Suprising Choice for Watson in CBS' Sherlock Holmes Show

[espanolbot]

Some of you may remember how I mentioned that CBS was getting into trouble with Stephen Moffat's production company, because of their modern Sherlock Holmes show, Elementary, having a bunch of simularities to the BBC's Sherlock.

Details in full here.

Well in the time following the complaints, CBS have been attempting to distance their version from the Moffat version, and one of the major ways is who they've got to play Watson, namely, the awesome...

Lucy Liu!


Wait, what?

Yeah, Watson is going to be Joan Watson instead of John in this version, which I think'll be pretty cool. Makes me hope that the show actually does well now.

Apparently the set up for the show is that Holmes is a consultant for Scotland Yard (like in the books and the Moffat version) who is sent to New York City to go into rehab (why? We have them here I'm sure), and ends up helping out the NYPD when he's over there. Joan is a former surgeon that lost her license after one of her patient died who rents an apartment with him, or something.

So yay for Liu getting the role (though she appears to be one of the only Asian actresses in the States a lot of the time, like how Lauren Tom (also an awesome woman) is every Asian cartoon character), though I have a slight feeling that making Watson a woman is to do away with the "bromance" thing from the Moffat version.
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2012/02/28/cbss-modern-sherlock-holmes-pilot-casts-lucy-liu-as-watson/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

For legality, here's Holmes' appearance in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,

Comments

[starwolf_oakley]

I like how Alan Moore wrote Holmes as being irritated by Moriarty more than out-and-out hating him.

[mrstatham]

Moore needs to write more Holmes before he just throws his arms up into the air and disintegrates into the ether, leaving only his beard behind to possess it's next (un)fortunate victim.

But I actually really liked his take on Moriarty; The whole shadow-boxing speech to Campion, the manner in which he operated, the batshit-crazy warship, his delirious attitude to the cavorite, the general feeling he'd decided to focus on killing off his rival in Limehouse because he didn't have Holmes to measure up against anymore.. I even liked the kind-of low brow insult he delivered to Mina, since he probably considered her beneath him.

[kenn_el]

Lucy Liu has been amazing in Southland! Now I'm going to have to be worried for her every episode that they'll kill her off to allow her to do this? Dang!
I'll give Sherlock a try, though. Hope there's an Isaac Adler to entice Holmes!

[mrstatham]

It's not uncommon for an actor to do more than one show at once?

[ian_karkull]

Oh my god, she absolutely is. Liu's presence has bumped the show up from "boring thing that's on in the background sometimes" to "great show I'm looking forward to every week" for me. It would be way better if it was just all about Coop, Tang and Lydia though.

Her still being billed as "special guest star", despite having been in featured majorly every episode this season so far, does make me worry that she'll abandon Southland at some point too, though.

[sailorlibra]

This casting makes Elementary already a thousand times better than Sherlock. I mean, having Lucy Liu as Watson doesn't mean that Elementary won't have some of the same issues with women and POC that Sherlock has, but it does at least mean they're trying.

[icon_uk]

That really doesn't excuse the plagiarism implicit in the whole "Elementary" concept IMHO, especially so shortly after they'd expressed an interest in Sherlock themselves.

I'm also not sure I agree with the assessment of the casting, it does seem to smack of trying a little too desperately to be "different" from "Sherlock", when making the Watson role a woman isn't even original (I can think of three offhand).

What will make or break any such series is the chemistry between Holmes and Watson; Holmes the genius, and Watson an ordinary person, and though an intelligent one, not a genius (Love Nigel Bruce though I do, the making of Watson into a well-meaning, but not terribly bright, duffer set the scene for the assumption that that's how Watson was, when the fact that he's a medical doctor means he's an intelligent man in his own right (Remember Holmes assessment of doctor's after meeting Grimsby-Roylott) and his army career means he's seen quite a bit of the world and is certainly not naive.

Despite the original canon being that they was nothing more than deeply committed friends (even if an occasionally acerbic one, as the sublime Jeremy Brett series made more explicit), "Sherlock" (which really lucked out with Cumberbatch and Freeman, who have a natural chemistry you couldn't buy) played off the long standing jokes about the possible sexual aspect of the Holmes/Watson relationship by addressing it head on; Holmes is a high functioning sociopath, and with one possible exception (though that's also debatable) he has no interest in any sexual relationship whatsoever, and doesn't understand emotional interactions of that sort in relation to himself. Watson is aware of this, and still stays with him as a flatmate because Holmes provides some focus in his own life.

