Perhaps inspired by the success of the Mike Myers comedy, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" 2 years earlier, DIC & Scottish Television served up Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century as part of Fox's Saturday morning lineup in 1999. Yes, it started as a Saturday series, but most folks are likely to remember that the network, panicking because of lack of ratings, bumped the series to Monday afternoons before cancelling the series after one season. Holmes is still around in syndication, popping up periodically, and DIC's current parent, Cookie Jar, just reissued the series as of today. Here's the opening, which Cubix61 uploaded to YouTube via RetroJunk.com:
Just as Austin Powers was thawed out of cryogenic freeze to capture old nemesis Dr. Evil, Holmes is similarly resurrected when his arch enemy, Prof. James Moriarty, somehow shows up in the far future. Holmes is greeted by a descendant of his old comrade, Inspector Lestrade, and Dr. Watson is represented by a robot. In time, Holmes assembles a new set of "Baker St. Irregulars" to help him on cases. Unfortunately, the series has long since ceased production, a result of short-sighted thinking on Fox's part. They had snuck Holmes onto the schedule with little fanfare, which is never a good idea. It was one of the first series to blend traditional line animation with computer graphics, and was one of DIC's best entries in years. As a Holmes fan from way back, I actually enjoyed watching this show, and I honestly wish someone could've picked it up after Fox gave up, such that additional episodes could've been ordered.
Would someone try it again? Given Fox's poor handling 11 years ago, I doubt it very seriously.
Rating: A.
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