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Airdate: Elementary

TEN locks in the launch for Elementary starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.

2013-01-19_0132TEN is now running promos for the launch of Elementary, the US-based series about a modern-day Sherlock Holmes.

It premieres 8:30pm Sunday February 3, a week ahead of ratings. TEN has slated the series in the timeslot it has earmarked for premium international drama.

While the parallels with BBC’s Sherlock are obvious (and there was even talk of legal action), the CBS series has been well-received in the US.

Elementary stars Jonny Lee Miller as detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo who crack the NYPD’s most impossible cases.

Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare – a sober companion, Dr. Watson. A successful surgeon until she lost a patient and her license three years ago, Watson views her current job as an opportunity to help people and atone for her past mistakes.

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 he has devised his own post-rehab regimen – resuming his work as a police consultant for the NYPD. Watson has no choice but to accompany her irascible new charge on his jobs. But Sherlock finds her medical background helpful, and Watson realizes she has a knack for playing investigator. Sherlock’s police contact, Capt. Tobias “Toby” Gregson, knows from previous experience working with Scotland Yard that Sherlock is brilliant at closing cases, and welcomes him as part of the team, which includes Detective Marcus Bell, a top-notch 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’s going to need someone to keep him grounded, and it’s elementary that it’s a job for Watson.

17 Responses

  1. Thanks MuchoTB. I watched the first two episodes of this new series and found them very ordinary and I was quite disappointed as I quite like both lead actors. I will give this series another go when it airs.

  2. If I want a copy of something I prefer getting the DVDs. The signal is less likely to fail also when the player fails you still have the information. I grant you they aren’t perfect but nothing is. Also I have no problem with waiting for most things.

  3. The time and day doesn’t surprise me. I wish the show and the channel the best as I hope it will rate well. I’ll admit I can’t watch it but you can’t see everything on TV. Good luck.

  4. I know that.

    The question is do the programmers and PR dept at Ten? (The ones who haven’t been fired yet anyway, and who have now earmarked 8:30 Sunday as a slot for premium international drama).

    And it means that international drama they have had on in the slot for the last 20 years must have been non-premium.

    Ten could only really realistically stick Elementary
    at 8:30pm on Sunday or Wednesday. Sunday is where they desperately need something new that works.

  5. This offering promises much. I like the promos and will definitely give it a look. And I love Lucy!
    I hope the ’10” button on my remote still works, I haven’t used it for a very long time!!

  6. I recommend anyone watching this show to give it a few episodes. I found the pilot extremely average and derivative but it gets better. Episode 4 is amazing and from there the series gets better every week. Great writing and characterisation set this show apart from the rest of the procedurals on air atm

  7. @JB … That’ what I’ve been thinking too.

    How can they “re-think” or whatever they’re calling it?
    They take a well known character & story & location and completely change it and still call it “Sherlock”!!!

    To someone who loved the original
    (& I didn’t mind the recent movies),
    it defies understanding!

    It would’ve been better if it was a new character, show, setting and he was ‘inspired by’ Sherlock Holmes. That, I would watch.
    But not this!

  8. I watched the pilot. It’s a good show. But I just don’t get the point of it. They’ve changed everything about Sherlock, location, Watson etc but then still call it Sherlock and get away with it. Why not just make it a completely diff character. It rates extremely well in the US so it’ll be around for a while

  9. I like both of the leads and the premise sounds ok. Resisted checking this out early and have been avoiding getting spoilt as I want to see this with a fresh eye.

  10. A date at last! This will have to be pretty darn good to measure up to Sherlock…but as we won’t be seeing Season 3 of the that for who knows how long I’ll be giving Elemenatry a go.

  11. What really happened is that Ten got smashed on Sunday nights, and it cost them dearly. They are still struggling to get above a 10% share and that is bad lead into the week.

    They are hoping that something a bit edgier like Elementary will do well against the wide demographic, popular dramas on 2,7 & 9. e.g. Midsomer Murders etc. The Mentalist, Bones and Castle. Though Downton Abbey would pull so many live viewers that it would be tough for any new show do large live numbers against it.

  12. So 20 years after the Sunday Night Movie stopped drawing viewers Ten’s programmers have hit on the idea of showing a premium overseas drama in one of the most important slots of week. What a novel idea, I wonder if it will catch on?

    Another radical idea would be to use a David Attenborough documentary to provide a good lead in for your Sunday night programmes.

    Who was talking of legal action?
    Lawyers who hoped to make money from suits they had no chance of winning?

    How can you claim someone stole substantial and original work that you took from Doyle’s out of copyright and endlessly adapted novels?

  13. I expected this show to be terrible in comparison to the UK series, but was pleasantly suprised by it and have seen all episodes so far. Definitely a good reimaging of the character and location.Unlike the UK series, this doesnt take stories from the original Sherlock stories.

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