Morris Chestnut to Star in CBS’s ‘Watson’ Medical Drama

Morris Chestnut Watson Star
Morris Chestnut to star in ‘Watson’ (Photo credit: Diondre Jones / Courtesy of CBS)

Morris Chestnut (The Resident, Our Kind of People) will take on the lead role in Watson, a new medical drama just given a series order by CBS. The drama’s expected to join the network’s primetime schedule during the 2024-2025 season.

Elementary‘s Craig Sweeny will guide the series as showrunner. Sweeny wrote the pilot and serves as an executive producer along with Chestnut, Shäron Moalem MD, PhD, and Kapital Entertainment’s Aaron Kaplan and Brian Morewitz. The first episode is directed by Larry Teng who also executive produces.

CBS offers this description of the new series, which is a modern take on Sherlock Holmes: “In Watson, a year after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson (Chestnut) resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. Watson’s old life isn’t done with him, though – Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter of a story that has fascinated audiences for more than a century.

Watson is a medical show with a strong investigative spine, featuring a modern version of one of history’s greatest detectives as he turns his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries.”

“We are thrilled to feature such a beloved character from the world of Sherlock Holmes at the center of this series and have it brought to life by Morris Chestnut in a fresh and unexpected take on the immortal doctor,” stated Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “Craig Sweeny’s bold new vision for the complex Dr. Watson deftly interweaves rich character storytelling with edge-of-your-seat medical mysteries.”