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CBS’s ‘Elementary’ Has ‘Sherlock’ Writer Concerned

Jun 1, 2012  •  Post A Comment

Steven Moffat, the main man behind UK’s "Dr. Who" and the PBS hit "Sherlock," has concerns about CBS’s upcoming Holmes drama, "Elementary," reports Blastr.com.

Like Moffat’s version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective, the Sherlock in "Elementary" is set in modern times. One big difference is that the CBS show is located in New York rather than London.

In an interview with IGN, Moffat was asked about "Elementary" and said, "It’s tough. If it’s bad, it affects, it debases the coinage of our show. If it’s too like our show? We’ll have to take action. Already, [producer] Sue [Vertue] had to correct somebody in print saying she was off to produce the American version of ‘Sherlock,’ and that’s not ours. If their show isn’t good, it damages us. I don’t know, what do you imagine I think about it? It’s pretty remarkable, really, I’d say."

CBS originally went to Moffat to make the American iteration of the modern-day Sherlock, but he passed. That’s when the network hired Robert Doherty, best known for "Ringer."

5 Comments

  1. I’ve posted this sentiment before, but here it is again.
    Given the fine line with “Elementary,” it’s incredulous to me that CBS would have the audacity to threaten ABC with a lawsuit over its Big Brother-esque reality show – which The Eye had optioned from the BBC.

  2. The CBS version of “Sherlock” is destined to flop. Sherlock Holmes solving crimes in America (New York) just doesn’t have the right feel to it. The same with Lucy Liu as “Watson.” They’re trying to think outside the box. The problem is they are miles away from the box. The CBS show can call the characters “Sherlock Holmes” and “Dr. Watson” but they’re so far off the reservation few viewers will care enough to connect.

  3. It’s ridiculous that Moffat thinks he has the exclusive right to do a public domain story.

  4. I’m with Bob Gillan, I hope they sue for “infringement” and get their future tossed out as the Dictionary definition of a frivolous lawsuit. None of them can come up with their own ideas, so they repeat old beaten to death story lines. Being a ‘professional writer’ today means rewriting others work. It is why I’ve tuned out.

  5. In the last TV episode, I was amazed to hear Sherlock use I’s as the possessive form of I. There is no such word as I’s. Possessive of I is my or mine, so the correct grammar would be “Watson’s and my,” not “Watson and I’s.”

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