When CBS decided to order the modern-day Sherlock Holmes pilot Elementary, fans of the BBC and PBS series Sherlock were appropriately perplexed. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with creating a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, it’s currently being done. By the best. And it’s very good.
Fortunately, Sherlock executive producer Sue Vertue (and wife of co-creator Steven Moffat) isn’t staying quiet about CBS’s programming decision. Shedding some light on why CBS decided to move forward with their modern-day Sherlock Holmes pilot, as well reassuring fans that they’ll make sure Sherlock is in no way negatively impacted by Elementary, Vertue lays out the uphill battle that CBS will have if they decide to take their modern telling of Sherlock Holmes to series.
Following the announcement of CBS’s Elementary, Vertue took to Twitter to mock the network’s decision (which has since been removed): “Mmm interesting CBS, I’m surprised no one has thought of making a modern day version of Sherlock before, oh hang on, we have!”
Moving outside of the limited 140-character world of Twitter, Vertue revealed to The Independent that she knew CBS was interested in developing a modern day Sherlock Holmes series, because the network previously approached Sherlock bosses about wanting to remake their series – a series that’s currently on the air and that is co-produced and broadcast by PBS in America:
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.
While Vertue did confirm that CBS assured Sherlock producers at one time, things can change over time, especially as a project is developed further. After what may be a change of executives at the network, changes in writers and showrunners, things that were once assured have the possibility of falling to the wayside.
Thankfully, Vertue (as well as everyone else involved in Sherlock) isn’t going to allow that to happen. In what may be the most indirect (yet direct) warning that any UK television producer has publically given an American television network (though in polite fashion), Vertue elegantly states:
We are very proud of our show and like any proud parent, will protect the interest and wellbeing of our offspring.
While not out-right threatening CBS with legal action, the wording does lend itself to the assumption that if something were to negatively impact Sherlock, BBC’s legal department will be at the ready.
But what exactly could Sherlock make a case about? At what point could the BBC take legal action again CBS’s Elementary? Thankfully, The Independent asked copyright specialist Margaret Tofalides that exact question.
The concept of a new Sherlock Holmes is unprotectable. But if the unusual elements of the BBC series – the modern settings, characters, clothes, plots and distinctive visual style – were closely reproduced in the CBS version, that could form the basis of a potential copyright claim.
And therein lies the problem for CBS. How is a network supposed to develop a pilot that needs to be continuously and extensively vetted by its legal department in order for it to make it to air? While subtle similarities may show up here and there, the sheer amount of work and potential legal battles that may come from attempting to bring about one new series to air isn’t worth it.
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Sherlock season 2 airs in May on PBS. Expect Sherlock season 3 Summer 2013. Expect CBS to make a decision on Elementary this May.
Follow Anthony on Twitter @anthonyocasio
Source: The Independent [via: Digital Spy]
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Ok, I have a few things to say. As an avid television, movie, literature, and theater fan, I have consumed a vast quantity of media, and many versions of Sherlock Holmes. I think that the bosses of Sherlock were right to tell CBS that they could not take, “Sherlock,” and twist it into some grotesque Crime Procedural Drama. I think that their are far to many of these shows out their already. But lets face it, on American television, if it’s not cop shows, it’s doctor shows, and Holmes and Watson are essentially a cop and a doctor. It makes perfect sense that CBS would eventually try making a Sherlock Holmes show again. The fact that the BBC made one first, does not give them the right to forbid another network, in a different country, from releasing their own version. If Elementary had tried to reproduce Sherlock, them by all means BBC, sue the pants off CBS. That is not what happened. I am a fan of Elementary. I feel that the show has a very talented cast, as well as interesting stories to tell, and it paints a picture of Holmes as more than just a person who is very smart and obsessed with solving crimes. They show him as human, fallible, damaged even, and yet still trying to fit into a world he can not understand. As far as Lucy Lu as Watson, a former surgeon and now sober companion, I love it. I have always wondered why Watson always followed Holmes around to solve all those mysteries, after all how many police detectives bring their best friends or room-mates on active investigations, when the latter rarely offers any experience or information of value to the job of solving the crime or puzzle. An argument could be made that Holmes was the brain and Watson the brawn, but that feels like reaching to me. So yes, Holmes as an addict, given the difficulty someone with a mind such as his must face when dealing with the mundane world surrounding him, I could see it, plausible. Dr. Watson as an out of practice surgeon, who is now a sober companion to recovering addict Holmes, who then becomes both friend and assistant or apprentice to Holmes, provides us with a believable reason for the two to be together. So plausible as well. Do I think that Elementary is the best show ever? NO! Be realistic, please. That being said, I have to say that I have watched Sherlock as well. I think that it is an excellent show with a great cast and very good writing as well. I also have to say that some of the visual effects are very fun and compelling. Is it better than Elementary? No. Is it worse? No. It is different, an alternate interpretation of source material, and equally valid. It may be closer to the original concept, but that does not make it better. Both shows have pros and cons, for example, I much prefer Jon as Holmes to Benedict, and Martin as Watson to Lucy. So yes, I have seen both shows, and I enjoy them both. I do feel that CBS and Elementary have an edge on Sherlock and the BBC. That edge is the fact that Elementary is an actual TV show, with hour long episodes, and a full season. Sherlock on the other hand should be viewed as a movie with five sequels each running around an hour and a half in length, NOT a TV show. So the argument that Elementary is rubbish, and should not have been made simply because Sherlock came out a little sooner, is fallacious in every way, and proves that one does not have to share Sherlock Holmes’s intellect, to enjoy a good mystery.
