not only that, he has all of Sherlock's abilities.
This is intended as a piece of whimsey and it is full of some delightful daft humour. But it is also a really good representation of Sherlock Holmes. He is constantly making deductions about people in a very Holmesy way. He even manages to recreate what happened at a crime scene by drawing plausible deductions from a photo in a newspaper. The plot pleasingly contains some elements from Red-Headed League and the joyous evidence of a cigar in pure canonical fashion.
The only fault I can find in the production is Larry Hagman's English accent, but if I'm honest I really enjoy a poor English accent from an American actor.
I wish they'd actually made the series.
