Sherlock

There have been many adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle's character Sherlock Holmes.  In recent years we have Robert Downey Jr portray the iconic figure in two movies.  The movies were excellent and set in the 1890's.  Again, I love these movies, and I thought Guy Richie did a fabulous job, as well as Downey and Jude Law.  I couldn't to see Elementary when it premièred on CBS in 2012.  Its Sherlock Holmes portrayed by Johnny Lee Miller brought Sherlock to our time, and he is solving cases in New York City.  Watson, usually played by a male actor, was cast to Lucy Liu, and instead of John her name is Joan.  The chemistry between Johnny Lee Miller and Liu is great.  They play off of each other really well.  It adds a great dynamic having the Watson character as a female.  They didn't GOP with sexual tension right off the bat between Holmes and Watson, there is a love between the two but more as a brother and sister.  The New York Holmes is a recovering Heroine addict, and Joan started out as a live in sponsor to look after him.  Holmes quickly recruited Watson as his side kid and began training her to think along the same lines as him.  Each case was a test for Watson.  They mostly work for the NYPD and are brought in on tough cases.  Each episode is fast paced and has twists and turns I am on the edge of my seat every week.  Its great.

This brings me to the British show Sherlock.  The best out of the most recent incarnations.  The show started airing in 2010, I have been watching them on Netflix.  The seasons are only 3 episodes long, but run around an hour and a half.  It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as John Watson.  This too brings Holmes to modern day, and has him solving crimes in modern day London.  With each episode layer out like a movie, they can squeeze more story into them.  The cliff hanger at the end of the second series was excellent, and had me chomping at the bit to see Series 3.  Which I just started watching tonight.  I hope that North American television stations see how this series is being made and consider doing the same style here.  3 episodes in a season, basically mini movies, damn its good. 

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