1. Who made this cartoon show, and who owns it?
DIC made it, while it was still a subsidiary of Disney.
Now DIC owns itself and this show. In the US, it's currently
distributed by Tribune Entertainment.
2. Has it won any awards?
No, but it was nominated for a 2000 Daytime Emmy for
Special Animated Program.
3. Where can I see it?
It's syndicated, which means it's shown on various stations.
Here's a partial list of stations and times.
If your station is showing it and I'm not listing it there, please
tell me.
4. Isn't it on Fox Kids?
Only from October 1999 to August 2000. Then Fox canceled it.
(Your Fox station may show it, but it isn't on Fox nationally now.)
5. Isn't it on Kids WB?
Kids WB did announce that SH22 was going to be on their
fall 2001 schedule (7:30 AM, Fridays). But then they canceled their
weekday morning block of shows, so they sold the syndication rights
to Tribune Entertainment in May 2001 at NATPE (a trade show for selling
syndicated shows to TV stations).
6. Why aren't they showing SH22 on my station, then?
Syndicated shows usually start selling up to a year
ahead of time. Selling it from May to show it in September or
October is a bit difficult. Many stations must have already
purchased all their shows by May.
If you like SH22, now is the time to tell your local
stations' programming executives what you want them to buy!
7. How the heck did Holmes get to the 22nd century?
You sure you want to know? It's a spoiler for the first episode....
Inspector Beth Lestrade (a descendant of Inspector G. Lestrade)
sees a guy who looks exactly like Moriarty. Suddenly the recent bizarre crime wave
and failure of the "crypnosis" system makes sense to her. She then sees a news
report about Nobel-winning biologist Sir Evan Hargreaves' discovery of a
revitalization process for dead cells.
Now, when Holmes died of old age back in the twentieth century, for some
reason (probably scientic curiosity or to prove a pet theory about honey) he chose
to have his body not embalmed and buried, but preserved in a glass-windowed coffin
full of honey from his beloved bees. Lestrade had inherited this coffin (along with
Watson's journals) and had been storing it in a warehouse at New Scotland Yard.
(I guess it just didn't fit her flat's decor.)
So all Lestrade had to do was pick up Holmes, fly him to Hargreaves' lab, and
deman... er, plead... that Hargreaves to use his new process on the deceased detective.
Hargreaves consented (mostly to prove that he wasn't the one who'd brought back Moriarty),
and pretty soon Holmes was floating in a tank like Jean Gray and starting to look a lot
less wrinkly than before. Next morning (or at least it looks that way; it might have taken
longer), Holmes was awoken by Lestrade with the happy news that he was alive and in 2103.
Holmes' biological age is twenty-five, according to the Fox/DIC press releases.
So don't believe what you read on IMDB and elsewhere. The TV movies "The Return
of Sherlock Holmes" and "1994 Baker Street" may have used cryogenics to bring Holmes
to the present day, but this show is cooler (or warmer) than that.
8. Okay, so how did Moriarty get to the 22nd century?
You sure you want to know? It's a spoiler for the first three episodes...okay.
Rogue genetic engineer Martin Fenwick found the original Moriarty's frozen body
in an ice cave where Holmes had stashed... er, buried... Moriarty after the struggle
at Reichenbach Falls. He collected DNA, which he used to clone the master criminal, and
somehow managed to copy off Moriarty's memories at the same time. Fenwick's original idea
was apparently that the Moriarty clone would use his criminal genius and experience to
make money for Fenwick. Well, apparently _that_ didn't work....
The clone Moriarty appears to be the same age as Moriarty was when he went over
the Reichenbach Falls in this universe -- about thirty-five, I'd judge. (Maybe a
well-preserved forty.) He's thus at least ten years older, biologically, than Holmes.
8. Okay, so how did Watson get to the 22nd century, and why is he a robot?
Watson is a law enforcement compudroid. After Holmes' return, Lestrade ordered him
to read the original Watson's journals and learn something from them. So Watson uses the
original Watson's diary-writing style as his speech pattern (which is why his speech tends
to be so formal), and shares the original Watson's opinions (as expressed in the journals),
but also has the knowledge of modern society and police procedure which was installed in him.
9. Why are there so many Americans living in New London?
Heck, even Lestrade and Wiggins have American accents!
That's a really good question, for which there's no answer in the series (that I've
seen). However, there are clues (the animal extinctions, the 'New' in 'New London', Lestrade
Mirandizing suspects instead of using the UK working) that there have been massive
upheavals in the world, and possibly a political union of the UK with the US.
Holmes wouldn't be surprised. In "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", Holmes
predicted a 'world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union
Jack with the Stars and Stripes.'
10. Why doesn't Holmes have his meerschaum (or cherrywood, or...) pipe?
Or his clay, or his briar, or his cigarettes, or....? Because the
future is even more PC than California (I know that's hard to believe.) and tobacco
is a controlled substance in 2103. OTOH, Holmes' reworked body isn't physically addicted
to it, so he's not actually suffering from anything except disgruntlement. Maybe he can
get himself a waiver the next time the government hands him a three-pipe problem?
11. Holmes and Watson still live on Baker Street?
Yup. 221B and the surrounding block was owned by the Abbey PLC bank
in the 1990's, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum was created there. The
benighted masses of 2103 did not properly appreciate the Master prior to
his return, so the museum (which in this universe is quite different in
appearance and does not seem to be on Upper Baker Street) had been closed for
lack of attendance. Lestrade apparently has pull with the museum's proprietors
(She has Watson's diaries. She brought back Holmes. Name a Sherlockian or Holmesian
who wouldn't be putty in the woman's hands.) and obtained permission for
Holmes to take back his old digs. Hope he doesn't decide to shoot
another pretty pattern into the walls....
12. Why do Holmes' cases in 2103 have such strong parallels to Holmes'
old cases? I mean, wouldn't he notice? Wouldn't it bore him to know the
solution before starting?
Of course Holmes notices. He was always a proponent of studying the
history of crime, and his encyclopedic knowledge of crime and criminals often
allowed him to solve mysteries by recognizing parallel features. "There is nothing
new under the sun," and all that.
However, it seems likely that the actual cases bore less overt resemblance
to old cases than their televised versions do. Remember, Watson is telling us a
story -- and like the old Watson, he's not above changing names and circumstances
to protect the innocent.
Given the compudroid Watson's respect for his predecessor and for Holmes,
it is likely that Holmes persuaded him to make the current series of
chronicles less 'sensational' and more overtly educational. So Watson
tends to pick cases which have strong parallels to ones from the past,
gives the suspects pseudonyms drawn from the original Watson's
writings, and then titles them in such a way as to make sure nobody
can miss what parallels exist.
Besides, as the original Watson knew, fictionalization makes it less
likely you'll get sued.
Back to The World in 2103
Back to the 22nd century