Morris chestnut adds pizzazz to sherlock’s ‘watson’ | members only

Actor Morris Chestnut, 56, plays what he calls a “doc-tective” in his latest project, the CBS hospital drama _Watson_. The series, which premiered on Jan. 26 but slides into its permanent

time slot Feb. 16, is another reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes story in the vein of _Elementary_, which enjoyed a seven-year run on CBS from 2012 to 2019. With _Watson_, Chestnut’s

character, Dr. John Watson, is out of the shadow of Holmes (who died a year prior), and focused on solving rare medical mysteries (with historical archenemy Moriarty set to bring the drama).

Professionally, Chestnut was eager to play the beloved character: “I felt it was the right time to do this,” he says. “[Watson] truly cares about about the patient.” In his personal life,

Chestnut and wife Pam Byse will celebrate their 30th anniversary this year [they’re parents to son Grant, 27, and daughter Paige, 26]. “I believe that we were both lucky, fortunate and

blessed to grow together,” he says. “Now, it takes work, of course. Being in a marriage or any relationship takes a sacrifice and compromise. We definitely both understood that, and we

definitely both were up for the assignment.” Chestnut recently spoke with AARP about his new show; how he went from athlete to actor; and how he keeps in shape even while indulging his “huge

sweet tooth.” _This interview has been edited for length and clarity._ Morris Chestnut as John Watson in “Watson” on CBS. Colin Bentley/CBS HOSPITAL SHOWS ARE HAVING A MOMENT. I’VE

INTERVIEWED SCOTT WOLF ABOUT _DOC_, NOAH WYLE ABOUT _THE PITT_ AND NOW YOU. HOW DOES _WATSON _STAND OUT? I love that they’re having a comeback. Ours is not the traditional medical drama. I

love that we do have a traditional procedural where we are presented with a medical mystery at the beginning and we solve it by the end of the show. But in addition to that, we have a very

strong serialized theme to the show, where each week we’re ratcheting up the intensity by revealing more about the characters, their stories, the background, and the hooks and the

cliffhangers. In addition, we don’t just solve the medical mystery inside the hospital but we go outside of the hospital, and we’re detectives. … So we’re doctors inside, we’re detectives

outside, we’re doc-tectives. YOU LIKE PORTRAYING DOCTORS? [CHESTNUT DONNED SCRUBS FOR _ROSEWOOD_, _NURSE JACKIE_ AND _THE RESIDENT_.] I had fun playing Barrett Cain on _The Resident_. I

get such strong reactions [the Fox series, which ran from 2018 to 2023, is now available on streaming services including Netflix and Hulu] because people didn’t like the character. They

have a lot of colorful names for that character when they see me out on the street, and I love that.