Rabbi David Small and Chief Lannigan.
The rabbi isn’t popular with much of his congregation, generally because he won’t compromise on a point of doctrine. (For example, he won’t let a couple use a non-kosher caterer for their daughter’s wedding.)
I disagree with you- part of what made the Nero Wolfe series fun was that Archie Goodwin was NOT like Dr. Watson or Captain Hastings.
Watson and Hastings were in AWE of their detective friends, and were constantly flabbergasted by their friends’ brillaince.
Archie Goodwin certainly respects Nero Wolfe, but unlike Hastings and Watson, Archie is a wise guy and a bit of an iconoclast. Watson would NEVER dream of mocking Holmes’ affectations, whereas Archie Goodwin takes great enjoyment in teasing his boss and in ridiculing some of Wolfe’s pretensions and peccadilloes.
Hastings would NEVER laugh at Poirot’s dandyish attire. Archie Goodwin DOES laugh at the way the enormous Wolfe looks in his bright yellow pajamas.
Hastings would NEVER snap “Quit waxing your moustache and get to work” at Poirot, any more than Watson would tell Holmes, “You’re behind on the rent- put down the pipe, quit playing your stupid violin, and start looking for a paying client!” But Archie Goodwin DOES rile his boss when necessary, and often has to drag Wolfe away from his orchard or from the book he’s reading, and force him to get down to business.
Nero Wolfe is a British-style intellectual detective in the Sherlock Holmes mold. Archie is a wisecracking American gumshoe, in the Philip Marlowe mold. The juxtaposition of the two is what makes the series work.
I see your point but I think you exaggerate. Watson does indeed occasionally scold Holmes for, e.g., his untidiness or his habit of shooting bullet-pock patterns in the walls and especially for his recklessness with regard to his own health (cocaine in particular). And Hastings does tease Poirot about his vanity and his obsession with symmetry and tidiness and so forth.
The classic sidekick is indeed in awe of his friend’s brilliance, but he’s also got a mind of his own and is occasionally quite critical of his friend. We’re not talking sycophantic doormats here.
Wasn’t Lewis initially newly promoted? So he’s essentially a trainee.
Archie is more Wolfe’s other, outside, half. Wolfe is the brain, trapped in one place, Archie is the body, roaming and reporting.
Of course, the odd part is that Archie has solved a number of crimes without bothering to consult with Wolfe.
I don’t see how that fits at all.
The House/Wilson is actually a homage to Holmes/Watson. Even the name House is a play on words (synonym of a homonym of Holmes). The series creator Bryan Singer alluded to this in some interview.
It’s not really a detective thing, but I immediately thought of Buffy and Willow.
Although one of my favorite of Willow’s lines is “I am NOT YOUR SIDEKICK!”
I came in to say Lord Peter and Harriet Vane, in the later books.
That doesn’t really seem to quite fit. Bunny’s not particularly smart, nor is he the social member of the team. The only thing he really shares with the Watson character is that he’s the recorder of genius and occasionally his bumbling distracts official attention away.
Although Harriet would protest, and was a competent Detective in her own right.
Wolfe’s addiction is to “the good life”…fine food, good beer, excellent literature, his orchids, freedom from the want that characterized his childhood and young adulthood in Montenegro. It’s practically the only reason he works (aside from hurt pride, as when the prospective client is killed not only in his own house, not only in his own office, but with HIS OWN NECKTIE! or close friendship (Too Many Cooks)).
Interesting that there seem to only be two female detectives, if I’m counting right: Bones/Booth, and Abby/McGee.
Yep. If you look carefully in the episodes where they show the outside of the building House lives in, his address is 221B.
Om TV? There’s Rizzoli ans Isles, though the sidekick is a medical examiner and not another detective. And Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson on The Closer. She has a whole posse of sidekicks.
There used to be Cagney and Lacey.
And who else?.. Angie Dickinson played a female cop in a series, but I can’t remember her character’s name. And there were Charlie’s Angels.
Doctor Who + companion.
Not true.
**Holmes: **You have heard me speak of Professor Moriarty?"
Watson: “The famous scientific criminal, as famous among crooks as–”
Holmes : “My blushes, Watson!”
**Watson : **“I was about to say, as he is unknown to the public.”
Homes: A touch! A distinct touch! You are developing a certain unexpected vein of pawky humour, Watson, against which I must learn to guard myself.
Laura Holt + Remington Steele
I love Hercule Poirot and Hastings. I find it quite hilarious how Poirot basically calls Hastings and idiot throughout the books.
I have read every one of the novels.