Sherlock

[Susurrus]

Is anyone else watching Sherlock? It's basically Sherlock Holmes set in the modern era. Very very good. Here's a link to the first episode:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/sherlock_studyinpink.html

[Buttress]

Yeah, it's a pretty decent show. I must say I'm not pleased that we have to wait a year for another 3 episodes, granted they are pretty long.

[Susurrus]

Yeah, it's a pretty decent show. I must say I'm not pleased that we have to wait a year for another 3 episodes, granted they are pretty long.

Well, if you've only seen the first season thus far, you can find the second online(yarr matey), as it's already been aired in Britain. Still very good , if not better.

[Aloysius]

I've only seen the first episode, but holy shit is this a great show or what. Much better than the film adaptation with Robert Downey Jr.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Gotta love the BBC for their lack of adverts; when they say a show is 90 minutes long it is actually 90 minutes long. :lol:

[El Chuncho]

Dislike the show. I find it cheesey and quite untrue to Sherlock Holmes. Yes it is modernized, but they also miss the points of the characters. Holmes is not a sociopath at all, he is often cold and aloof but he cares about people and actually comforts client and even some adversaries (such as in 'The Three Students'). He is probably bipolar and wants to distance himself from having strong relationships with others (though his relationship with Watson is strong and affection as shown in stories like 'The Empty House').

The Granada TV series with Jeremy Brett was much better. Not only was it closer to the Canon, it was also better made and better written.

[Jimmie Higgins]

I think the second set in the US will be aired on PBS in the early spring - if you're waiting for netflix it will probably be a while.

[GallowsBird]

Dislike the show. I find it cheesey and quite untrue to Sherlock Holmes. Yes it is modernized, but they also miss the points of the characters. Holmes is not a sociopath at all, he is often cold and aloof but he cares about people and actually comforts client and even some adversaries (such as in 'The Three Students'). He is probably bipolar and wants to distance himself from having strong relationships with others (though his relationship with Watson is strong and affection as shown in stories like 'The Empty House').

The Granada TV series with Jeremy Brett was much better. Not only was it closer to the Canon, it was also better made and better written.

Indeed. I think they misunderstand the character of Mycroft Holmes as well who in 'Sherlock' is easily outwitted by (and regularly against) Sherlock Holmes. In the stories written by Conan Doyle he is depicted as more intelligent than Sherlock however is lazier and spends most of his time in his club for the "most un-clubbable men in England". Irene Adler who outwitted Holmes in 'A Scandal In Bohemia', thus showing him that women can be equally, or more, devious and intelligent than men, is instead turned into (to my mind rather sexist) caricature of the "devious scarlet woman" who needs Moriarty (a manic man-child here; at odds with his original portrayal) to plan her schemes for her and who at the end needs to be rescued by Holmes... er sorry Sherlock (surnames aren't "cool" enough).

Modernising Holmes has been done before, again rather badly, in the Basil Rathbone films by Universal (but not his earlier non-Universal films 'The Hound of The Baskevilles' and 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' which were set in the correct era) mostly concerning German spies and Moriarty's super weapons. Though even then Holmes could fit more into the world of the 1930s and 1940s as we still didn't have the large scale use of fingerprinting (they did have it though hence the "War Time Ripper" was found guilty on such evidence), retrieving of DNA from crime scenes, and computer technology that have made the Sherlock Holmes style of detective work rather redundant.

I think 'Sherlock' (and yes I really hate the "fad" for naming things after the characters forename... pet peeve) is just the same as much on UK and to a lesser extent (but still a great majority) US television at the moment. Way too "slick" and overproduced, generally insulting the intelligence of the viewer who apparently can't connect with anything not set this month, filled with lots of mediocre and boring action sequences and generally appealing to the lowest common denominator.

And yes the Jeremy Brett series was a lot better. Even that mostly mediocre "pop-corn" film with Robert Downey Jnr (doing a rather good vocal impression of Freddie Jones) wasn't as terrible in my opinion.

[El Chuncho]

The Irene Adler business was, indeed, quite sexist. In 'A Scandal in Bohemia' Holmes makes an ass out of himself by underestimating a marvelous and intelligent woman, his equal or more than an equal (arguably). This was lacking in 'Sherlock' in which she lost. Then the makers had the audacity to claim it is too early for Holmes to have lost despite the fact that 'A Scandal In Bohemia' was the third Holmes story ever written.

