In Joan's Chelsea apartment there is an artwork above her bed. This is a silkscreen done by Lucy Liu herself.
The recurring character Detective Bell is a brilliant policeman with deductive powers of his own. This is a nod to Dr. Joseph Bell, a Scottish physician and professor, acquaintance of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and the real-life model for Sherlock Holmes.
Joan's mother's name is Mary Watson. This is a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's stories in which Dr. Watson's wife's name is Mary.
Creator Robert Doherty said that one of his motivations for a female Dr. Watson was to show that men and women can "work and live together and not end up romantically entangled."
Throughout the show, Sherlock is shown to keep and study bees as a hobby. In the original short story "His Last Bow", Sherlock Holmes has retired to the Sussex Downs to keep bees.