Elementary Preview: A Look At CBS' Sherlock Holmes Drama
Thanks to a combination of Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Benedict Cumberbatch (and of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) Sherlock Holmes is as relevant and captivating as ever, as evidenced by the popularity of BBC's Sherlock. CBS' new drama series seems to be aiming to bank on that without calling itself a remake/adaptation. Headed to Thursday nights this fall is Elementary, a series that takes Sherlock Holmes out of London and to New York where he teams with Dr. Joan Watson to solve crimes.
It's set in New York and Watson is a woman so… not a remake, right? Putting aside Sherlock for the moment, Elementary could work as a solid procedural. This series seems to focus on a different point in Holmes' life. Based on CBS' series description below, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) has had some kind of fall from grace in London, possibly due to substance abuse, has since done a stint in rehab and is now in New York, living with a sober companion under his father's orders. And it sounds like Watson (Lucy Liu) has a past of her own.
CBS released this video, which gives us a look at the show and has the cast talking about their characters.
I really liked Miller when he appeared in Dexter as the villainous Jordan Chase, and I think he could be really great as Holmes. With Cumberbatch's outstanding performance in our minds, Miller has some high standards to meet but judging from what we're seeing in the video, it seems like he's up for the task. A female Watson may take a bit more time to get used to, but Liu's proven to deliver top notch performances in the past. Perhaps this is just my optimism shining through, but I can see Elementary working out for CBS, especially for those of us who are craving Holmes between Sherlock series. At the very least, I'm willing to give it a try.
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View the rest of CBS' 2012-2013 Primetime lineup here.
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Kelly joined CinemaBlend as a freelance TV news writer in 2006 and went on to serve as the site’s TV Editor before moving over to other roles on the site. At present, she’s an Assistant Managing Editor who spends much of her time brainstorming and editing feature content on the site. She an expert in all things Harry Potter, books from a variety of genres (sci-fi, mystery, horror, YA, drama, romance -- anything with a great story and interesting characters.), watching Big Brother, frequently rewatching The Office, listening to Taylor Swift, and playing The Sims.