I agree. I did not watch all of it, but what I did see of the US version with Lucy Liu in I enjoyed.
Yes -
Elementary (on CBS) is in its fifth season. After having been moved to Sunday @ 10:00 pm Eastern this season, the ratings / viewer stats have dropped. This is a time slot that CBS has previously used as the hospice for waning series.
To add insult to injury, the last 3 weeks (when
Elementary returned from its holiday hiatus) its new time slot put it into direct conflict with PBS' broadcast of
Sherlock. :banghead:
I saw an online entertainment article that suggested CBS may pull the plug on the series after this season ends this spring.
Anyway ... Here are some comparative comments for anyone unfamiliar with
Elementary ...
Elementary is, like
Sherlock, a contemporary 're-imagining' of Holmes. It's far less committed to replicating Doyle's minutiae and stories than
Sherlock, so in some ways it seems farther afield from traditional Holmesiana. On the other hand, it's been free to focus on solving specific mysteries each week, and it has evaded becoming encumbered by the overarching mythically-correct baggage that some find tedious in
Sherlock.
Johnny Lee Miller's Sherlock is more twitchy and fiery than Cumberbatch's cool and steely version. Miller's Holmes carries much baggage from past addiction(s); Cumberbatch's can still employ getting FUBAR as a tactical gambit somehow kept at arm's length. Both have problems understanding and relating to 'regular' folks. Miller reveals his deductive leaps standing rigid and stock-still like an autistic person reciting with effort, whereas Cumberbatch wows the rubes with grandiose movements and gestures.
In a smilar vein, Freeman's and Liu's takes on Watson are entirely distinct from one another. Freeman's is a friend who, via experiential osmosis, is a capable associate sleuth himself. Liu's was explicitly a freestanding detective-in-training under Miller's Sherlock's tutelage who has matured to the point she works her own cases.
I frankly like them both as much as any other series I've been committed to, but I treat them as completely distinct and separate takes on the re-imagined Holmes, and I don't mistake either of them for the traditional versions of Holmes (among which, IMHO, Jeremy Brett still reigns supreme).
Still, I admit to having and exercising a preference if push comes to shove in scheduling (as in the past 3 Sundays). Make me choose between a new
Elementary and a new
Sherlock, and I'll choose
Sherlock every time. At times, and in some ways,
Series 4 tested this preference to an uncomfortable extent, but it remains intact.