Elementary (TV series)

Elementary
Genre	Crime Mystery Drama
Created by	Robert Doherty
Based on	The works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Starring	Jonny Lee Miller Lucy Liu Aidan Quinn Jon Michael Hill
Composer(s)	Sean Callery
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	39 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robert Doherty Sarah Timberman Carl Beverly John Coles
Producer(s)	Alysse Bezahler
Editor(s)	Joe Hobeck
Location(s)	New York, New York London, England (season 2)
Cinematography	Nelson Cragg
Running time	43–46 minutes
Production company(s)	CBS Television Studios Timberman/Beverly Productions Hill of Beans Productions
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 27, 2012 (2012-09-27) – present
External links
Official website

Elementary is an American crime drama series that premiered on CBS on September 27, 2012.^[6] It presents a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes set in the United States. It stars Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, a female version of Holmes' companion.

In this version, Holmes is a former consultant to Scotland Yard,^[7] and a recovering drug addict. He travels to New York City to check into a rehabilitation center^[7] then lives with Watson, who becomes his sober companion^[7] and eventually his apprentice.

On October 23, 2012, CBS picked up Elementary for a full season.^[8] On November 15, 2012, the network ordered two additional episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 24.^[9]

On March 27, 2013, the series was renewed for its second season, which premiered on September 26, 2013 with an episode filmed on location in London.^[10]

Plot

Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, an eccentric modern Sherlock Holmes escapes to Manhattan, where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sober companion, Dr. Joan Watson. Formerly a successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her medical license three years ago, Watson views her current job as another opportunity to help people, as well as paying a penance. However, the restless Sherlock is nothing like her previous clients. He informs her that none of her expertise as an addiction specialist applies to him and that he has devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant in New York City. Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs.

Over time, Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a knack for playing investigator. Sherlock’s police contact, Captain Thomas Gregson, knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at solving cases, and welcomes him as part of the team. The investigative group also includes Detective Marcus Bell, an investigator with sharp intuition and formidable interrogation skills. Although initially skeptical of Holmes and his unorthodox methods, Bell begins to recognize Sherlock as an asset in their investigations. With the mischievous Sherlock Holmes now running free in New York solving crime, it’s simple deduction that he is going to need someone to keep him under control, and it appears elementary that this is a job for Watson.

Cast and characters

Main

• Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes, a former Scotland Yard consultant who now lives in New York City after receiving drug rehabilitation there for his previous drug-related problems in England. Holmes is a deductive genius with a variety of interests and enthusiasms that assist him in his investigations. Feeling that the more interesting criminal cases are in America, he stays in New York. He contacts an old associate, Captain Thomas Gregson of the NYPD to resume his previous job as a consulting detective. He is forced by his father to live with Dr. Joan Watson, his "sober companion" who provides him with aftercare. Miller's Holmes displays many canonical aspects of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's character, while his familial relations, especially his resentment for his father, have been added into his narrative. It's hinted that his exodus to the United States was not simply drug rehab or an interest in American crime, but that it was due to a woman named Irene as well.^[11]
• Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, Holmes' sober companion. Watson was a successful surgeon, which adds to her complement of skills. She comes to Holmes when she is hired by his father as his sober companion,^[12] to help him remain abstinent after his release from rehabilitation. After her contracted time is finished, she remains on after lying to Holmes, telling him that his father had retained her services. He comes to rely on her input and grows to trust her as she helps him come to terms with his life after addiction. After a while, Holmes reveals that he found out that she was no longer being paid to stay as a companion. He offers her a position as an apprentice, telling her how much she means to him and how she helps him to focus. Watson accepts and starts her training as a detective with Holmes.
• Aidan Quinn as Captain Thomas "Tommy" Gregson^{[note 1]} of the New York City Police Department. Once, when assigned to Scotland Yard to observe their counter-terrorism bureau, he crossed paths with Sherlock and was impressed with Holmes' work as a detective. He genuinely likes Holmes and the two have mutual respect for each other, though he admits that Sherlock is a "pain in the ass".
• Jon Michael Hill as Detective First Grade Marcus Bell,^[13] a junior officer with whom Holmes and Watson work. While initially against the idea of getting help from Sherlock, he comes to realize Sherlock's talent as a detective and readily takes advice from him.

