Watson is far from the first TV show to explore the iconic characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with a modern twist. In fact, it’s not even the first one on CBS. Before the current drama, returning in 2026 for its second season, starring Morris Chestnut as Dr. John Watson, Elementary starred Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes and Joan Watson, respectively. (Elementary ran for seven seasons, from 2012 to 2019.) Craig Sweeny, who created Watson, was an executive producer on Elementary. So could there ever be any type of crossover, even if it’s just casting, between the two?
Morris Chestnut is all for Lucy Liu appearing on Watson. “I’m trying to track her down and get her to come on our show because, yes, that would be great if we could get her,” he told Deadline.
Since we doubt she’d appear as Joan (but how great would it be if she did?!), it would certainly be fun to have her appear as a character who goes head-to-head with Chestnut’s Watson. Maybe she could be linked to the villain Moriarty (Randall Park) and his network, or simply just a patient whose medical mystery Watson needs to solve.
Watson‘s first season ended in May with the titular doctor’s actions leading to Moriarty’s death; he used his DNA against him to force his hand into giving over a cure to save one of his fellows after Moriarty had targeted the team, but the cure didn’t work as well as had been the hope. It was a move that Chestnut told TV Insider he loved.
“It brought up so many questions because as a doctor, I’m there to help heal people, and once you cross that line… you say to yourself, ”Wow, everything that I’ve been doing, my whole practice, I’ve just done the exact opposite of everything that I’ve been working for,’ working towards if it’s helping people and even though it was for a good cause, there’s still that dilemma. There’s a dilemma of people knowing about exactly what happened,” he said. “And then I think just even as a person, once you crossed the line like that, how does it make you feel? Can you really, really live with yourself? Did you like it? Is it something you want to keep pushing? There’s so many things that it brings up, which I’m excited for Season 2 because I believe Craig is going to be exploring all of those questions.”
Looking ahead to Season 2, Sweeny told us, “Hopefully, our intention is to create a really inventive take on how to draw the Sherlock universe into the show that goes deep into Watson’s character. I think you’re going to see a profound testing of the Watson and Mary [Rochelle Aytes] relationship. We’re going to learn more about each of those characters’ backstories and their families and their history together. You’re going to see Sasha [(Inga Schlingmann] and Stephens [Peter Mark Kendall] in a surprising new light at the very beginning of the season. You’re going to see Adam forced to confront his ambitions and his own future at the clinic. And you’re going to see Ingrid [Eve Harlow] wrestle with the possibility of if she can change. All against some great science, I mean, hey, who doesn’t want to watch that?”
What are you hoping to see in Watson Season 2? Let us know in the comments section below.
Watson, Season 2, 2026, CBS