P.S. A point of recognition to anyone who can identify my country of origin based simply on what I have written here, and the answer of course must come with and explanation of the analysis of the text, to prove that it is not just a lucky guess. If any of you feel like playing a game, that is.
CJ,
Although it’s been a month since your comment, I would still like to respond to your message.
First: I rather disagree with your opinion on the CBS version, “Elementary.” I have watched the show, and (perhaps this is due at least partially to my personal and great dislike of Lucy Lu) found it lacking. Although it was a highly entertaining show with intriguing mysteries, I found that it rather lacked authenticity and feeling as far as being based on Sherlock Holmes. Does this mean that it should be kicked off the air for being seen by a portion of the population as a lesser show than “Sherlock”? No, absolutely not. On that, at least, we agree.
Second: Being seen as worse than its BBC rival by some is absolutely not the reason that the BBC/those involved with Sherlock were threatening a suit–and, from what I can see, there is not even a true threat implied in these statements, merely a warning. Should a similarity appear between the two beyond the common themes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, then a copyright infringement would have occurred and a suit would be both viable and perfectly within their rights.
Three: Regarding your challenge, I repeat that you aren’t British (supported by spellings such as ‘theater’ instead of ‘theatre’, and most Britons use ‘film’ instead of ‘movie’) so neither are you Australian. Despite the common usage errors of ‘their’ instead of ‘there’ and ‘to’ instead of ‘too,’ I do not believe that you come by English as a second language, and so I put my guess down to North America, so either Canadian or from the United States.
-The Jabberwocky
You are of course, welcome to your opinion. I don’t have any deep seated hatred for Lucy Lu, so I don’t have any problem with Elementary because of that. And As far as a lack of authenticity is concerned, it is not authentic, and neither is Sherlock. As soon as you start changing things in the story, i.e. setting location, era, you have just changed the story, and it is no longer authentic. In reply to your, “Second,” comment, I never said that the producers of Sherlock were threatening CBS because they where convinced the network was going to make a weaker show. In fact my sole reason for discussing the strengths of Elementary v.s. Sherlock, was to point out that they were two different shows, both deserving in their own right. I do have the ability to read, and understand what I am reading. Perhaps a stronger emphasis should have been placed on the pettiness of the BBC in my first comment, so that their was no confusion on what was the cause of the threatened law-suit, but I didn’t think it was necessary to repeat what had been written in the article already. On to my challenge, as you put it. You are correct, I am American. I am glad that someone actually paid attention to the obvious clues in my text. I find it quite intriguing that all these folks who claim to be fans of Sherlock Holmes, can’t even read a section of text, and identify the nationality of the one who wrote it, especially given the glaring differences in the dialect of English. Thank you for paying attention.
The Jabberwocky,
This is a late response, but I just wanted to clear something up:
Canada uses British English, and where I live, we have exceptional grammar (though it’s a big place so that can vary). For example, we spell “favourite” instead of “favorite”, “colour” instead of “color”, etc. Long story short, what I’m trying to say is please don’t clump us together with the USA. Contrary to popular belief, we aren’t exactly alike.
By the way, I agree that BBC’s Sherlock is far superior compared to Elementary. Then again, that’s just my opinion.
