Morris Chestnut makes it very clear that despite the fact he portrayed doctors on “The Resident” and “Rosewood,” those roles were vastly different from the doctor he is portraying on his new medical series, “Watson.” “We're also doctors AND detectives. I mean, it's an iconic mythology, the whole Sherlock mythology,” Chestnut says. The Sherlock he is referring to is the famed Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sleuth. The modern-day series has Dr. John Watson (Chestnut) dealing with life six months after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty. Watson resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders. At the same time, Watson’s old life isn’t done with him as Moriarty and Watson are set to write their own chapter. Because the series will feature a strong investigative spine that will be a modern version of one of history’s greatest detectives, Chestnut’s version of Watson will be a blending of the two crime solvers. He will have the analytical mind of Watson combined with the brilliant smugness of Holmes. Chestnut believes that even as arrogant and demanding as Watson can be, there is a side of him that deeply cares about his patients. “He truly cares, and he does everything that he can to make sure that they're healthy or try to improve their health,” Chestnut says. Chestnut – who is also an executive producer - credits writer and executive producer Craig Sweeney with penning a character who is arrogant but also flawed enough the audience will like him. The key question Sweeney faced with “Watson” was dealing with what Watson’s life would look like after the death of Holmes. Sweeney points out that from the original books, Watson was a friend so dedicated to Holmes that he put his own life on hold to be a friend and fellow sleuth. “It's quite a strange thing when you really think about it. I mean imagine saying, ‘Yeah, I met this guy and he looked at my watch, and he told me some things about myself and now I'm going to move in with him and we're going to solve mysteries together.’  When you think about it, Watson's life, it's quite an unusual thing,” Sweeney says. “The chance to dig into that was what really appealed to me about the premise. “He's now dealing with the aftermath of that choice. He put his life on hold. He put his wife on hold. He put his practice of medicine on hold. He's brought in new skills, but he's also done a lot of damage.” Sweeney did have a bit of a head start as he was a writer and producer on the CBS series “Elementary” that featured Jonny Lee Miller playing a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Miller’s version of Homes was a man who was equally brilliant as he was damaged. The cast of “Watson” also includes Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall, Ritchie Coster, Inga Schlingmann and Rochelle Aytes. They all agree that Sweeney does a great job listening to them and then incorporating parts of them into their roles. After Sweeney heard Chestnut say “one million percent” repeatedly, that was written into the script for Watson to say. Sweeney’s attention to these kinds of details comes from his passion for the project. He describes “Watson” as the opportunity to express multiple things that have interested him as a writer. One of his big interests is setting the series in Pittsburgh, the city where Sweeney grew up. The medical part comes from his mother working in a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital in the organ transplant department. “And so, I was around that world. I grew up in that academic corridor, it was my reality from one to 18,” Sweeney says. “You know, probably she would have preferred me to be a doctor, but here I am, and this is my chance to make up for that. “To have taken this production to Pittsburgh is enormously meaningful for me. It also represents something I didn't expect, which is the chance to revisit the world of Sherlock Holmes.” He tells that tale through Chestnut, a two-time NAACP award-winning actor and producer, who won his second NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for Peacock’s “The Best Man: The Final Chapters.” His television credits include “Nurse Jackie,” “American Horror Story,” “Goliath,” “Legends,” Reasonable Doubt” and “The Resident.” as well as Amazon’s “Goliath,” TNT’s “Legends” and Hulu’s “Reasonable Doubt.” On the feature film front, he made his debut in John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood.” Additional feature film credits include “The Best Man,” “Identity Thief,” “Kickass 2,” “The Best Man Holiday,” “Like Mike,” “G.I. Jane,” “Ladder 49,” “The Game Plan,” “The Brothers,” “Think Like a Man,” “The Perfect Guy,” “When the Bough Breaks,” “The Call” and “Girls Trip.” “Watson” will debut Jan. 26 following the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. It will be available the following day on the streaming service of Paramount+.