Elementary

Did anyone catch what the husband said to Holmes when they were standing in the rain in front of the hospital and he pretty much admitted to having his wife killed? Something about . . . thoeretically, if you no longer wanted to be married to your wealthy wife and there was no pre-nup, then something about examining the first contract instead of the second? Then when Watson asked, "What did he say?" Holmes answered, "He said he did it."

He said if he divorced his wife he would get nothing but if his wife died while they were still married there was a living trust he would have access to (his wife was the one with the money). Of the two options, the second (to him) was the preferable choice.

I'll give it another try. I wish that they had given the characters other names besides Holmes and Watson. I think more people would not be confusing it with the real Sherlock Holmes. For this reason, it probably won't be well received by the avid Sherlock Holmes fans.
It also reminds me of the new TNT show Perception, a professor with mental problems who has a live in caretaker and works with the FBI to solve crimes.
In general, I'm seeing other shows this fall that remind me of shows from the other channels.:mmm ( CBS Jersey Girl & USA Fairly Legal)

But the whole hook is that it is a modern, NYC-set interpretation of Holmes. If they didn't have the names, they wouldn't have the initial draw.

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Originally Posted by CCL

But the whole hook is that it is a modern, NYC-set interpretation of Holmes. If they didn't have the names, they wouldn't have the initial draw.

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I respectfully have to disagree. Nero Wolfe was the same type of character and so was Hercule Poirot, but neither Rex Stout and Agatha Christie chose to "modernize" a classic. I don't need the familiar names and would have watched a show that gave me new and original characters with this type of premise.

I have no problem with the use of classic characters in modern context - modern dress Shakespeare, Dracula visits Buffy, the assorted characters of Once Upon a Time and Grimm, Jesus figures here, there and everywhere. That nature of fiction is that you can do what you want with it - it's not immutable.

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Originally Posted by Florimel

I respectfully have to disagree. Nero Wolfe was the same type of character and so was Hercule Poirot, but neither Rex Stout and Agatha Christie chose to "modernize" a classic. I don't need the familiar names and would have watched a show that gave me new and original characters with this type of premise.

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Sorry, I'm not familiar with either of those characters. I will say, while some might have been drawn to the show regardless, others might not have, and in a crowded tv market producers are looking to pique the viewers' interest in any way they can, including emphasizing a past familiarity with characters. Speaking of Holmes in particular, the current BBC version is also set in modern times,so there is precedence for Elementary.

That's okay. I realize I'm in the minority here, and everyone should watch what they enjoy and avoid what they don't.

It's probably because I learned to love originals in high school. We had to read Chaucer in Middle English, which is very, very different from modern English. We had to work hard to understand it, but it sounded beautiful. Many years later, my son's English teacher asked me to read an excerpt in Middle English to his class.

I hope Elementary is successful for those who like it, and I anticipate it probably will be.

Then you wouldn't like the modern re-tellings of The Canterbury Tales the BBC did a few years back. :). I don't mind re-tellings or re-imaginings generally but everyone has their own tastes.

No, CCL, I didn't. I tried a couple of them, but it just wasn't the same for me.