CBS recently tried to revive the Sherlock Holmes series, but unfortunately, it was cancelled after only two seasons. Sherlock Holmes remains incredibly popular – alongside characters like Dracula, he’s been adapted into countless movies and TV shows. New versions continue to appear, like the ongoing Enola Holmes series on Netflix and the recent Young Sherlock on Prime Video, proving his enduring appeal.
It’s still surprising that CBS cancelled Watson after just two seasons. The show, created by Elementary’s Craig Sweeny, seemed to have a lot of potential. Watson followed the ongoing story of Dr. Watson, played by Morris Chestnut, after the death of Sherlock Holmes. Interestingly, the show began after Holmes’ death, though Matt Berry, known for What We Do in the Shadows, voiced Holmes in a single audio cameo in season one.
CBS’s Watson Was Cancelled Despite The Sherlock Holmes Show’s Critical Success
Season 2 of Watson shocked viewers by bringing Sherlock Holmes back to life – and with a new actor! Robert Carlyle, known for Trainspotting, took on the role in 2025, but it wasn’t enough to prevent CBS from cancelling the show shortly after. Watson started strong, drawing 9.58 million viewers for its first episode. Although ratings decreased, the show still averaged a solid 4-5 million viewers throughout its first season.
Despite featuring Benedict Carlyle as Holmes for the first time, the second season premiere of the show only attracted 2.53 million viewers. Ratings remained around that same level in the weeks that followed, which wasn’t great, but also wasn’t immediately concerning. For comparison, Timothée Sweeney’s previous Sherlock series, Elementary, didn’t see numbers this low until its final season in 2017 – but overall TV viewership has declined significantly in the last nine years. Plus, Watson shared many of the same creative minds behind Elementary, leading many to believe it would be a long-running success.
Watson Can’t Pay Off Its Unique Approach To The Sherlock Holmes Franchise Now
It wasn’t entirely surprising that Watson was cancelled, considering Sweeney was behind the poorly received Star Trek: Section 31 movie in 2025, which many fans considered one of the worst in the Star Trek series. Still, it’s a shame the CBS show ended so quickly, as Watson had a unique concept with a lot of promise.
As a big fan of detective shows, I always thought Watson had something special. The lead character being a doctor and a detective meant the show could really play with both medical drama and classic mystery – sometimes it felt like watching E.R. meet Elementary, which was brilliant! If CBS had given it more than just two seasons, I think they could have really perfected that blend. It’s a shame it didn’t get the chance to fully explore that winning formula.
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2026-04-04 20:14