Who needs original TV characters when you can mine literature and history?

It’s remarkable how many current shows are built around pre-existing people and characters. The newest is a rather lame crime-solving procedural premiering Monday night on Fox called “Houdini & Doyle,’’ which pals Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle. Pre-existing characters mean pre-existing fans, which means the potential for bigger and better ratings.

Here are a few of the current crop: Sherlock Holmes in “Elementary,’’ Norman Bates in “Bates Motel,’’ Charles Manson on “Aquarius,’’ a mess of fairy tale characters on “Once Upon a Time,’’ Dorian Gray and others on “Penny Dreadful,’’ and I can’t even with all the comic book characters all over TV, from “Arrow’’ and “The Flash’’ to “Daredevil’’ and “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’’

So it’s time to start thinking ahead. Which pre-existing characters should networks update and revise for their very own series? Which of our favorites ought to be adapted into long-running series? Here are some ideas.

“Portnoy Yoy Yoy,’’ Showtime

Who needs “In Treatment’’ when Alexander Portnoy gets talking to his therapist? Showtime doesn’t hold back on its Philip Roth adaptation about sex, guilt, sex, mothers, sex, and sex. Like “Masters of Sex,’’ it’s set amid the years of the sexual revolution; unlike “Masters,’’ it’s important props include an empty milk bottle, a baseball mitt, and, memorably, a piece of liver. I’m looking at you for the starring role, Jesse Eisenberg.

Tess!’’ Lifetime

Forget about Thomas Hardy and all that doom and gloom. It’s just too literary. This is an affirming narrative about good fortune, empowerment, and turning your life around, built for aspirational TV audiences. Turns out our rural British heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, is in fact descended from the wealthy D’Urbervilles, and, after sharing her secret with those around her — she was raped as a young woman — she rises in society and helps other sexually abused women.

“Murder, Agatha Christie Said,’’ CBS

There’s always room for another procedural on CBS, even one that doesn’t involve “NCIS’’ or “CSI.’’ And this one features one of the world’s best-known and biggest-selling writers, Agatha Christie. In the show’s conceit, some of the plots of the mystery novels written by “The Queen of Crime’’ were taken from her real life, and so we see her solving mysteries like her very own Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Signature move: At the end of each episode, Dame Agatha gathers the subjects together in one room for the big reveal.

“Holden On,’’ The CW

Teen angst, New York City, an on-again-off-again girlfriend named Sally, sex, booze, a hooker, and a hugely recognized brand name — this one has it all for the CW! The kids will love it. The adaptation can update J.D. Salinger’s story of Holden Caulfield from the dull 1950s to the present tense, forget about that whole TB thing, and make him into a hero straight outta “Gossip Girl.’’ Nothing phony about it.

“Humbert,’’ HBO

Talk about the age of the anti-hero. In this drama, Vladimir Nabokov’s smug, evasive child molester is a charismatic fellow with mad language skills. HBO viewers like an edge; they’ll get plenty of it on this tough drama, as the story focuses on Humbert stalking his pretty young prey and then traveling the country with her, staying at cheap motels. What a role! He makes Walter White and Dexter Morgan seem like pussycats.

“McMurphy’s Anatomy,’’ ABC

Life in a hospital can be a hotbed of romance, and a very lucrative one at that, as “Grey’s Anatomy’’ proved. This series revolves around characters from Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’’ as they find love, bicker, and play games on the ward led by the extroverted Randle McMurphy. Special episode: “The Deep Sea Fishing Trip,’’ modeled after the season three episode “Where the Boys Are’’ on “Grey’s.’’ Grumpy Nurse Ratched is in charge, and she and McMurphy have some friction between them — an attraction, perhaps? — but ultimately we all know she loves her gang. Also featured: Chief Bromden, who is McMurphy’s Cristina Yang.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.