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CBS Greenlights 'Elementary' Modern Sherlock Holmes Pilot

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Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Member
Well, Holmes would probably say to not go into a situation with pre-conceived notions. So, I'll give this one a shot.
 
B

blazinglord

Member
Messypandas said:
i actually think it looks decent. and i know i'm in the minority who doesn't like cumberbatch as sherlock. something about his intonations
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Seconded. From the few Sherlock Holmes stories I have read, I never got the impression that Holmes was actively trying to be disliked and irritate everyone as Cumberbatch's Holmes does.
 
C

cartoon_soldier

Member
blazinglord said:
Seconded. From the few Sherlock Holmes stories I have read, I never got the impression that Holmes was actively trying to be disliked and irritate everyone as Cumberbatch's Holmes does.
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Really?

According to Watson, Holmes is an eccentric, with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order.
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Holmes has an ego that at times borders on arrogant, albeit with justification; he draws pleasure from baffling police inspectors with his superior deductions.
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Holmes is pleased when he is recognised for having superior skills and responds to flattery, as Watson remarks, as a girl does to comments upon her beauty.
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Holmes's demeanour is presented as dispassionate and cold. Yet when in the midst of an adventure, Holmes can sparkle with remarkable passion. He has a flair for showmanship and will prepare elaborate traps to capture and expose a culprit, often to impress Watson or one of the Scotland Yard inspectors.
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Holmes always had an ego, aware of his superior skills. BBC portrayal isn't perfect, but it captures the spirit very well.

On top of that, they will never capture the dynamic between Sherlock and Watson with the cast choices in Elementary.
 
B

blazinglord

Member
cartoon_soldier said:
Holmes always had an ego, aware of his superior skills. BBC portrayal isn't perfect, but it captures the spirit very well.

On top of that, they will never capture the dynamic between Sherlock and Watson with the cast choices in Elementary.
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Arguably, none of those quotes really give the impression that Sherlock is obsessed with the idea of drumming home how wonderful and brilliant he is and everybody else should just drop dead. In fact, in one of the quotes you use, he is described as being 'dispassionate and cold', as though he is aloof and removed rather than actively going out of his way to be unlikeable.

But look, I am all for artistic licenses. Clearly Moffat wanted to emphasise certain aspects of Holmes' character that haven't traditionally, in my view, been at the forefront or rather been completely representative of his overall personality. Fair enough. As a result though, I just don't like Cumberbatch's Holmes. Which I suppose might be the point.

I don't expect Elementary to capture much of the dynamic, spirit or even the feel of the source material, other than borrowing the names and a few plot devices. For a start, it's set in modern-day Brooklyn. But nonetheless, it sounds like an intriguing concept and quite honestly, Moffat and his mere three episodes a year do not hold a monopoly on all modern-day adaptations of Holmes.
 
G

Guerrillas in the Mist

Member
They should have aimed for a loose adoption of the Sherlock Holmes idea, with different character names, in which case Watson's gender change and the NYC setting could have been interesting. But it's apparent that CBS just wanted to skew as close as possible to the BBC series without it being an outright remake, what with Lee Miller's impersonation and Lucy Liu's character being named "Dr. Joan Watson".
 
bengraven

bengraven

Member
American producer goes to London. He needs an idea for a story.

He's being driven around by a crotchety old cabbie, who suddenly asks, "ey, you'anna see where dey film sherlock?"

"Sherlock?" the producer asks, "You mean the Guy Ritchie films..."

"Naw, I mean the one onna telly. Y'know, wit the guy from da Office playin' Joan Watson..."

A lightbulb goes off.

"Did you just say Joan Watson?!"

"Eh? Naw, I said Joan Watson. Joans'a man's name...like Joan Lennon, Joan Crawley, Joan Ford..."

"My god, you're a genius. JOAN WATSON. The American Sherlock Holmes and he has a female sidekick! I'll be a millionaire!"
 
G

Guerrillas in the Mist

Member
bengraven said:
American producer goes to London. He needs an idea for a story.

He's being driven around by a crotchety old cabbie, who suddenly asks, "ey, you'anna see where dey film sherlock?"

"Sherlock?" the producer asks, "You mean the Guy Ritchie films..."

"Naw, I mean the one onna telly. Y'know, wit the guy from da Office playin' Joan Watson..."

