Seeing Sherlock Everywhere..

[SherLOCKED221]

I recently started watching Dirk Gently originally broadcasted on BBC4 in 2010, although cancelled after a pilot and three episodes, I believe Dirk shows similar characteristics to that of Sherlock; although not a copy.

I may just be seeing Sherlock everywhere but...

Things like:

*Sees things no one else notices

*Created the title "Holistic Detective"

*Is hated by the police

*Has an assistant/friend who is relatively normal, who hates him but still puts up with his antics (Is a possible JOHN WATSON)

*Set in his ways

*Makes connections

*Seem to dress the same

*(Ex)Assiastant hates him/loves him but still sticks around (shows simlar qulities to MOLLY HOOPER)

There are probably more, however at this time I cannot recall them.

Has anyone watched and if so do you believe they are similar?

[aely]

I wouldn't be surprised if Douglas Adams intended Dirk Gently to have a Holmesesque air about him - I love Dirk's belief of the interconnectedness of all things. I've not seen the 3 episodes yet, just the pilot, but I do own all 3 books.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I have neither seen the program nor read the books (though I have at least seen the latter). Is their tone humorous/quirky like Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide series?

[SherLOCKED221]

Yes, it is intended to be funny, Dirk will often do the silliest things, however it will almost always somehow relate to the final result of the case.

One of my favorite scenes is when Dirk places his "Watson" McDuff outside a window than goes inside the building. He pretends to jump out, when the person who witnessed this jump looks out the window he notices a man sprawled out and belives the man to have died so he runs out to help.

However as he does this Dirk is searching for clues inside. Very funny. A must watch!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for confirming my hazy impression, SherLOCKED. Actually, I'm thinking of reading the books, which are presumably just as good. I tried one bookstore this evening, but they didn't have any of them. Will keep looking.

[CSIBakerStreet]

Good God. It's not enough that there are several versions of myself, but now other detectives start trying to impersonate me. Adrian Monk, Dirk Gently...There's a large list. Can't they just be themselves? Why do they have to try and be me? Why would they...want to be me?

[SherLOCKED221]

Perhaps boredom?

I believe they are not intending to be you; however they are similar by our own thinking. I believe we create these connections.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I believe you're both (partially) right. Some shows are intentional parallels (such as House, which is even a pun on "Holmes"), and others -- well, we're just looking at the world through Sherlock-colored glasses.

 

*Sees things no one else notices

*Created the title "Holistic Detective"

*Is hated by the police

*Has an assistant/friend who is relatively normal, who hates him but still puts up with his antics (Is a possible JOHN WATSON)

*Set in his ways

*Makes connections

*Seem to dress the same

*(Ex)Assiastant hates him/loves him but still sticks around (shows simlar qulities to MOLLY HOOPER)

 

Being hated by the police is practically a requirement for tv detectives. If Gently is a takeoff on 30's-noir detectives, then the suit is also de rigueur. As for the other traits, the closest I can think of in a blatantly non-Holmesian detective is Thomas Magnum of Magnum P.I. --

 

He has a "little voice" that clues him in.

He hates being called a "private eye" rather than a private investigator. (OK, that one's a stretch.)

Of course he's hated by the police.

He has two friends who help him on cases, despite his always getting them in trouble.

Does "refuses to grow up" count as "set in his ways"?

Makes connections -- see "little voice" above.

Magnum prefers aloha shirts over suits -- but he doesn't wear a tie!

He strikes out on the Molly clone -- his only close female friend is just that.

 

Let me see if I can think of a few more correlations between Magnum and the BBC Sherlock --

 

Weird artifacts -- a rubber chicken and a gorilla mask vs. the human skull and the bison skull.

Odd eating habits -- beer and Fig Newtons vs. every-other day.

Tall and dark-haired.

Skilled in hand-to-hand combat (Magnum is a former Navy SEAL).

Speaks French.

Nice home without high rent (Magnum lives in an estate's guest house in exchange for security help).

Has problems with large dogs (the estate is guarded by two dobermans, who detest Magnum).

 

But other than that, they're nothing at all alike!

[SherLOCKED221]

*laughs*

I have never thought that Magnum PI is even close to Sherlock.

I watch Monk, and although I see some (small) similarities he isn't much like Sherlock either.

 

However there is a TV show called Psych that is quite interesting to watch. American, it's a bit like the Mentalist (with that whole "pretending to be psychic" thing) however it is a comedy show. Sean uses that thing Sherlock does (often called Sherlock Vision?) were he spots things and makes deductions from there.

My favourite scenes are when he has a "vision", he spasms on the floor or he screams things out. The police (although slightly bumbling at times) hate him for this but "put up" with him because he gets results; a lot like our consulting detective.

[Carol the Dabbler]

*laughs*

I have never thought that Magnum PI is even close to Sherlock.

 

Exactly. So perhaps you see my point -- even things that seem nothing alike have similarities if you look hard enough (especially through your Sherlock-colored glasses). In other words, having similarities does not necessarily make things similar overall.

[SherLOCKED221]

I agree. You see the similarities because you’re actively looking for them. If you step back and look at the bigger picture you see there not alike at all.

[Undead Medic]

Being hated by the police is practically a requirement for tv detectives. If Gently is a takeoff on 30's-noir detectives, then the suit is also de rigueur. As for the other traits, the closest I can think of in a blatantly non-Holmesian detective is Thomas Magnum of Magnum P.I. --

 

One only has to look at the creations of Agatha Christie, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, to see that both are often ridiculed and loathed by their more "Professional" counterparts, despite both being irritatingly right in their deductions in most cases.

[SherLOCKED221]

Too right UndeadMedic. However, although I have heard both of those, I do not watch. I tend not to enjoy the period dramas (although some exceptions apply including "Copper")

[aely]

I read a lot of Agatha Christie when I was younger as my aunt had the entire works and reading was a good way to keep out from under her feet when I had to go and visit her and my grandmother but still be there. Always preferred Marple to Poirot at the time.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Miss Marple is like Sherlock Holmes -- in that her name is well known, even among people who have never actually read any of the books or seen the movies. Who else is in that category? Charlie Chan, I think, and Sam Spade. More?

[aely]

James Bond! He's almost as much part of the British psyche as Doctor Who - even if you've managed to miss all the films and have never even heard of Ian Fleming (or the fact that James Bond existed on paper before he was on film), most people have heard of James Bond.

 

Ummmm.

 

Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Bond for sure -- he's part of the global psyche!

 

Clouseau, hmm, not so sure -- actually, I suspect that the panther itself is more famous, having taken on a life of its own in cartoons!

[SherLOCKED221]

I agree that the Pink Panther is much more famous than the man. I concede that I used to watch the cartoon when I was younger.

[Undead Medic]

I also dare say that most people (at least in the UK) have heard of Inspector Morse even if they haven't seen the TV show or read Colin Dexter's original Morse novels.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Inspector Morse? Sorry. Either he hasn't made it over here, or I've simply missed him, due to not watching much tv. In either case, his is apparently not yet a household name in the US.

 

How about Lt. Columbo? I assume most people on this forum are familiar with him, but could one safely mention his name in general company without an explanation? I'm not sure ....

[SherLOCKED221]

Yes, familar, however he is so anyoying I cannot bare to watch!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Inspector Morse or Lieutenant Columbo?

[SherLOCKED221]

Both, however Columbo is more anyoing

[Undead Medic]

[columbo]Just one more thing, sir...[/columbo]

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think he's cute, actually!