Shine producers Julian Murphy and Johnny Caps, who came up with the idea after working on BSkyB's teen horror show Hex, said Merlin was also influenced by US show Smallville, about the early years of Superman.
Smallville helped provide the idea that Merlin would see a "Camelot that existed before its golden age".
"Just as in Smallville we wanted to subvert expectations," said Capps. "Camelot is a land where magic is banned [and] Merlin ... is a young boy who works as Arthur's manservant and has to hide his abilities."
From here
ETA: If you want to actually read the TV Guide article about House and Wilson,
bmax67 has scans up
here.