I may be selling CBS short, but I would be a bit worried about a US network TV show going down the road of "He's hot, she's hot... will they, won't they? Aren't we daring for hinting at it?".

And whilst I haven't seen much of Lucy Liu in recent years, I seem to recall her mostly playing strong willed characters who's main trait was that they didn't seem to have much chemistry with other people, not sure that's how I could ever seen Watson's role working.

It's also a MUCH less appealling backstory for Watson. Why does she need to have "failed" a patient? That's a new addition that doesn't add to the character, but does amp the soap-opera value.

[filthysize]

On the contrary, I think the decision is due to the fact that they want Sherlock's flirty banter between Holmes and Watson, but minus the gay undertones.

[golden_orange]

I'm kind of skeptical about the premise and Lucy Liu isn't exactly my favourite actress, but it's something different, I'll grant them that.

[darkknightjrk]

Have you ever seen Lucky Number Sleven? She was really good in that, and she does play a similar role.

[brooms]

i wish they'd just bring back the adventures of shirley holmes instead.

[long_silence]

Whatever happened to the actors on that show? Did any of them move on to do anything else?

[rebecky_mo]

It's true what they say, it's NEVER just you.

I was totally gong to say 'Why not just bring back Shirley Holmes instead?'! I loved that show growing up. 8D

[darkknightjrk]

I'd be difficult and say that it's basically a melding of Sherlock Holmes and House, but House was already kind of a slightly different take on Holmes anyway. I'll probably give this show a shot.

[long_silence]

I still don't really understand the point of having Sherlock Holmes in New York.

[darkknightjrk]

I don't understand the point of having a modern-day Sherlock Holmes but it's still a rather good show, all things considered.

[liara_shadowsong]

While I don't particularly have a problem with any of the individual changes (changing the era, changing the location, making Watson a woman, making Watson a race other than Caucasian, not having Watson being an actively practicing physician at the time of the series, etc.), everything together sounds like they might be undertaking too many alterations at once to maintain a viable Holmes franchise. I also wonder if they are casting Lucy Liu in order to avoid bromance while including subtext (if that was their reasoning, I think I might actually prefer a female Holmes to a female Watson, personally, just because I think it would be rather interesting). That being said, I really hope the series turns out well and is successful as a result of being genuinely a good end result.

[gamerguy]

I agree, except I hope it dies on the doorstep. Lucy Liu deserves a much better show (and to star in her own series), and there's just not much of a modernization that could be better than the BBC 'Sherlock'.

[ian_karkull]

Not to be all nitpicky, but does this really belong on scans_daily...?
Either way, Lucy Liu is great and I'm glad to see her getting more work again. It'll guarantee that I'll at least check this out, despite my mounting indifference towards all things Sherlock Holmes.

[grazzt]

Personally, I think the legality scans make up for it.

I love me some Reichenbach Falls.

[milleniumrex]

Yeah, not digging this.

I'm a firm believer that most roles, especially those who get recast and shuffled around through time, can be race-neutral. I'm not so sure about gender-neutral, especially because of network TV's tendency to make every show fit into the same box. I have an unpleasant feeling that this will resemble Holmes much less than Moonlighting.

[glprime]

I hope to go out fighting my archenemy while we both plummet from a great height (perhaps over the ocean or Antarctica).

Also, yay for more Lucy Lui on tv. Also love "Wu" Tang on Southland.

[blackruzsa]

The truth is, this doesn't interest me for the mere fact it's looking like most small-time, didn't-fly crime and suspense series. Clever main character, competent girl sidekick (sometimes vice versa). What exactly is their hook here, besides "It's modern day Sherlock with Asian girl Watson and it's accurate to the book?"

[blackruzsa]

Now say they made both Sherlock and Watson female, then that would be unique.

I dreamt about Lesbian partners who assist the police in cases, both similar to Sherlock and Watson, but the 'Sherlock' character never read the books, the 'Watson' character did. Also, the Watson character was deaf, and communicated by speaking while 'Sherlock' talked to her by sign language and clear words (the 'Watson' could read lips').

If only...

[theatervine]

Now this? This is a good idea.

[theatervine]

This is going to end badly. Lucy Liu is awesome but Jonny Lee Miller is not a very good actor and I feel like people keep trying to make him happen in more and more ill conceived ways. Not to mention that Sherlock is just way too awesome and this show will suffer in comparison. It's not the age where you can rip off a brit show and no one notice, it's the internet age and everyone will be comparing the two.
I feel like this is going to be another Coupling type mess.

[espanolbot]

Or the potential trainwreck that is the American remake of Only Fools and Horses.

Oh yeah, it's happening.
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=33197