I find it entertaining that CBS wants to do an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes set in a contemporary setting to cash in on the clear upsurge in interest in Sherlockian fiction brought upon by the good sirs Cumberbatch and Downey. That’s common sense for studios to be trying to find marketable trends. Meanwhile, the BBC is quite rightly steamed, feeling that this is nothing but a complete ripoff of Sherlock, which it could be. After all, they were the ones who came up with the idea of Sherlock Holmes in a modern setting, right?
Oh, wait, Basil Rathbone was fighting Nazis in 1940s movie theatres for years.
And it isn’t like America’s completely inept in creating popular Sherlockian fiction either, they’ve had a show going for years, right?
It’s ok to just say you don’t want the competition.
Sherlockian fans will eat up both series voraciously either way.
Not if it sucks and loses the spirit of the source material. the BBC series still maintains the spirit of the source material. I will give the American show a chance, like i did with Life on Mars and others… but I don’t have high hopes. I think there’s a difference between the life brought to a project because of the enthusiasm of the creators, and a show designed by committee. Can the latter work? Yeah. But the odds are against it. Love and enthusiasm, coupled with a good track record can lead to awesome stuff. Right now…? Not as hopeful for the American series. As for modernizing it in the past… the Rathbone stuff hardly counts—everybody fought hitler in the 40s. even batman.
