It really is Elementary
I've seen the Elementary pilot.
It is a cross between House and the Mentalist, and my reaction to it is, appropriately, a cross between my reactions to both shows.
I remember watching the first couple of episodes of House and thinking "what an ass! who doesn't even know what he's doing! It takes them 10 tries to diagnose the patient... is this the best diagnostician in the country world?" and then quite soon warming up to it, until for a brief period I was completely hooked, and then one day the season started with House in an asylum... and I never could watch that whole episode (despite several attempts), so that was the last House episode I saw.
As for the mentalist, it's a procedural cop show, with a smart twist. I watch it fondly, if only just for a few minutes while the show I want to see doesn't start.
In conclusion, I thought Elementary's Sherlock Holmes was an ass, and it's a procedural cop show, that I watched a little bit half-heartedly to the end (and it's only 47 minutes long!).
I didn't like the character's of either Holmes or Watson: the gender change diluted Watson's strengths (least of all being a doctor) and Holmes feels taken out of Fanfiction.net and Wikipedia. I didn't like the actors: is Jonny Lee Miller really the same actor I was so impressed in Frankenstein? His facial expressions are bland and dull, and he speaks as though he's not sure whether to present an American or an English accent ( or maybe he's going for the diluted British accent... there is that word again...). And Lucy Liu? I know literally nothing of her as an actress, but mind blown I was not. Again, bland, dull, not really in full grasp of the character, probably more due to the script/direction than anything else.
I'm not sure how Elementary stands right now, but based on this pilot, I wouldn't order a full series. Probably a first series, with a small number of episodes will still go ahead, but I don't expect it to continue much further, unless they can make it on the cheap. And seeing the two lead actors... I'm not sure how feasible that is.
Finally, can I just point out that Lee Miller really should have known better? It's clearly a case of getting work in America, because that's where his family is, and hey, it's a paycheck. Not the smartest move, and one that I suspect will turn out to be detrimental to his career in the future.
It is a cross between House and the Mentalist, and my reaction to it is, appropriately, a cross between my reactions to both shows.
I remember watching the first couple of episodes of House and thinking "what an ass! who doesn't even know what he's doing! It takes them 10 tries to diagnose the patient... is this the best diagnostician in the country world?" and then quite soon warming up to it, until for a brief period I was completely hooked, and then one day the season started with House in an asylum... and I never could watch that whole episode (despite several attempts), so that was the last House episode I saw.
As for the mentalist, it's a procedural cop show, with a smart twist. I watch it fondly, if only just for a few minutes while the show I want to see doesn't start.
In conclusion, I thought Elementary's Sherlock Holmes was an ass, and it's a procedural cop show, that I watched a little bit half-heartedly to the end (and it's only 47 minutes long!).
I didn't like the character's of either Holmes or Watson: the gender change diluted Watson's strengths (least of all being a doctor) and Holmes feels taken out of Fanfiction.net and Wikipedia. I didn't like the actors: is Jonny Lee Miller really the same actor I was so impressed in Frankenstein? His facial expressions are bland and dull, and he speaks as though he's not sure whether to present an American or an English accent ( or maybe he's going for the diluted British accent... there is that word again...). And Lucy Liu? I know literally nothing of her as an actress, but mind blown I was not. Again, bland, dull, not really in full grasp of the character, probably more due to the script/direction than anything else.
I'm not sure how Elementary stands right now, but based on this pilot, I wouldn't order a full series. Probably a first series, with a small number of episodes will still go ahead, but I don't expect it to continue much further, unless they can make it on the cheap. And seeing the two lead actors... I'm not sure how feasible that is.
Finally, can I just point out that Lee Miller really should have known better? It's clearly a case of getting work in America, because that's where his family is, and hey, it's a paycheck. Not the smartest move, and one that I suspect will turn out to be detrimental to his career in the future.