television

TV review: Houdini and Doyle

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Houdini and Doyle

Two and a half stars

Houdini and Doyle Mondays, 9 p.m., Fox.

Satan, Frankenstein’s monster and members of the undead have all been enlisted to solve crimes on TV procedurals, so why not recruit magician Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle as well? That’s the premise of the rather silly Houdini and Doyle, an international co-production featuring the pair aiding Scotland Yard in 1901 London. Houdini and Doyle were real-life friends who had a falling-out over their conflicting views on the supernatural, and the series has them assisting in crimes with apparent otherworldly elements (Houdini is the skeptic, and Doyle is the believer). Although actors Michael Weston and Stephen Mangan are entertaining as the bickering title characters, the plotting barely rises above Scooby-Doo levels, with simplistic mysteries that don’t need two legendary geniuses to solve them. The superficial Victorian-era trappings do little to bring the time period to life, but the show also doesn’t take itself seriously as a historical drama. It’s a forgettable time-filler that doesn’t aspire to anything more.

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