Well from your use of words such as rubbish and the way you refer to American t.v shows leads me to believe you’re from Britain. Not to mention most people here(in Canada)have absolutely horrible grammar and spelling however if you are as dedicated to Sherlock Holmes as you have proven then that would mean that you wouldn’t want to tarnish this page with horrible spelling and grammar.Now if we take out country’s that wouldn’t get access to both shows then my answer would be that you are most likely American and that you used words such as rubbish to make people think and to weed out the people who don’t pay close attention Also You have a little bit more knowledge about the actual Sherlock series/stories (to know that he was an addict in the original story line)than most people I know you are a very dedicated Sherlock Holmes fan which also leads me to believe you would want to trick people into thinking your from Britain…
After I wrote all this I scrolled down and saw that you are indeed from America but I figured it would be a neat read ^_^ Hope you enjoy how I analyzed your writing and I hope you have a good day/evening.
I don’t see a problem. I like both series. Elementary hasn’t ruined Sherlock in any way. Plus I don’t think BBC should push this, otherwise CBS will pull Star Trek from their network.
I would say that you are English or would it be better said as British? The way you referredreferred to American television and your use of the word “rubbish” would be my reasons for believing so, I suppose.
J, very good, and thank you for playing! You are wrong, I am not British, but their were things specifically chosen to give that impression. I really do appreciate you joining me in this bit of fun, as any true Holmesian would find the tease irresistible. I am not going to give you an answer here, as others may still wish to divine the answer from what was written, but I can promise you that a careful reading of my previous text, will provide the answer, should you wish to try again. Once again, thank you for playing my game, and should you wish to continue, better luck next time!
No body watches Sherlock and if Elementary gets cancelled cause of this stupid our show is better thing I will be really angry cause elementary is so much better then Sherlock!
Nobody watches Sherlock? NOBODY WATCHES SHERLOCK?! Clearly you haven’t seen the Cumberb*tches, Sherlockians, or the Crazies that roam Tumblr. They number in the 100 thousands, that’s not nobody deary. Generally speaking Sherlockians are also Whovians and those who aren’t Sherlockian, but are Whovians are dragged into Sherlock by their fellow Whovians, and they number in the Millions please I beg o you check Tumblr if you don’t believe me.
I COMPLETELY agree with you “hahahaha”. Majority, if not all of my friends have watched and love Sherlock. We live in America so we don’t get it as quickly, but as God is my witness, your generalization Samantha about no one watching Sherlock is an ill-educated, narcissistic, unexposed to the amazing thing that is Sherlock, comment. Humor “hahahaha” and I and watch Sherlock — all 6 episodes — and then come back with your opinion…and if you have seen Sherlock, you obviously don’t know how to appreciate the magnificence and brilliance that is Sherlock. And as far as I go, Benedict and Martin are the best team up that I have seen, and I have watched just about everything Sherlock Holmes related out there. Elementary, while it is good (in its own way) could never hope to be as good as Sherlock. As an American, the Brits have this one. We from over the pond salute your genius. Sherlock is my favorite show, and no one can change my mind on that.
Hey, first of all I loved your response to that dumbass! “nobody watches Sherlock” yeah cuz there are so many articles about the show in praising it, and articles like this one. I don’t even think that person even read this article or any other or really seems to believe that there would be controversy about one show affecting another show that nobody watches!
Anyway about the other part now that I think about what you said about Sherlockians and Whovians, you are absolutely right. I myself as an American had only heard of the show Doctor Who as the most well known famous and long running British sci fi series that started in the 60′s and ran for many many seasons. I realized I had never watched any british tv series before, mostly cuz they were not as available in the US as far as I knew, than one night in 05 I randomly came across a marathon of the new series 1 and loved it. Long story short I made a point to introduce it to friends and family, as others have. As time passed with DW finally becoming popular here, some of my other American Whovians here, and UK ones online told me to watch this Sherlock series, I wasn’t interested until they told me it was modern day setting and PBS was airing the first three movies three nights in a row, and like DW a new Sherlockian was made out of me. Than things became vice versa in a sense I met Sherlockians who were never Who fans and introduced them to it.
Lastly I want to add that before becoming a Sherlockian, being a Whovian introduced me to many other British tv series that I absolutely love. To name a few: Life on Mars, Ashes To Ashes, Skins, Merlin, Luther, Wire in the Blood. Plus the many miniseries they do based on books and whatnot, something I wished The US did more.