Another unforgivable episode was the one about Chinese tongs. It had an Orientalist name like 'The Sign of Tongs' or something. Not only were the Chinese characters portrayed in a racist light that is unforgivable for our day and age, but they also thought that the waving-cat was Chinese, despite it has the wonderful hallmarks of the Japanese style of whimsy! Japanese and Chinese people are not the same. They do not share a culture or language, they just have influence from China. The west should stop implying that they are the same. It is racist.

[GallowsBird]

That is true. I have noticed a rise in stereotyping of groups (whether by sex or ancestry) on UK TV again these days. It's like we are going back to the "70s British comedy" style of TV as far as that goes.

Incidentally, I do think Benedict Cumberbatch would be a good Holmes given the right material.

P.S. Is your net playing up? You keep double-posting. :confused:

[El Chuncho]

Yeah, my net is always playing up. Send me the links to double-posts (via PM).

And yes, ethnic-stereotyping seems to be rising. Really pisses me off because I hate old 70s comedies for the most part.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

I thought the Irene Adler episode was pretty bad as well; I think it stems from the obsession of consumerism with the body as well as social qualms surrounding public display but it was almost completely unnecessary to turn her character into a object of sexual desire so unsubtly. I had forgotten about the depiction of the chinese as well but I was similarly irritated by the lazy representations. The most annoying part, for me, was in Hound of the Baskervilles when they revealed the CGI dog (although for the life of me I can't think of another way of ending that episode because if they didn't reveal the dog I would have been similarly annoyed, I think :lol: ).

Having said that, I dislike people who think adaptations have to be strictly accurate to the source material. Obviously there needs to be some underlying current of similarity, tackling the correct themes and engaging in similar narratives, or else you might as well be making up your own story and just tacking the names onto wooden characters. Importantly, adaptations cross mediums and therefore it becomes impossible to accurately depict the original source material. Different forms of media have different restrictions, target audiences and expectations that competely change the creative methods used to finalise a project. In other words, if you want to experience Holmes as he was in the books read them.

Personally, I enjoy this take on the Holmes franchise and enjoy the dynamic between Watson and Holmes. As I mentioned earlier, I have issues with aspects of representation but I still think it's the most refreshing series to come out of the BBC in a while. I was very much pissed when sundays reverted back to the Top Gear crap being regurgitated once again.

[Firebrand]

I think everyone is being a bit harsh on the scandal in belgravia episode. I quite liked it, I thought the way it played around with the way sex is used as a source of power was quite interesting, and the fact that it's outside of sherlock's understanding puts him out of his comfort zone.
I think moriarty had to be behind it because moriarty has to be behind everything important. Thats how it works in tv, if there's an ultimate villain they have to have an influence over all other antagonists.

[GallowsBird]

I think moriarty had to be behind it because moriarty has to be behind everything important. Thats how it works in tv, if there's an ultimate villain they have to have an influence over all other antagonists.

Personally, Moriarty works better when it is implied he is behind most of Holmes's case (though 'A Scandal in Bohemia' is probably one of the least likely in the books) rather than adding him to literally all of them (either in person or as a reference). In the Brett series for instance the only one he was added to was 'The Redheaded League' (they took some dialogue from 'The Valley of Fear' and added two scenes with Moriarty at the end of the episode) and then started 'The Final Problem' a few months later (thus implying subsequent adventures in which Holmes came up against Moriarty's schemes) added a plot involving the Mona Lisa to represent this and then went on to the main plot (this was one of the best adaptations to my mind) in which Holmes and Moriarty finally confront each other in person (as per the short stories). I think this was more effectual than having him always in them just to be defeated by Holmes all the time; remember Moriarty is supposed to be Holmes is match so leaving things unsaid leaves room for Moriarty not to just be a loser who fails at every turn.

I guess it is down to taste, but I am sure more people would like a more nuanced interpretation of the Holmes/Moriarty dynamic.

Oddly enough Moriarty is only featured in one short story (two if you count the story 'The Lost Special' in which Moriarty and Holmes are unnamed) and mentioned in two others ('The Empty House' which is set after he is dead and 'The Valley of Fear' which is set before 'The Final Problem').

[Sweenette]

I think it's a brilliant show, possibly my new favourite after Doctor Who. Hurry up, Moffat, and make Season Three!