CBS television is airing a new version of Sherlock Holmes this fall. I am not the least bit interested. The movies with Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law have once again made Holmes hip and the new British TV version simply called Sherlock has been amazing. I’m sure that it is the British TV show’s popularity that made Executive producers Rob Doherty, Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly want to do the show once again showing Hollywood’s recurring lack of imagination. Producers in the US have tried to adapt British television over and over and the remake is almost always worse than the original. Coupling stands out as a particularly huge disaster. How about Prime Suspect?? Wow, what a bad idea that Americanization was. We can give her a hat so she’s quirky! The show was destined to fail before it aired. I don’t care who wqs in the show, after Helen Mirren did the role why would anyone take it on?
In this case they aren’t just Americanizing the UK show Sherlock, they did come up with a new premise, Holmes coming to the US to go to rehab and partnering with Watson who will be played by Lucy Liu. I don’t have a big issue with a female Watson, but I really don’t like Lucy Liu. I think she always looks pissed off and I think she has little depth as her attitude seems to be very similar with every character she plays. Maybe it’s the stuck up look I saw on some girls in high school, I don’t know. All I know is I really don’t care for her at all, and in this role as a doctor observing Holmes I see endless chances for her to pull the look down the nose.
And while Holmes has worked cases in the US before in many of the various stories authors besides Conan Doyle have written it just feels wrong to have him in New York. New York is a great city for TV shows, and there is a long history of mystery and crime fiction shows in New York. But really, why watch this when Castle is almost the same premise? A smart guy with a female sidekick who is just as smart. And the people on Castle are great to watch.
If you want to see some really great updating of Sherlock Holmes, watch Sherlock from the UK, it’s a great show and done very well. I can’t help but think that Elementery will be another footnote on a list of shows that shouldn’t have been made.
Jon
