At Long Last.....

At long last, we get two Holmes references in one episode! Wow! It's like Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa all rolled into one! :-)

The episode of which I speak is "Family" and aired last night, May Day.

The first reference is rather blatant. Wilson's dog, Hector, has destroyed House's cane (with an hilarious aside by Wilson, "It wasn't me this time!"). So, House must go cane shopping. Of course he insists on Wilson's presence....not for his taste, either.....but to pay for the cane given that Hector is his dog and it's Hector's fault.

House drags Wilson to a rather dodgy looking "antique" store. (Looks more like a junk store and head shop to me....not that I'd know what a head shop looks like. Hey! I went to college. I've been in one of those places! A friend of mine bought a little pewter straw at one of those joints. (hee, pun intended) and it was shaped like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. I thought that was hilarious.....and I'm not saying what she used it for.)

But, I digress.

The point is that when Wilson opens the door of Joe's Junk and Joint Shoppe, House has a pipe in his mouth that is the classic pipe associated with Sherlock Holmes. Now we just need to get the guy in a cape and a deer stalker hat. (Never gonna happen.)

The traditional Holmes pipe is this guy:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ce/Sherlock_holmes_pipe_hat.jpg/450px-Sherlock_holmes_pipe_hat.jpg

However, the original artist for The Strand Magazine, Sydney Paget, who brought Holmes into visiual two dimensions, envisioned a more ordinary one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Paget_holmes.png

Just for grins and for anyone who didn't know, Holmes kept his tobacco in a Persian slipper that resided on the mantelpiece at 221B Baker Street. (Right under the bills he had impaled to the wall with a dagger.) That kind of trivia makes for ~great~ cocktail conversation.

Now, for the more esoteric reference....and, I admit it's a reach but things have been dry here recently.....Holmes did have a dog named Toby. I've mentioned him here before in reference to Steve McQueen the Rat. Steve's comparison is more apt because he actually helped solve two mysteries with House in the same way that Toby helped Holmes.

However, House had Hector if only for one episode and, therefore, like Holmes, House had a dog. (Personally, I think Hector is perfect for House and he should have kept him. Especially since rats only live two years so Steve is going to shuffle off this mortal coil soon if he hasn't already. Plus, we know that House can be cold but, dood, you gave the dog a limp and a Vicodin habit. Don't you think you owe him a home now?)

Last reach.....and it's a small, piddling ridiculous one but I gotta make it. Holmes was British. House's dog Hector Wilson is a scruffy little West Highland Terrier. Last I checked Scotland, much to her dismay, is still part of the United Kingdom. So, there is a UK connection there between Holmes, Toby, House and Hector. Whew, that was a tough one.