I agree. I think the US could do better. All of the good stuff comes from Britain. Have you seen Parade’s End? Benedict is in that and its brilliant, as is he (which is no surprise). If you haven’t seen it then I highly recommend it. Watch any of his shows/movies and you can see just how amazing he is as an actor. Instead of portraying the characters, he IS the characters and I can’t wait to see more of him in the future. The Sherlock fandom is amazing.
Yeah despite telling myself I never would, I have a tumblr. And I’m on it constantly. Can’t wait for Series 3! So glad they’ve finally started filming. 
I think your statement about the UK making better TV than the US is specious at best. The only reason that we think so highly of British shows is that we really only get their best stuff over here – and none of their dogs.
Meanwhile, there’s a lot of really good stuff made over here: The Good Wife, Grimm and Suburgatory are just skimming the good network shows, while Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead are supremely fine series that come from just one cable network – and for every Hustle, we’ve got a White Collar.
Then there are classic series like Homicide: Life on the Street, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, The Shield, The Sopranos, Lost (for most of its run), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and hundreds more.
And let’s not forget, the brilliant Nero Wolfe series A&E made before they decided to go the reality route – that matches up with Sherlock for quality extremely well.
I could go on for pages, but I’m hoping that this will be enough to make you rethink your poorly thought out assessment of North American TV.
Nope. That is my genuine opinion. And thats all it is, my opinion. I like the things that come from Britain better than the US, and I live in the US. I’m not trying to, metaphorically speaking, shoot the country, but in my opinion BBC is just better. Granted A&E does have some pretty good stuff, so on that I do contend, but overall, I’m still for Britain. Just a fact. Sorry if you don’t like it or you disagree with it. But its my opinion and nothing you can say will ever change that.
Excuse me but I’m sure many people disagree with both of those statements. Firstly, it is a fact that many people watch Sherlock. Secondly, though it is an opinion, I disagree with the statement that “Elementary is better than Sherlock.” Sherlock bestows wondrous cinematic potential and the acting is top-notch. Just the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are in some highly anticipated and claimed movies (Star Trek II and The Hobbit Trilogy) proves that many people watch and enjoy Sherlock. For without that it is possible their acting careers would not be where they are today. Now considering the fact that you have overlooked this important evidence leads me to believe that you have not even watched Sherlock and are simply defending your dimwitted, mind-numbingly simple show because you are disappointed with your own sad little life that you scour the Internet for things to try (and fail, I might add) to argue or criticize people about. So next time watch the show you are referring to before you comment on it. And by the way I have watched your beloved Elementary and the acting is horrid. I hate “Sherlock Holmes’” accent, It is not British and Lucy Lu is not a good actress either. It is just another crime show that is completely uncoordinated with its basis of Sir Conan Doyle’s novelistic masterpieces. Now I’d like to join in on this game. What country am I from?
I guess you haven’t heard – Mr. Miller is English and that is his native accent.
I watch both Sherlock and Elementary.
Sherlock’s production value is basically that of a movie. It’s one of the reasons why I have been buying each season on Blu-Ray and adding it to my movie collection. I really enjoy the modern day retelling of Sherlock Holmes and his use of technology.
I enjoy Elementary, but it certainly does not have the production values of Sherlock. I like Lucy Liu and she adds a light hearted feel to the series. So far, the stories have been interesting, if a little watered down for the TV audience. I definitely will not be adding the series to my Blu-Ray collection, though.
Another British/Cinemax series that I enjoy is Strike Back. But that’s a different genre and a tad off topic…
Hello, this note is for the producers of Elementary the Sherlock Homes series. The last TV show had a snow plow that drove Sherlock & Watson all over the city. Question I have for you is: The snow plow belonged to the state as did the FUEL to drive the snow plow. That fuel used to drive the snow plow is expensive. The money that Sherlock gave the driver would have had to be used to fill up the gas tank of the snow plow before PAM, the driver, drove the plow back that night. PAM would not have made any money herself after filling up the snow plow belonging to the STATE. But she acted as if she did make money after her joy ride with the 2 detectives. Hmmm, just thought you might know that we are watching the show and following along. But, maybe you did not catch a clue yourselves?
How is this relevant to anything?
They have already made a modern Sherlock Holmes show in the USA. It was called House and I can assure you it was better than both of these shows combined.