The Return of the World's Greatest Detective

I liked this even though it wasn't great. I would like to see it again in fact if it is ever on again. It was a good idea and played well by Larry Hagman. A bit silly, but a nice spoof of Sherlock Holmes. I am a Holmes fan and have seen most of the stuff done by Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone and others. I thought this might be some sort of pilot, but I guess it would have been too hard to pull off week in and week out, although with the right budget and better quality it might have worked. Jenny O'Hara was good as Doc Watson as well. I thought it was funny and really played tongue in cheek by Hagman and O'Hara which made it work well. I do think the writing could have been better though for what it was it worked.

Considering the recent (subsequent to my writing this review in 2006) proliferation of Holmesian vehicles, both in the movies by Mr. Downey and the most recent stuff by Mister's Cumberbatch and Miller, seems like Mr. Hagman was ahead of his time and this effort goes unnoticed, especially if you consider Elementary, Mr. Miller's effort.

2016 and still looking for this somewhere to be seen again.

I remember this as a kid, hitting upon it completely by accident and watching it all the way through. I was an avid Holmes reader at the time and anything of that ilk caught my eye. I only remember it through the haze of the past, however I remember enjoying thoroughly and, like other reviewers, hoping for the series which never materialized. I would like to see it again to see if it was actually good or just some nonsense that appealed to me at the time. Larry Hagman is always very funny, I've never thought him good in dramas, and I found the romantic chemistry between Holmes and Watson to be good. I would love to see it again.

Hagman plays a hapless LAPD officer who, after his motorcycle falls on him while he is reading Sherlock Holmes in the park, begins to believe he is the fictional detective. The knock on the head has had the effect of vastly improved deductive skills, and he soon speaks and dresses in the manner of Holmes. The police psychiatrist, aptly named Dr. Watson, but played by Jenny O'Hara, plays along with Holmes, even finding him lodging at 221B Baker Street in Los Angeles. Soon he is out solving crimes for the police and tracking down a serial killer. The film is so lighthearted and irreverent, it grows on you slowly until you stop asking questions and enjoy the premise. There are small jokes, not in-your-face laughs, but merely quaint observations and running gags. recommended for light entertainment.

After watching two awful Sherlock Holmes "parodies" lately ("The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother" (1975) and "The Hound Of The Baskervilles" (1978)), it was refreshing to see one that gets mostly everything right exactly what the others got wrong: to parody a genre, you first have to know it, respect it, and follow its rules while subverting them. Yes this film is about a delusional Sherlock Holmes - but one who is almost as competent and perceptive as the real one! The script is smart, the deductions are fun, Larry Hagman has a ball with the role, and Jenny O'Hara is genuinely appealing as his loyal Watson. The film does look and sound like an unsold TV pilot, which according to IMDb trivia it was, but frankly I think it is superior even to the similar theatrical film "They Might Be Giants" (1971). **1/2 out of 4.