12:16 pm - 12/19/2012
Rob Doherty's choice to pair Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes with a woman resulted in fall's No. 1 new series, and inclusion in THR's 2012 Rule Breakers portfolio.
"It started out as something of a joke," creator Rob Doherty confesses of his decision to make the Watson in his Sherlock Holmes tale a woman. When he began to research the story's original characters, he came across a handful of experts who had written up psychological assessments of Sherlock; one of them had noted an aversion to women.
"I thought to myself, 'What would make Holmes crazier than taking the figurative rock he has in Watson and making him a woman?' I scribbled it down and then went back to my research," the 38-year-old Elementary showrunner continues. "The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it."
The result: casting Asian-American film star Lucy Liu as the first female Watson opposite Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock and an impressive 13.9 million viewers tuning in weekly, making Elementary the No. 1 new series with total viewers this fall. (Among the key 18-to-49 set, the series ranks No. 2 behind only NBC's breakout Revolution.) And come February, the CBS drama -- one of the season's few hits with critics and audiences alike -- will get the coveted post-Super Bowl slot.
The show's stars, Liu, 44, and Miller, 40, still are making sense of the series' success, particularly rewarding because the show colors outside the lines in a way that excites both of them.
"To me, one of the best things you can do in this profession is to take a risk," says Miller, whose co-star plays sober coach to his recovering-addict Sherlock. Liu says the tweak in formula can liberate the story in other ways as well: "There's an endless supply of unpredictability that we can delve into and we can change and add. It will still be a pound cake, but it could be marble, it could be lemon, it could be poppy seed."
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DELICIOUS VIDEO @ SRC
Elementary: Female Watson 'Started as a Joke'
Rob Doherty's choice to pair Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock Holmes with a woman resulted in fall's No. 1 new series, and inclusion in THR's 2012 Rule Breakers portfolio.
"It started out as something of a joke," creator Rob Doherty confesses of his decision to make the Watson in his Sherlock Holmes tale a woman. When he began to research the story's original characters, he came across a handful of experts who had written up psychological assessments of Sherlock; one of them had noted an aversion to women.
"I thought to myself, 'What would make Holmes crazier than taking the figurative rock he has in Watson and making him a woman?' I scribbled it down and then went back to my research," the 38-year-old Elementary showrunner continues. "The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to try it."
The result: casting Asian-American film star Lucy Liu as the first female Watson opposite Jonny Lee Miller's Sherlock and an impressive 13.9 million viewers tuning in weekly, making Elementary the No. 1 new series with total viewers this fall. (Among the key 18-to-49 set, the series ranks No. 2 behind only NBC's breakout Revolution.) And come February, the CBS drama -- one of the season's few hits with critics and audiences alike -- will get the coveted post-Super Bowl slot.
The show's stars, Liu, 44, and Miller, 40, still are making sense of the series' success, particularly rewarding because the show colors outside the lines in a way that excites both of them.
"To me, one of the best things you can do in this profession is to take a risk," says Miller, whose co-star plays sober coach to his recovering-addict Sherlock. Liu says the tweak in formula can liberate the story in other ways as well: "There's an endless supply of unpredictability that we can delve into and we can change and add. It will still be a pound cake, but it could be marble, it could be lemon, it could be poppy seed."
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DELICIOUS VIDEO @ SRC
But being gay or being a woman doesn't render you sexism or homophobia free.
And his Cumberbatching ("I was misquoted") --
http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/52
So I'm not sure -- but he is getting a side-eye from me.
And honestly, Moffat might be pulling the whole, "Oh, but I can't be, because look at Mark and Sue."
Nor does it mean that Mark and Sue can't be homophobic or sexist, respectively.
But in a simple way, I guess my point was just that Moffat doesn't have the excuse, as so many writers and showrunners do, that their whole writing staff/team is just a bunch of broskis.
What kills me. What honestly kills me all the time -- is the number of conversations I've had with his fans who refuse to find anything wrong with him. Who think Irene, River Song, Amy Pond -- are fantastic female characters.
Kills me. And like, you've seen me around enough to know how crazy opinionated I am about this stuff.
"If Irene didn't LIKE that Sherlock SAVED her she wouldn't have SMILED -- DUH!" etc. People who refuse to look at the fiction as, well, fiction. It destroys me.
Like, I wouldn't judge Molly Hooper if she was my friend and had a crush on some cheekboned asshole. But I can pass judgement on a piece of fiction because of what it's saying about women, etc.
.... sorry. I'm ranty today.
And like, omg. Do they not realize that River is not a real person? But she's a character whose writer has manipulated her life to entirely revolve around the Doctor and perhaps that is problematic???? On the part of the writer??? Maybe???
omg. Fandom is so dumb sometimes. I can't.
Because of course he couldn't genuinely admire her intellect. All about the titteez.
Again, not looking forward to the Moffat-run Who as I finish up the last of the Russell T Davies series.
But yeah, I wrote a whole breakdown of why Irene in the BBC was horrible, because of that speech.
But I just saw the date of your original post and I realized this probably won't get see so lol on me:)