Lucy Liu cast as Watson in CBS' Sherlock Holmes show

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Dream, Feb 28, 2012.

  1. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    http://www.tvline.com/2012/02/lucy-liu-sherlock-holmes-elementary/

    Seriously, what the hell? Why make Watson female? This looks like it is going to be so stupid.
     
  2. Allyn Gibson

    Allyn Gibson Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Rex Stout conclusively proved that Watson was female in his BSI keynote speech, "Watson Was a Woman," in 1941. :)
     
  3. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Maybe they've seen They Might Be Giants . . . .

    I also seem to remember an old tv pilot, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, in which Holmes awoke from suspended animation and teamed up with Watson's great-grandaughter or something.

    So there's precedent! :)
     
  4. wamdue

    wamdue Admiral Admiral

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    Wise Words From The Doctor

    but seriously now, at least CBS have gotten it right about him being British, but im unsure why Lucy could not have played a brand new character, just someone Sherlock meets at a different time in his life, that way you also get bring in John Watson should the character be needed.

    I am however far from impressed, and I hope CBS does not take this to seriously.
     
  5. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Sex appeal

    Sexual Tension

    Yeah it's an American production alright. They're probably worried two guys wouldn't be enough to bring in demographics.
     
  6. auntiehill

    auntiehill The Blooness Premium Member

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    ^See, if they did a take on They Might Be Giants, I would like to see that. But, no, this is most likely going to be some lame-ass watered down network attempt to copy a cool, clever, intelligent British show. They've tried it with Cracker and Life on Mars and fucked it up royally on both occasions.
     
  7. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    They are idiots. Both the recent RDJ movies and BBC Sherlock are extremely popular right now, and both kept the main characters male.
     
  8. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    She should be Sherlock and Jonny Lee Miller can be Watson.
     
  9. Santeria

    Santeria Lieutenant Commander

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    Yes, because someone's speculation on a message forum equates to what's actually going on. Good call.

    And House showed that you can do a new spin on Sherlock to great success.
     
  10. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Okay, just to play devil's advocate, if there are already two more traditional versions of Holmes & Watson out there, why would you want do the same thing? Better to try something different to distinguish yourself from those competing Holmes series.

    If you're going to go for a radical reinvention of the characters, you might as well go all the way . . . .
     
  11. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    I've always liked the male friendship that Holmes and Watson have with each other. Making one of them a female completely changes the dymanic between them.

    Oh, I also hate Lucy Liu.
     
  12. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Ugh.

    :rolleyes:
     
  13. Dream

    Dream Admiral Admiral

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    Oh, yeah. This will also piss off the fangirls, which is one of the reasons the RDJ movies and BBC Sherlock are so popular. How will they write Holmes/Watson slash if Watson is a female? :rommie:
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    First off, who says? Men and women can have great friendships with each other. After all, Holmes is a rather asexual character, so as long as you write out his ingrained misogyny (which is a given for a modern update), it wouldn't really make any difference.

    Second, have you seen Steven Moffat's Sherlock or Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies? Holmes and Watson are both male in those, but both versions are drenched in homoerotic subtext. So no, I don't agree that having a female Watson would fundamentally change the dynamic any more than other adaptations already have.

    Third, if it does change things, what's wrong with that? We've had countless conventional adaptations; what's the point of doing another if you don't bring something new to it? I mean, think about it. This is a Holmes adaptation set in the present day in New York City. Obviously they're not going for a rehash of what we've seen before. I'll never understand fans who consider it wrong for adaptations to change things. The whole point of adaptation is change. There's no sense in doing a different version of a story if you're just going to copy what the original version already did; that's a complete waste of time. The point of doing an adaptation is to find a new approach to the concept, to develop a different aspect of its potential.

    Fourth, Lucy Liu is cool. She even warmed Bender's heart. And it's always refreshing to see Asian actors cast in traditionally white roles, especially these days when the reverse seems to be disturbingly commonplace in Hollywood.
     
  15. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They have to obligatorily fall in love by the 100th episode, though.
     
  16. Borgminister

    Borgminister Admiral Moderator

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    What's gonna distinguish this from The Mentalist? CBS is not the network to do anything clever or genre, I don't think.
     
  17. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    True, it's bound to pale next to Sherlock, but I'll give it a look if it goes to series. Hey, now that House is ending, maybe some of its staffers could join this show and write an even more direct pastiche of Sherlock Holmes.
     
  18. Gaith

    Gaith Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Dear Hollywood Department of Riffing on Sherlock Holmes:

    Please make a new adaptation of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution that's actually faithful to Meyer's book (and yes, I know he voluntarily changed his own story in his own screenplay adaptation, but it was still a change for the worse), or, alternatively, shut the hell up. Or, don't. Doesn't really bother me, actually. But please do make that 7PCS movie, and while Williamson gave a fine performance, before you try to cast Daniel Craig, please recall that Holmes is not blond.

    Hugs,
    Gaith
     
  19. Greg Cox

    Greg Cox Admiral Premium Member

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    Bingo.
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Right, because nobody's ever invented a method for changing an actor's hair color...