A lightbulb goes off.

"Did you just say Joan Watson?!"

"Eh? Naw, I said Joan Watson. Joans'a man's name...like Joan Lennon, Joan Crawley, Joan Ford..."

"My god, you're a genius. JOAN WATSON. The American Sherlock Holmes and he has a female sidekick! I'll be a millionaire!"
Click to expand...

Bullshit, that can't be what happened.

The cabbie never referred to him as "Guvna".
 
R

RibbedHero

Member
bengraven said:
American producer goes to London. He needs an idea for a story.

He's being driven around by a crotchety old cabbie, who suddenly asks, "ey, you'anna see where dey film sherlock?"

"Sherlock?" the producer asks, "You mean the Guy Ritchie films..."

"Naw, I mean the one onna telly. Y'know, wit the guy from da Office playin' Joan Watson..."

A lightbulb goes off.

"Did you just say Joan Watson?!"

"Eh? Naw, I said Joan Watson. Joans'a man's name...like Joan Lennon, Joan Crawley, Joan Ford..."

"My god, you're a genius. JOAN WATSON. The American Sherlock Holmes and he has a female sidekick! I'll be a millionaire!"
Click to expand...

This is brilliant.
 
Enosh

Enosh

Member
idk, looks like a standard quirky social awkward smart person with a straight person to counterbalance him tv show, just with Sherlock Holmes names plastered all over it

will watch
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Petrichor said:
he'll be a sexy femme fatale in this version.

Mariarty.
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The hate sex will be so hot. Threesome with Irene Adler. This is going places.

RibbedHero said:
New to me, but apparently Cumberbatch and JLM starred in Frankenstein together last year:

00480gt0
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That sounds awesome. Wish I saw that.

Watching the preview trailer...

Eh...
 
A

Aaron

Member
Not every TV show needs decent writers, but this premise sure as hell did, and from the trailer it feels like a bad comic book writer is penning this thing.
 
Y

Yagharek

Member
blazinglord said:
Seconded. From the few Sherlock Holmes stories I have read, I never got the impression that Holmes was actively trying to be disliked and irritate everyone as Cumberbatch's Holmes does.
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There's an old 1970s (?) BBC series of Sherlock where he is still an eccentric who ticks off everyone. It's part of the character, and the recent BBC series Sherlock captured this brilliantly.

Also, there is no way in hell they can top the rendition of (character spoiler)
Moriarty
as was in that series.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Sloane said:
People who've seen it say it's great - well, for a CBS procedural.
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If it's anywhere close to being as awesome as Person of Interest, I'll check it out. That and The Mentalist are the only CBS procedural-esque shows I watch, but Person of Interest is FANTASTIC! Let's hope 'Elementary' is close to being that good.
 
R

rbenchley

Member
Doesn't look very promising, but I've been surprised before. Interestingly, CBS'creative bankruptcy isn't in ripping off the fantastic Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch, but in copying themselves. From Wikipedia:

This is CBS's third Sherlock Holmes adaption set in present day America. In 1987, CBS produced a TV film/pilot, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, featuring a cryogenically reanimated Holmes and a Jane Watson. In 1994, CBS produced another TV film/pilot with a nearly identical premise, Sherlock Holmes Returns. This time the "Watson" character was named Dr. Amy Winslow.
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J

JdFoX187

Banned
rbenchley said:
Doesn't look very promising, but I've been surprised before. Interestingly, CBS'creative bankruptcy isn't in ripping off the fantastic Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch, but in copying themselves. From Wikipedia:
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Should have just made a live action adaptation of Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century complete with robo Watson. I'd watch that. This...not so much.
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
DMczaf said:
They actually found a bootleg Joel McHale?
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Jesus christ...

The pilot is good. Really good. Very well made, very well shot, lots of time for some good character moments -- Miller's Holmes is quite good. I'm not entirely sure if Lucy Liu was given as much material to work with, but I'm hopeful. At its worst, it'll be another CBS crime procedural that gets everyone a nice paycheck. At its best, it could be a Good Wife-type CBS show.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
Anyone see the newest commercial on TV for Sherlock? Looks like it has a bit more of a comedic bent than BBC's Sherlock. Show might suck, but it looks like Miller's having fun with the role.
 
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