Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen answers reader questions every Wednesday at TribLive.com in a column that also appears in the Saturday Tribune-Review.
Q: Any chance another network might pick up “Watson” next season?
— Judy, via Facebook
Rob: Alas, that won’t happen.
While we have occasionally seen shows with cult followings get a second chance on another network (see: “Lucifer” moving from Fox to Netflix), it’s happening less often as streaming services reach maturity.
Even at the outset of streaming, it’s unlikely a show like “Watson” would have been salvaged by a streamer because it just didn’t have the buzz or devoted following that helped some other shows get a second chance.
Season two of Pittsburgh-set “Watson” ended with Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut) going into surgery for a tumor that led to him having visions of his friend Sherlock Holmes (Robert Carlyle). But Holmes did appear in the flesh before the series’ concluding scene, which showed John and ex-wife Mary (Rochelle Aytes) reunited in domestic bliss in a home far from Pittsburgh at 221B Baker St. in London.
In an interview with Deadline.com, Pittsburgh native and “Watson” creator Craig Sweeny said producers didn’t know if the show would be renewed when they crafted the finale, so they opted to make it more of a season finale with the exception of that last scene.
“The coda, set at Baker Street, has several possible interpretations — among other things, it could be a fantasia Watson is seeing as he’s on the operating table in what may be his dying moments,” Sweeny said. “I have my own interpretation but prefer not to comment on it beyond what’s on the screen so audiences can make up their own minds.”
Sweeny said if the show had returned for a third season, viewers would have seen more of Watson and Holmes together.
“We originally conceived the Watson/Holmes storyline to have Holmes exist only as a delusion in Watson’s head as a means for Watson to learn about his glioblastoma, but quickly revised those plans after we saw what Robert Carlylye brought to the role of Sherlock Holmes,” Sweeny said. “’Watson’s’ Holmes and Watson were fun to write and watch, and so we devised a way for Sherlock to be present in the real world.”
Sweeny said in season three, viewers would have seen what happened to Watson’s staff as their three-year medical fellowships came to an end.
“A major theme of season three would have been exploring what would have happened to Ingrid, Stephens, Adam and Sasha at the end of their fellowships,” Sweeny said, “and how many new doctors would be worked into the mix.”
Q: Michael Chabon’s novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” was made into an opera. PBS said it was released on April 1. I tried looking for it on PBS Passport. Did WQED broadcast it at all? If so, when and how can I watch it?
— Peter, via Facebook
Rob: I was able to confirm what I thought might be the case after seeing a notation on the “Great Performances” website.
This TV-MA-rated production of “Great Performances at the Met” was not made available for linear broadcast and is only on streaming through Sept. 30 at pbs.org/gperf or on the PBS app, but not on PBS Passport.
Q: Is there some kind of rule in television that, unless it’s some major breaking news coverage, there have to be commercials run every 10 minutes or so? I’ve noticed this to be the case for all TV programs for a while now.
— Jeff, via email
Rob: Commercials in broadcast TV programming are as old as the medium itself. And while the amount of commercial time has ticked up (and the amount of program time has shrunk), for the past decade it’s remained relatively steady at about 40-42 minutes of program time per hour and 18-20 minutes of commercial time per hour on broadcast networks in prime time. Some cable outlets do jam more commercials in.
As for the timing of the ads, other than occasional network changes in the act structure of its shows, I’m unaware of any significant changes to when the ad breaks happen.