We’re back to normal winter weather in New Orleans. Talk has turned to our upcoming stint as the Super Bowl host city and why the New Orleans Saints are the sole NFL team with a coaching vacancy. The current favorite is Kellen Moore, the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles but he can’t sign a deal until after the game. The suspense is Kellen me. Stay tuned.

I’m curious whether anyone noticed the stylistic change in my Open Letter To Dr. Bill Cassidy. Since it’s what passes for a formal letter, I didn’t use any contractions. It’s what lawyers do, even lapsed ones.

I had a fleeting case of PSTD after the plane crash in the Potomac River. I was there the last time it happened in January 1983. I saw the plane in the water and watched the recovery effort. It was one of the creepiest things I saw during my time in Washington. Speaking of creeps, the Kaiser of Chaos had to insert himself into the tragedy with a presser in which he claimed DEI caused the crash. The bigotry, it burns.

This week’s theme song was written by Elvis Costello for his brilliant 1977 debut album, My Aim Is True. You’ll learn why it was selected in our second act. How was that for a shameless tease? Shamelessness is in fashion right now.

We have three versions of Watching The Detectives for your listening pleasure: the EC OG, Duran Duran, and Toto too. I can never say that enough.

One reason for my fondness for this song is that it was used as the theme song for the swell PBS series History Detectives. In lieu of a clip of Tukufu Zuberi doing that voodoo he do so well, here’s a Neil Finn song:

We begin our second act with a Vulture listicle that ranks the best Dr. Watsons in various Sherlock Holmes films and TV series.

Elementary, My Dear Watson: Dr. John Watson is one of the best loved sidekicks in the annals of crime fiction. He provides ballast and balance to the eccentrically logical doings of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes would be insufferable without Watson to smooth over his rough edges.

Rory Doherty’s Vulture listicle is solid much like Watson himself. His top doc is James Mason in the 1979 film Murder By Decree. I’ve seen it but it’s been a while. But who among us doesn’t love James Mason?

Doherty’s number two Watson would headline my list, Edward Hardwicke in the Holmes TV series that ran from 1986-1994. My number two is Martin Freeman from the 21st Century reboot, Sherlock.

FYI, Jeremy Brett is my top Homes followed closely by Basil Rathbone. Elementary, my dear readers.

Let’s move on to a docuseries about the man behind Holmes and Watson, Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle.

Holmes vs. Doyle is a PBS series presented and written by historian Lucy Worsley. Lucy is a royal historian with a lively interest in crime fiction. In addition to this series, she made a three part docuseries about Agatha Christie in 2022.

Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of many accomplishments. Much to his frustration, his greatest accomplishment was the creation of Sherlock Holmes. He wanted to be taken seriously as a writer and crime fiction has never been taken seriously enough IMO.

Doyle tried killing off Holmes, but it didn’t take. His publisher made Doyle an offer he couldn’t refuse. The offer involved wads of cash, not a gun to the head.

Before seeing Holmes vs. Doyle, I didn’t know much about Conan Doyle except for the Holmes stories, and his friendship and eventual falling out with Harry Houdini over spiritualism. Doyle was  a believer, Houdini a debunker. I’m on Team Houdini. I suspect Holmes would have been too.

Here’s a brief preview of the series:

Grading Time: Lucy Worsley is an experienced documentarian, and it shows in Holmes vs. Doyle. I give it 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos grade of B+. It’s currently streaming on PBS passport.

The last word of our second act goes to Sparks:

We begin our third act with our favorite stolen feature.

Separated At Birth Casting Edition: I had almost forgotten that Maybe Cousin Telly Savalas had played Pancho Villa in a 1972 spaghetti western. There’s not much of a resemblance but it’s Telly so I was drawn to this image like a moth to a flame or some such shit.

Telly still looked more like Villa than Wallace Beery:

We’ll let Link Wray play us out of this segment:

The Linkster also cut a song about Villa’s frenemy Emiliano Zapata:

Viva, Link Wray.

Your Weekly Oscar: Ready for some long hair music by OP? We’re getting Bach to basics this week.

Have I told you lately how much I love Oscar Peterson?

The Best Of Penn & Teller: I dig card tricks but can’t do them: I lack the requisite manual dexterity to pull them off. Here’s a classic routine by Penn & Teller from the UK edition of Fool Us.

Teller is such a card as were The Clash:

Saturday GIF Horse: It’s time to circle back to our featured image with two GIFs from The Maltese Falcon.

I just learned that there’s a song about Peter Lorre:

Meme Of The Week: This one popped up on social media. I wish I had thought of it first. Perhaps Trumpers should be pelted with tomatillos. They certainly deserve it.

Let’s close down this virtual honky tonk with some more music.

Saturday Closer: When I first visited London, I went on a fool’s errand to Baker Street. There was nary a trace of the fictional character synonymous with the street. I understand there’s now a Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221-B.

That was a long-winded introduction to two tunes about Baker Street. First, Jethro Tull followed by Gerry Rafferty:

That’s all for this week. The last word goes to my favorite Holmes and Watson: Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke.