"House" based on Sherlock Holmes?

[fortinbras]

The Sherlockian style -- a detective analyzing the case merely on the information reported to him with minimal activity on his own part -- has been repeated in many fictional settings. After the end of the Holmes stories, Baroness Orczy (best known for The Scarlet Pimpernel) wrote a series of stories of "the old man in the corner" of a cafe, who, while playing with pieces of string, would resolve mysteries reported to him primarily by a young lady journalist; there was a strong reader desire to see in this man Holmes in retirement but the Baroness once or twice identified him with the very ordinary name of Bill Owens. Nero Wolfe very similar. The current spate of "forensic" shows on TV - bring it into my lab and I'll look at it - sort of carry on this theme.