# Who's more famous: Sherlock or Watson? (Their TV actors, that is.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012 "2016-03-24T10:36:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/21 "2016-03-24T20:14:13Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yeah. I’m mystified as to why Moffat thought that his claim, true or not, is relevant to the actual _quality_ of the shows in question. > > It comes across as _'never mind my writing skills---- how’s about that Cumberbatch? Some famous guy, eh!!!_’ You could cattily say _“Who was Cumberbatch? A nobody that my show made famous. Who was Lucy Liu? A movie star; folks tuned in and tried that other show to see her. My show was so good, it launched a career; the one she got people to give a look? Yeah, it loses viewers every season.”_ (Huh. That’s a level of hypothetical cattiness I didn’t know I had in me.) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/22 "2016-03-24T20:29:49Z")
Moffat’s probably still a bit annoyed at the _Elementary_ people. IIRC, they had come to Moffat and Gatiss to ask if they couldn’t do an American version of _Sherlock_, but were turned down. But the _Elementary_ people went ahead and did it anyway, permission or no. So Moffat’s comments come out snarky. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/23 "2016-03-24T20:42:00Z")
If you exclude voiceover work (Smaug, Viper), these are the all-time box office grosses for each performer: Lucy Liu - $514.1M Benedict Cumberbatch - $632.5M Top 3 for each Charlie’s Angels / CA: Full Throttle / Payback Star Trek: Into Darkness / The Imitation Game / War Horse * * * # of episodes of TV or TV Mini-series each has appeared in (again, excluding voicework) Lucky Liu - 243 Benedict Cumberbatch - 48 * * * # of Oscar nominations their films have accrued: Lucy Liu - 21 (7 awards) Benedict Cumberbatch - 39 (5 awards) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/24 "2016-03-24T20:45:26Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > If you exclude voiceover work (Smaug, Viper), these are the all-time box office grosses for each performer: > > Lucy Liu - $514.1M > Benedict Cumberbatch - $632.5M This is somewhat unfair to Lucy Liu, as her big hits were around 1999-2003, so inflation makes the numbers go down a bit. If you do not account for inflation you’d think all the most popular movies ever made have come out in the last ten years or so. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/25 "2016-03-24T21:32:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This is somewhat unfair to Lucy Liu, as her big hits were around 1999-2003, so inflation makes the numbers go down a bit. > > If you do not account for inflation you’d think all the most popular movies ever made have come out in the last ten years or so. That said – the top three listed for Liu, she wasn’t top-billed, or even second-billed. Whereas the hundreds of millions grossed by IMITATION GAME, that was Cumberbatch earning a leading-man Best Actor nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/26 "2016-03-24T21:33:35Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > This is somewhat unfair to Lucy Liu, as her big hits were around 1999-2003, so inflation makes the numbers go down a bit. > > If you do not account for inflation you’d think all the most popular movies ever made have come out in the last ten years or so. Not only that, but they are meaningless comparisons. ST:ID wasn’t a “Benedict Cumberbatch” movie, it was a Star Trek movie. Comparing Oscar noms for the films as a whole is even more meaningless. You need to compare the two head to head, best actor/actress vs best supporting actor/actress. And BC wins, by one nom (no wins) vs no noms (and no wins). Not like either one is needing an Oscar trophy shelf anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/27 "2016-03-25T00:22:02Z")
Has Baneblade Cannonblast’s name ever been mentioned in an Outkast song? No? NOT FAMOUSER. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/28 "2016-03-25T01:56:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > And _The Imitation Game_, which was nominated for best actor, best picture, best writing, best director, and a few others. Cumberbatch also had a supporting role in _12 Years a Slave_. Well, he’s been in plenty of other things too, but I mention that one because it’s a fairly recent Best Picture winner. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/29 "2016-03-25T02:48:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Cummberbund sure seems insecure. He always seems to be putting Elementary down at every opportunity. Like there’s not room for more than one interpretation of the character. One CAN watch and enjoy both shows. It isn’t a zero-sum viewing experience. > > Maybe someone should introduce him to the version with Jeremy Brett? Or Basil Rathbone? > > Anyway, I voted LL because I never heard of BC before Sherlock. Maybe I _should_ have, but I didn’t. I’ve only seen a couple of interviews with Cumberbatch and I’ve never seen him put down Elementary. The one time I saw him talk about it at all was to mention being friends with and appearing on stage with Jonny Lee Miller. He was complimentary saying they were very different shows and they both had very different interpretations of the character and there was room for both. I agree. I like both shows. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/30 "2016-03-25T03:49:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I’ve only seen a couple of interviews with Cumberbatch and I’ve never seen him put down Elementary. The one time I saw him talk about it at all was to mention being friends with and appearing on stage with Jonny Lee Miller. He was complimentary saying they were very different shows and they both had very different interpretations of the character and there was room for both. I agree. I like both shows. It’s Steven Moffat, mentioned in the OP, that implied that the more famous star has the better show. And if you want to talk about more famouser stars, both Watson and Holmes, then you gotta go with Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012/31 "2016-03-25T05:34:52Z")
I’d heard of Lucy Liu long before I’d ever heard of Benedict Cumberbatch, but I think BC might be more famous now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-more-famous-sherlock-or-watson-their-tv-actors-that-is/750012.md?page=1)