Wednesday, January 18, 2012

CBS's Elementary

So, CBS has greenlighted a pilot for their new modernization of Holmes. Unlike most commentators on that page, I'm going to hold out hope that it might be okay. Why? Because I've seen Americanized TV versions of Holmes in modern times before.

I mean, they were more of the Holmes-is-cryogenically-frozen-and-revived type, but I liked them. I especially loved the one with Margaret Colin. You could say that Zero Effect was a modernization of Holmes too.

I've seen people say before that Americans already have Holmes on TV, not merely in House, but in genuine detective/crime shows like Psych, The Mentalist, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, but the problem with all those guys is that they're unwatchable jerks. Well, I like Psych, but more for Gus than for Shawn, who grated on my nerves increasingly, and convinced me to stop buying the DVDs. The Criminal Intent guy was full of annoying tics too, forever leaning over and driving me up the wall.

So if they can do a good Holmes that doesn't make me want to slap him despite his Holmes-ness, then sure I'll watch it. I don't mind it being set in New York either. As I've just seen, the 1906 Raffles/Holmes crossover moved to New York pretty seamlessly, and Sherlockian pastiches are forever taking Holmes to America or other lands outside Britain. I'm keeping an open mind.

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