Margaret Colin was another one-time Watson, but another quite good one. Her single outing as the great sidekick came in the 1987 made for TV movie “The Return of Sherlock Holmes.” Ms. Colin played the part of Jane Watson, a descendant of Dr. John Watson and the new owner of the Watson Detective agency, which she has inherited from her father, in Boston. This Watson too, is a person of action, intelligent and thrilled to help the great detective. How old is the great detective in 1987 you ask? Well, since he’s been in a cryogenic sleep for about 80 years he’s barely middle age. Michael Pennington plays Sherlock, who is awakened from his sleep thanks to Ms. Watson and saved from the plague (which is why he was frozen). They go on to solve a huge FBI corruption problem and much of the plot depends on “The Sign of Four”. The movie is not for the Sherlockian who is a “strict constructionist” but is definitely a pleasant 100 minutes of entertainment. I do recommend it as light fare. The movie was nominated for both: The Edgar Allan Poe Award for best TV Feature or Miniseries and The Writers Guild of America Award for TV Original Long Form. The movie was clearly a pilot for a possible series.

Margaret Colin was born in Brooklyn, NY 26 May 1958. (Poor girl never knew the Brooklyn Dodgers being born one year too late.) She graduated from Baldwin HS and attended Hofstra University out on Long Island. Her father was a NYC police officer. Ms. Colin and her husband, Justin Deas, met while they were both acting on the daytime soap opera “As the World Turns”. They have three children, two boys of their own and a girl from Justin’s previous marriage.

Ms. Colin’s work has been constant since 1979 both on TV and in feature films. In fact her work is like a who’s who of shows: Magnum, Medium, Law & Order, Royal Pains, The Devil’s Own, Independence Day, Chicago Hope, 3 Men and a Baby and the list goes on.