Eight episodes of jokes about John and Sherlock being a couple
Mark Gatiss talked at Mumbai Comic Con about the assumption of John and Sherlock being a couple to just be kind of a reference to The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes:
The whole idea of John and Sherlock being mistaken for a couple in our show is inspired by the Billy Wilder film ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’ which we love to distraction. And in that Sherlock gets out of an awkward situation by claiming that he and Watson are a couple, so we sort of run with the same joke. (x)
As this wasn't the first time, Mark Gatiss said something like this, I take this as the final reason to collect the most prominent of these jokes in this post. And yes, there actually are jokes in every epsiode. And it's always John who is "involved" in the pun, never Sherlock. So this "joke" has a very clear pattern.
A Study in Pink
MRS HUDSON: There’s another bedroom upstairs if you’ll be needing two bedrooms. JOHN: Of course we’ll be needing two.
MYCROFT: Mmm, and since yesterday you’ve moved in with him and now you’re solving crimes together. Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?
ANGELO: On the house, for you and for your date. SHERLOCK (to John): Do you want to eat? JOHN (to Angelo): I’m not his date.
The Blind Banker
JOHN: Actually, I’ve, er, got a date. SHERLOCK: What? JOHN: It’s where two people who like each other go out and have fun. SHERLOCK: That’s what I was suggesting. JOHN: No it wasn’t ... at least I hope not.
The Great Game
JOHN: I’m glad no-one saw that. SHERLOCK: Hmm? JOHN: You, ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. People might talk. SHERLOCK: People do little else.
A Scandal in Belgravia
JEANETTE: You’re a great boyfriend. JOHN: Okay, that’s good. I mean, I always thought I was great. JEANETTE: And Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man.
IRENE: Are you jealous? JOHN: We’re not a couple. IRENE: Yes you are.
The Hounds of Baskerville
GARY: Eh, sorry we couldn’t do a double room for you boys. JOHN: That’s fine. We-we’re not ...
BILLY (to John): Is yours a snorer? JOHN: ... Got any crisps?
JOHN: P.A? FRANKLAND: Well, live-in P.A. JOHN: Perfect(!)
The Reichenbach Fall
SHERLOCK: Take my hand. JOHN: Now people will definitely talk.
The Empty Hearse
MRS HUDSON: What’s his name? JOHN: It’s a woman. MRS HUDSON: A woman?! JOHN: Yes, of course it’s a woman. MRS HUDSON: You really have moved on, haven’t you? JOHN: Mrs Hudson! How many times ...? Sherlock was not my boyfriend. MRS HUDSON: Live and let live – that’s my motto. JOHN: Listen to me: I am not gay!
This is the scene about that Mark Gatiss says on the dvd commentary:
“This is more or less the last hurrah for this joke, isn’t it? ’Cause it’s getting very boring!”
But no, this is not the end, TSoT is still left.
The Sign of Three
SHERLOCK: Don’t worry, Mary, I have been tutoring him. JOHN: He did, you know. Baker Street, behind closed curtains. JOHN: Mrs Hudson came in one time. Don’t know how those rumours started!
So it took seven episodes to heavily feature this joke about John and Sherlock being a couple. This joke has actually been a core element of the show, I'd say. And eventually, in the eighth epsiode, the audience gets a glimpse of how these kind of jokes can be used to distance themselves from people and how others can be hurt by them.
So this is the end of joking about John and Sherlock being a couple, right?
Here's one last quote of Mark Gatiss in the DNA Magazine ( July 2014) combing what he said at Mumbai Comic Con and on the dvd commentary:
We took that and ran with it. Because we thought in the 21st century the first thing a prospective landlady would think would not be that two bachelors are living together, but that they’re a couple. Then everyone does. Certain portions of the audience have run with that, and then some! But it’s a joke. Obviously I’m not trying to belittle the notion of it, but it’s the most famous friendship in literature and the idea that people would just very normally and casually assume they’re gay and not have a problem with it is a rather lovely thing. But I think we’ve probably done that joke now!” (x)
Let's go with the author's intent for a minute. If this was only a joke, what happens to the show without it?
Lucky for us, we already got an example...
Continue: The first episode without any jokes about John and Sherlock being a couple.
transcript credit
