I gave up on Elementary after one episode but I might check back someday even though I was spoiled on Moriarty.
Elementary starts out slow, but it won me over. It's basically the tortoise to
Sherlock's hare, advancing slowly, steadily, and unflamboyantly while its counterpart has brief, frenetic bursts of attention-grabbing activity with vast amounts of downtime in between.
The 2001 "Elementary" wasn't by Rob Doherty. It was by Josh Friedman. CBS has been soliciting scripts and pitches for a present-day Holmes from producers going back to 2000, only they kept passing on the scripts until Sherlock showed that the format worked and they bought Doherty's pitch.
Ah, that's what I figured. Was it actually called
Elementary that far back, though?
Yeah I have to admit, I was sceptical but Elementary is really good fun. I don't think it has anywhere near the heft of Sherlock but I really do like it.
Funny, I think it has more heft.
Sherlock is stylistically bold and striking and innovative, but it's more flash than substance, more about shock value and big, bold set pieces than nuanced character development. It's more like the Robert Downey, Jr. Holmes movies, a big, frantic blockbuster about larger-than-life people and events, but without a great deal of depth -- typical of Moffat's work in general.
Elementary, simply by virtue of having more episodes, is able to give its characters more depth, nuance, and growth and add more impact to events. It's certainly fleshed out its supporting cast better. And it does a lot better with gender, racial, and sexual diversity.