Recurring

• Ato Essandoh as Alfredo Llamosa, Sherlock's sober sponsor. A recovering addict himself, Alfredo is also reformed from a life of crime stealing cars.^[14] He is now being paid by various car companies to attempt break ins to their cars to test their security systems, and he occasionally lets Holmes try out his own skills on them.
• Rhys Ifans as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother.^[15]
• Natalie Dormer as Irene Adler / Jamie Moriarty. As Irene, she is Sherlock's former lover, while in her true identity as Moriarty she is a criminal mastermind who romanced Holmes—and then faked Irene's death—to draw his investigations away from her criminal activities. Despite Holmes discovering her true identity, and her subsequent imprisonment, the two continue to have conflicting feelings for each other and great mutual respect for each other's intellectual powers.

Development

Writer and producer Robert Doherty created the show. Doherty has commented that it was Carl Beverly who "initially was the one who brought up the possibility of developing a Sherlock show."^[16] Beverly spoke about the relationship between Sherlock and Watson in the show in July 2012:

Rob [Doherty] often calls it a bromance, but one of the bros just happens to be a woman. He said that from the very beginning and I think it's really an apt description. There's this idea that a man and a woman can't be together on a show especially without needing to be together sexually or in love or whatever, and this is really about the evolution of a friendship and how that happens. Watching that should be as much the story of this show as the mysteries that you see week in and week out about who killed who.^[16]

Casting

Liu was cast by February 2012.^[17] That July, she said that Watson is not "someone who's on the sideline; she's his sober companion, she's engaged in him, not the mystery, [...] From that point on you get to see how that blossoms out. The foot-in-the-bucket and that kind of Watson happens because in entertainment, there's got to be a sidekick. In this case, that's not the direction we're going in. Ask me in six episodes and if I have a foot in a bucket then we'll have a discussion."^[18]

Relationship to BBC's Sherlock

Sherlock, a contemporary reworking of the Sherlock Holmes story, began screening in the UK just over two years before Elementary premiered in the United States. The British show has since sold to more than 200 territories. In January 2012 Sherlock producer Sue Vertue told newspaper The Independent "we understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying."^[19] The following month Vertue said that "We have been in touch with CBS and informed them that we will be looking at their finished pilot very closely for any infringement of our rights."^[11]

CBS made a statement on the issue: "Our project is a contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes that will be based on Holmes, Watson and other characters in the public domain, as well as original characters. We are, of course, respectful of all copyright laws and will not infringe on any stories or works that may still be protected."^[11]

Creator Robert Doherty discussed comparisons between Sherlock and Elementary that July, pointing out that a tradition of updated Holmes stories dates back to the Basil Rathbone films of the 1940s, and that he didn't think it was the case that Elementary took anything from Sherlock, which he described as a "brilliant show" having watched its first series.^[16]

Series overview

Reception

The pilot episode received positive reviews from critics. Lori Rackl of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the episode three stars and said "While the latest interpretation doesn’t live up to the British import, it's still more entertaining than your typical CBS procedural."^[24] Hank Stuever of The Washington Post gave it a B+ and felt that the show "exhibits enough stylish wit in its mood and look to quickly distinguish itself from the latest British Sherlock series (seen on PBS)."^[25]

Brain Lowry of Variety, however, though giving the work of the leads praise, felt that "The main question—whether this slickly made, shrewdly conceived series can sustain Person of Interest's lead-in among CBS viewers—might best be answered with another: Will many of those previously watching The Mentalist in this timeslot even notice the difference?"^[26]

The series, as a whole since, was well received. Review aggregation website Metacritic gave it a score of 73/100 based on 29, indicating "generally favorable reviews",^[27] while the Internet Movie Database has a rating of 8.0.^[28]

Awards and nominations

The series has won and been nominated for several high profile television & entertainment awards:^[29]

Broadcast

Elementary premiered in Canada on September 27, 2012 on the Global Television Network.^[30][31] It began airing in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2012 on Sky Living.^[32] In Australia, Network Ten began airing the show on February 3, 2013. The series aired in New Zealand on Prime (New Zealand) from 27 February 2013.^[33]

On February 3, 2013, Elementary was broadcast after Super Bowl XLVII. The episode drew 20.8 million viewers despite running out of prime time in the Eastern time zone as a result of a game delay.^[34][35]

See also

• The Return of Sherlock Holmes – a 1987 television movie featuring Holmes in a contemporary setting and a Jane Watson, also produced by CBS
• 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns – a 1993 television movie featuring Holmes in a contemporary setting, also produced by CBS

Notes

References

External links

• Official website
• Elementary at the Internet Movie Database
• Elementary at TV.com