Lucy Liu cast as Watson in CBS' Sherlock Holmes show

[Kelthaz]

Waston as a female? Don't care either way. Could be an interesting change.
Third Sherlock adaption in under 5 years? Ugh, getting sick of this.
CBS? Mainstream crap with no originality. Now if it were HBO I might be interested.

This is almost definitely a pass for me.

[Dream]

Also Watson is an army doctor not some surgeon who lost her license after a patient died like she will be on the show. They don't even the same background!

[the G-man]

davejames wrote:

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While I don't have great expectations for this show, the casting of Lucy Liu as Watson DOES strike me as a pretty interesting one.

After House, Sherlock, and the RDJ movies, the previous dynamic feels awfully played out by now, and having a woman in there could provide something new.

Of course, as usual, it all depends on the writing.

This is actually not the first time Dr Watson has been a woman in a network TV updating of the Holmes story, interestingly enough. There was a made for TV movie back in the 70s starring, of all people, Larry Hagman as. Holmes.

There was also the movie They Might Be Giants

[Christopher]

Dream wrote:

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It is so OBVIOUS that after turning Watson female, the writers will eventually have her have a romantic relationship with Holmes in a later season. That pretty much happens with nearly all cop shows with male and female leads.

No, it really doesn't. I've never known it to happen in CSI or CSI:NY, and it certainly didn't happen in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Or broadening the parameters beyond cop shows, there's Warehouse 13, which features a male-female agent duo, and it's been made very clear that Pete and Myka think of each other as brother and sister and would never be romantically involved. Same with The Middleman, where the title character was portrayed as a surrogate father figure for his female sidekick; the show's creator did a weekly online Q&A, and whenever a fan suggested "shipping" MM and Wendy, the creator reacted in disgust to a suggestion he considered incestuous.

So as with every other objection you've raised, you're dead wrong and far too narrow-minded in your assumptions. There are plenty of ways for men and women to relate to each other besides the romantic or sexual, and luckily there are plenty of television creators who understand that far better than you do.

Holmes and Watson is also the biggest bromance in history. If they going to turn Watson into some asian woman, they might as well give the show a different name.

Good grief, you actually think the race of the actor matters? Where the hell are you posting from, the 1950s?

[Hound of UIster]

This is almost as bad as turning Watson into a robot in that future reboot version.

[Guy Gardener]

What about Watson and LeStrade then?

[Dream]

Christopher wrote:

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So as with every other objection you've raised, you're dead wrong and far too narrow-minded in your assumptions. There are plenty of ways for men and women to relate to each other besides the romantic or sexual, and luckily there are plenty of television creators who understand that far better than you do.

Off the top of my head, we had X-Files, Bones, Castle, and Chuck. This is something I've noticed more and more with recent new shows. I can't see the writers not resist the urge to make it romance.

Good grief, you actually think the race of the actor matters? Where the hell are you posting from, the 1950s?

This new Watson from this show will have absolutely NOTHING to do with the one from the books. She isn't an army doctor, isn't male, isn't even British (my biggest complaint). They've changed the character too much. Why call her Watson if her character is completely different from the books?

They changed Starbuck into a female, but her character still resembles the one from the original series somewhat.

The BBC Sherlock brought Watson to the modern era, but his character is pretty much the same from the books. Meanwhile the Watson in the recent movies played by Jude Law is probably my favorite Watson. I don't have any problems when it is done well, but I can't see this show turning out that way.

[Saul]

Well, I'm glad they are doing some things different and of course making Watson changes the relationship between the character's. They've always had a bromance as men. I think setting it up this way is to give it some sexual tension ala H'uddy/C'ouse.

The more different the series can be the better. I don't want a copy of 'Sherlock'. This says to me it's not going to be like 'Sherlock' so far.

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Guy Gardener wrote:

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What about Watson and LeStrade then?

Maybe Lestrade will be female as well. Here's hoping...

[The Wormhole]

Dream wrote:

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It is so OBVIOUS that after turning Watson female, the writers will eventually have her have a romantic relationship with Holmes in a later season. That pretty much happens with nearly all cop shows with male and female leads. Makes me puke just thinking about it.

You're right, they should have left Watson a male, and developed a romantic relationship between him and Holmes. Now that would have taken the show in a different direction than other crime dramas on American networks.

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Hound of UIster wrote:

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This is almost as bad as turning Watson into a robot in that future reboot version.

Because there's no difference between a cheesy sci-fi gimmick and casting a woman in a part.

[Guy Gardener]

To make this Holmes not the other Holmes he has to be the opposite of a virgin.

[Captaindemotion]

Dream wrote:

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[
This new Watson from this show will have absolutely NOTHING to do with the one from the books. She isn't an army doctor, isn't male, isn't even British (my biggest complaint). They've changed the character too much. Why call her Watson if her character is completely different from the books?

Why not wait and see the series and see what she has in common with the books? She's a doctor and she's Holmes' sidekick. Her chemistry and dynamic with him is much more important than her past.

They changed Starbuck into a female, but her character still resembles the one from the original series somewhat.

Leaving aside the fact that the original Starbuck wasn't as self-destructive as his female successor and leaving aside the fact that many fans went mental at this announcement, as did the original actor. Not to mention that they changed Boomer's sex, changed his/ her race, made her a Cylon. And that all worked out pretty well, if you ask me.

The BBC Sherlock brought Watson to the modern era, but his character is pretty much the same from the books. Meanwhile the Watson in the recent movies played by Jude Law is probably my favorite Watson. I don't have any problems when it is done well, but I can't see this show turning out that way.

Law's Watson and Freeman's Watson are quite different from the versions played by Nigel Bruce or Edward Hawdwicke. The Watson of the books is described as a small thin man with a moustache. Robert Downey Junior is very different from the tall thin man with a hawklike profile, which is how Holmes is described.

This show may not turn out well, you may be right. But deviating from how past versions have depicted the legend doesn't automatically mean bad.

[Cutter John]

Christopher wrote:

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So as with every other objection you've raised, you're dead wrong and far too narrow-minded in your assumptions. There are plenty of ways for men and women to relate to each other besides the romantic or sexual, and luckily there are plenty of television creators who understand that far better than you do.

You do realize this is American network television we're talking about here? If theres a lazy way to tell a story, you can bet they'll jump on it.

Quite honestly, I don't care about the gender change. Hell, I thought the Starbuck debate was a lot of noise about nothing ( I didn't care for NuBSG for entirely different reasons).
I'd probably find the whole notion interesting if the BBC version didn't exist. As it is, I find the entire premise to be bandwagon jumping of the worst kind.

[CaptainCanada]

I really don't get the controversy. They're already changing things up enormously by setting it in the present, and there have been a million variations on the Holmes/Watson dynamic over the years.