America, why so determined to do things your way?

[cleflink]

So the preview trailer for CBS' new show Elementary has just been released and it's kind of agh. Like, a lot. Even if I wasn't a huge fan of Sherlock, I would be completely unimpressed by this trailer. It's like, Sherlock the procedural cop show and the acting seems awfully flat considering that these are good actors. Honestly makes me wonder why CBS picked it up. *shakes head*

Comments

[katikat.livejournal.com]

The thing is, I really liked the part where he found the safe room but you are right, it feels flat. I couldn't find the right word, but it really is flat. Like, he's acting crazy just to act crazy. I like Jonny Lee Miller a lot but, to be honest, he looks like a homeless man there. I always thought that Holmes had style. And Watson's introduction, "Your father hired me to be your sober companion." Really? Just. Really? So, she's not even there on her own, she's just a hired help? Yeah, they're destroying the Watson character more and more. Not a soldier, not a decorated war hero, not a great doctor - just someone who couldn't keep her license and was hired to take care of Holmes as a glorified nurse? Seriously? I can't help it, it makes Watson look really weak. I always thought that Watson needed to be a strong personality to match Holmes. This though? Eh. If they hadn't called them Holmes and Watson, I would've liked it better. This way, I can't help but compare these characters to what they should be like, based on the books and the other modern update of Holmes, Sherlock.

[cleflink.livejournal.com]

You're so right with the names; it hadn't occurred to me, but these characters are different enough (especially Watson) that they could probably get away with using different names. Which, really, says a whole lot about how faithful these interpretations are to the spirit of the original characters. I inflicted this preview on my siblings and my brother was saying that Holmes really should be 'other' no matter how/where you're dealing with him, which I totally agree with; Holmes functions on a different wavelength to the rest of the world and that's why he's always just slightly out of step. It almost seems like he's looking for approval from the cops which with that scene with the broken glasses and that's just too weird. And Watson just makes me cringe. It's not even the girl thing, necessarily (although I find that far too cookie-cutter 'this is how you put together a t.v. show' to ever be happy with it), because there's so much else wrong.

I also thought the safe thing was quite clever and I am terribly amused that, even in Manhattan, Holmes needs to have a British accent. Do you suppose they think their audience won't be able to make the connection if he's American? *rolls eyes*