The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Lucy Liu will be playing Watson in the CBS version of Sherlock they are calling ‘Elementary’ which will star Johnny Lee Miller (Dexter, Hackers) as Sherlock Holmes. 

I have nothing against Lucy Liu but this show seems destined to fail. Bringing Sherlock to NYC takes away one of his biggest assets which is an encyclopedic knowledge of everything in London. Now they could be having him be a completely NYC version of Holmes which I still think is bullshit. Holmes is distinctly British, moving him to New York just doesn’t make sense to me. Is Mycroft going to now be CIA or DHS? Now we know Miller can be American, he is great in Dexter but which is he going to be?

Watson being a woman isn’t something I’m terribly against either, if Holmes was also a woman. The Watson-Holmes connection is a huge part of the story and having them not be the same sex will create problems. CBS will most likely try to make it some kind of romantic story. Also how will she be an Afghanistan combat medic?

Everything about this show just seems like they are taking the Sherlock Holmes I know and love and shitting all over it. There is no need to Americanize everything.