The Game Is Afoot: For all things Sherlockian

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Stumbled onto this at Barnes & Noble a couple of years ago:



An early 60's TV show starring Peter Cushing as Holmes and Nigel Stock as Watson. It was said that only five episodes of this show survived, but, they were good ones:

The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Sign of Four
The Blue Carbuncle
A Study in Scarlet
The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Cushing, like Brett, Rathbone, Lee, Cumberbatch and RDJ brought his own unique take on the legendary sleuth and it was most enjoyable. I don't know if this collection is still in print or not, but, if you can find it, by all means, buy it.

I haven't seen this one but now I really want to.

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The obese Mycroft, wallowing in his chair at the Diogenes Club, seems to be a thing of the past. Modern audiences want both Holmes brothers to be physically capable of at least defending themselves.

I bought these comics and I have the first couple of prose novels that were the starting point for Abdul-Jabbar's take on Mycroft (and by extension Sherlock). And for this Boston Celtics fan to be a fan of something that was done by a Lakers player...well, that's saying something.

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Kareem co-wrote a novel with Anna Waterhouse called Mycroft Holmes. The comic is a sequel he co-wrote with Raymond Obtsfeild. He and Waterhouse have also written two prose sequels.

No idea how much of the actual writing he did, but he has been a Holmes fan since boyhood, so his contribution is more than just his name.

There's three or four books in the series plus the comics.

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In the mid 1990s, I went on a Sherlock Holmes kick and read every Holmes story written by Doyle and was sorry when it ended.

I read the Beekeeper's Apprentice which I thought was quite good though some accuse it of being glorified fan fiction.

Alas, I burned out on trying to sustain it with other people's versions of Holmes.

I saw Murder by Decree and Young Sherlock Holmes (which, of course, contradicts the premise that they met as adults). Alas, I've never seen any of the Rathbone movies. I like RDJ but I didn't like him as Holmes specifically because I had read the books and the RDJ movie's portrayal of Victorian London just leaves me cold it is so completely false.

I rather liked the Cumberbatch version with it's modern take on the stories.

Ironically, I've met people who tell me they are big fans who have read the books. Then they start telling me what an awesome gadgeteer and technological genius Moriarty was.

The Laurie R. King series that started with The Beekeeper's Apprentice is superb. I also read series like The Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series by Vicki Delany and The Baker Street Letters series by Michael Robertson. I've also started picking up books that James Lovegrove wrote featuring Holmes.

I've loved the Sherlock series, the Enola Holmes movie and I'm looking forward to checking out The Irregulars on Netflix. I wasn't crazy about the first Robert Downey Jr movie but I haven't seen the second one yet.

I am an unabashed fan of the Jeremy Brett series and own the complete series on DVD. Oh, and if I ever get the chance to go to London, my main goal would be to visit The Sherlock Holmes Museum. I recently purchased the first literary themed T-shirt I've ever owned and it was for The Hound of the Baskervilles with the artwork from one of the original publication installments when it was serialized. And Elementary is probably my 2nd favorite Holmes related programming.

I loved Young Sherlock Holmes as a kid but haven't seen it in years.

Trying to think of what else Sherlock plays a role in my life.

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After the retch-fest reactions to Holmes and Watson, I almost hesitate to ask, but what's the prevailing attitude toward Mr. Holmes?

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I saw this in the theater when it was released and I enjoyed it overall.

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I keep meaning to mention a few of my favorite pastiches. I got interested back in 1975; my interest in Holmes was re-awakened by The Seven Per Cent Solution. I was fourteen and for about a day and a half it fooled me into thinking Holmes was real. I picked it up from the paperback stand at the grocery store next to whjere I bought my comics and didn't put it down till I'd finished it.

Of course Meyer started something of a cottage industry and he's done three more of his own... and they are all pretty good, but that first one was lightning in a bottle.

But it also served to demonstrate to me that there was MORE HOLMES out there to read. Even back in the seventies there were a lot of them out there. For a long time this was my favorite.



