Morris Chestnut Is Why ‘Watson’ Isn’t ‘House’ 2.0

While there are similarities to be found between the Fox drama (2004-2012) and the new CBS take on the Arthur Conan Doyle characters — both involve top-notch doctors and a team solving medical mysteries — Watson is not House. Executive producer Craig Sweeny points to his leading man, Morris Chestnut, who brilliantly plays the iconic doctor John Watson, for why that’s the case.

While first writing the series premiere script, “for the role of Watson, one of the performers I pictured was Morris,” Sweeny shares as part of TV Insider’s latest digital cover story ahead of the show’s return with its second episode on February 16. “It was that charisma and that belief that I could see him both in a partnership and as his own leading man. Obviously he’s blindingly handsome and his leading man qualities are incredibly apparent, but there’s something about him that is very collaborative and that also fits into a partnership or a team situation. It couldn’t have really worked out much better that he very, very early in our casting process reached out, expressed his interest, and we had a meeting and CBS said yes, and it was done.”

It was in working with Chestnut that Sweeny saw what he’d heard: that he’s “a really good partner on the production level and somebody who’s friendly and easy to work with.” Sweeny also saw “this extraordinary empathy that he has. Obviously the concept runs the risk of having too much overlap with House potentially. And Morris really, to my mind, was the final ingredient in getting away from that for me. Morris cares about everyone he comes in contact with and is very deliberate about being kind and treating everybody the same way that he comes into contact with. When you’re writing a long-form TV show, you inevitably start to write to the qualities of the performers, and so that became a really defining trait of Watson’s as well in a great way that, I think, really works for the show.”

Rochelle Aytes (Watson’s ex, Dr Mary Morstan) and Randall Park (the villain Moriarty) also rave about those traits of Chestnut’s and working with him.

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“I had never met him prior to this show, and I heard great things about him. And when I met him, all of those things were so true. He was just so down to earth, so sweet, so kind and inquisitive,” shares Aytes. “We got along great off-camera. He was just interested in knowing who I was. And as an actor, he gives you everything. He’s like, ‘Hey, do you want to run lines? We can run lines over and over again. Let’s talk about it. Let’s figure this out.’ And he’s so open.”

Adds Park, “Morris is the best. He’s just such an ideal number one on the call sheet in the sense that he really sets the tone of professionalism and kindness and just so down to earth, so accommodating. He checks in on you, ‘How are you doing? Is there anything I could get you?’ I’m like, ‘You’re number one on the call sheet. Why would you be getting me anything? I should be getting you something.’ But he’s just like that. He’s just so thoughtful and kind.”

What do you think of Morris Chestnut as Dr. John Watson so far after the premiere? Let us know in the comments section below.

Watson, Time Period Premiere, Sunday, February 16, 9/8c, CBS