And I'll be standing at rapt attention when series 4 of Sherlock eventually airs on my PBS affiliate. There's room for both shows. My initial take on each program has just shifted over time such that the quality gap between the two has shrunk in my eyes.
The 'copycat' charge against Elementary was common over here, though I don't think it holds up after you watch a few episodes. There are certainly stretches that drag, but having those stretches probably allowed the show to develop the Holmes and Watson characters, and their relationship in ways that the BBC show doesn't (or can't). The same can be said about how Elementary has treated both Moriarty (season 1) and Mycroft (season 2) - the show needed stretches of episodes for them to be effectively realized. I have seen both versions of Frankenstein with Cumberbatch and Miller, thanks to the National Theatre filming the production and occasionally screening it in the U.S. Both are quite good in each role. David ________________________________ From: Adam Bowie <[email protected]> To: tvornottv <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2014 12:03 PM Subject: Re: [TV orNotTV] Sherlock is back Yes - Elementary does OK over here. It airs on Sky Living (aka "basic cable"), and I know that they even shot the first episode of S2 here in London. But there's not doubt it was widely considered a "copycat" of the BBC show. And that's despite the fact that Sherlock Holmes has appeared in many guises and periods over time. It's just a question of timing. And guest-casting Vinnie Jones doesn't do your show much good here. He's an ex-footballer, and not seen as a particularly good actor. To be fair, Elementary is a show that I do want to catch up on. I bailed a few episodes into the first season, but I do rate both the leads. Plus I saw them shoot a bit in New York when I visited recently and I want to try to identify that episode! But Sherlock is event television - more akin to a film franchise. Whereas as you say, Elementary has to put out 24 episodes a season. It has to be a different beast. That all said, I think that people still appreciate that it's a generally superior crime show. Volume doesn't beat quality though. The most watched show on the BBC is Eastenders which produces four episodes (two hours total) a week year round. It's a primetime soap, so a different beast. Or there's Casualty, the long running medical drama that broadcasts an hour a week for somewhere around 40 weeks a year. Like Doctor Who, people will look forward to a special treat. Interesting aside that I'm sure has been mentioned before. Both Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch were cast as Frankenstein and the monster in Danny Boyle's excellent theatre production of that story in 2011. They alternated the two roles each night. And then Miller was cast as Sherlock Holmes in the CBS series - Cumberbatch having already made the first season of Sherlock at that point. Adam On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 4:33 PM, 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV <[email protected]> wrote: Does Elementary have *any* traction in the UK? > > > >Even if the CBS Holmes procedural is at best 1/4 as good as the BBC Holmes >event, my preferences have been inching further from the BBC program to the >CBS one. It's probably because while I can find more faults with the CBS >edition (usually to it being a CBS procedural), the ones that I find with the >BBC edition tend to grate me more. > > > >Elementary now has 48 episodes, or roughly the equivalent of 24 Sherlock >episodes if you extract commercials. By the time of a Sherlock special/series >4, Elementary will have aired about 80. > >Of course, YMMV, and I do like both programs. It just seems that Sherlock >could become a bit too precious, and Elementary can be more compelling that >originally expected. > >David > > > > > > >________________________________ > From: Adam Bowie <[email protected]> >To: tvornottv <[email protected]> >Sent: Wednesday, July 2, 2014 9:32 AM >Subject: [TV orNotTV] Sherlock is back > > > >Well. Sometime in 2015 and 2016. > > >Basically the cast are heavily in demand so they can shoot one special at the >start of 2015 - perhaps for an Easter or later transmission - and another >three episodes (series 4) later in 2015. I'd imagine they'll go out in 2016 >sometime. > > >http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/sherlock-miss-me > > > >The news was released at 2:21 here (BST for Jon) - 221b Baker Street. > >Well I'm excited anyway! > > > > > > >Adam -- > -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