And this is my favorite done for comics.



And lately I think Lyndsay Faye is the one to beat.



I could go on, but I'm curious about you all. Whatcha got?

I keep meaning to pick up the Nicholas Meyer books but haven't done it yet. I have that Lyndsay Faye book but haven't read it yet. Oh and I got to review The Art of Deception,one of Leonard Goldberg's Daughter of Sherlock Holmes books, last year for Mystery Scene magazine. The author (or whomever runs his social media) liked my review enough that they used a pull quote for it on a banner photo for his Facebook page. Here's the link to my review if anyone is interested.

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And Dynamite Entertainment did a 5 issue Sherlock Holmes vs. Harry Houdini miniseries in 2014, riffing on the friendship between Doyle and Houdini.

I think I read this but have no memory of it.

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On that subject, Holmes for the Holidays is a collection of Christmas-themed Holmes pastiches, and contains three stories linking Holmes to A Christmas Carol.

I didn't know about this and now I want it. By the way, has anyone seen a copy of the Sherlock Holmes magazine. It's relatively new but I can't find a copy.

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Just watched the 1993 TV movie 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns. It's a fun little film where Sherlock Holmes placed himself in suspended animation in a mansion outside of San Francisco in 1899 after falling into a deep ennui following his defeat of Moriarty. In 1993, an earthquake (and the unintentional interference of a well-meaning doctor) wakes him up seven years earlier than intended. Holmes teams up with the doctor Amy Winslow to track down Moriarty's relative who is now a leading figure in the San Francisco, and solve a bizarre series of murders.

This was pilot for a series that never got picked up, which is a shame as it is a lot of fun. By the end of it, a supporting cast has been established, with Winslow as the new Watson, Det. Griffin as the new Lestrade, Zapper and his gang as the new Irregulars, and Mrs Hudson as the new, well, Mrs Hudson. The chemistry between Holmes and Winslow is excellent, and the writers had definitely done the research, and Holmes demonstrates his skill in baritsu and single-stick (and Holmes' actor Anthony Higgins shows proper single-stick form while fighting).

And there is neat running gag that could have worked well. Several times Holmes does he is survey of a person and launches into a series of deductions about the person. He gets most of it right, but get several details comically wrong because he doesn't have the modern context for them, such as assuming that Winslow takes cocaine when it is actually artificial sweetener for her iced tea, or that Griffin's nickname is Noodles because it is printed on a cup on his desk, when it is just the cup of noodles he had for lunch.

Of course, it doesn't fit with canon, as Homes went into suspended animation in 1899, whereas canonical Holmes is active up to the eve of WWI, but it is fun nonetheless.

I remember seeing this movie. I wish I could see it again.

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Eric Porter from the Brett series. Dude just OOZED evil!

That is for sure!

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I saw some of the Basil Rathbone movies when I was a kid but I don't remember much about them. I really need to go back and check out the classic B&W movies to get an adult appreciation for them. Finding the time to do so is the problem.

Oh and I'm in the middle of a rewatch of the Jeremy Brett series.

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Here's some of the Sherlock related books I have but haven't read yet.

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And a couple more:

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[signalman112]

Been listening to Rathbone and Bruce SHERLOCK HOLMES radio series. Had these episode on cassettes since the 90's.
Good Entertainment.
Tom Conway who replaced Rathbone also did a nice job as Holmes. Too bad it only lasted one season.

HolmesRadio.jpg

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Been listening to Rathbone and Bruce SHERLOCK HOLMES radio series. Had these episode on cassettes since the 90's.
Good Entertainment.
Tom Conway who replaced Rathbone also did a nice job as Holmes. Too bad it only lasted one season.

HolmesRadio.jpg

I have an app on my phone called Vintage Radio which offers radio shows from the 40's and 50's in numerous genres, including crime & detective (my favorite) with Sherlock Holmes. Pretty cool!