"And I noticed you published another one of your stories, Dr. Watson...." "Don't feel singled out, Mrs Hudson. I'm hardly in the dog one." "The dog one?" "I'm your landlady, not a plot device." "You mean 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'?" "And you made the rooms so drab and dingy." "Oh, that bloody illustrator, he's out of control. I've had to grow this mustache just so people recognize me." Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, over-clever meta-"Sherlock"/Doyle see-what-fanboy-geniuses-we-are teaser. Yes, it is a good teaser, but if this is an actual scene from the show, Moftiss is doing more than tongue-in-cheek, it's tongue sticking out and fingers waggling in the ears. If this exact same teaser had been released by CBS, you can bet you'd hear howls that Rob Doherty doesn't know the Canon, there were no stories published in 1895 (when the special is supposed to be set); "Hound" was in the Strand in 1901-2 meaning for Sherlock to comment on it, John would probably have already moved out to Queen Anne Street; Paget is the bane of Watson not one of the key elements that made the short stories the success they were and Mrs Hudson's nod to Star Trek is anachronistic ("Damn it, Dr. Watson, I'm a landlady, not a plot device."). But since it's from fanboy-geniuses not corporate hacks, I'm sure it'll be hailed as brilliant. We will see what the special will be like, but a mustache-hating Victorian Watson...
I don't know if it's only me but I saw a lot of similarities to the Jeremy Brett series - from the music and the 'hoofs' to the way Benedict Cumberbatch held his pipe in his mouth and spoke. For one second, in fact, I even thought Benedict Cumberbatch looked exactly like Jeremy Brett in one of the scenes. The first scene also looked very similar to Brett's 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'
What is this world coming to? I absolutely agree. I couldn't see Sherlock Holmes in this trailer (yes, I finally watched it), I just saw BC acting (badly). He seems to have lost it. I like his older work up to and including Sherlock S1/2 far more than anything he's done since then. Before he got lost in the characters he played. Now he seems to be so self aware and that makes it hard for me to watch. Is this a consequence of those self-referencing scripts? I just don't know.
I think you're being a little harsh. There may well be some wink wink stuff but that is little to do with BC. I remain excited by the special and will judge it in full when I've seen it. The peek has almost certainly been tailored to appeal to the more excitable elements of the Sherlock fandom rather than the rest of us.
I hope you're right, Alistair! But, really, what good is it to excite the excitable part of fandom and then later lament the fact that they're over-excited?
I hope that the teaser is not an excerpt from the special, but something special made for the fans. It does highlight one of the problems with the series as it continues to progress, that is it is so full of "homages" to versions of Sherlock Holmes movies, TV shows and pastiches--as well as "homages" to non-Sherlockian influences--that it has no unique identity of its own. It's a pastiche of pastiches. It's the fans that have given the show an identity. When, thirty or forty years from now, some other media creator wants to pay homage to BBC Sherlock, there will be very little to take from Moffat and Gatiss. Instead, it will be fandom-created identifiers that will be turned to.
Again I agree with Mr O'Leary. Especially when you read something like this: http://www.cinemablend.com/television/How-Sherlock-Superfan-Affected-Course-Show-72995.html you do ask yourself, 'What *did* they come up with on their own?'
Written by Alistair Duncan
"And I noticed you published another one of your stories, Dr. Watson...."
ReplyDelete"Don't feel singled out, Mrs Hudson. I'm hardly in the dog one."
"The dog one?"
"I'm your landlady, not a plot device."
"You mean 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'?"
"And you made the rooms so drab and dingy."
"Oh, that bloody illustrator, he's out of control. I've had to grow this mustache just so people recognize me."
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, over-clever meta-"Sherlock"/Doyle see-what-fanboy-geniuses-we-are teaser. Yes, it is a good teaser, but if this is an actual scene from the show, Moftiss is doing more than tongue-in-cheek, it's tongue sticking out and fingers waggling in the ears. If this exact same teaser had been released by CBS, you can bet you'd hear howls that Rob Doherty doesn't know the Canon, there were no stories published in 1895 (when the special is supposed to be set); "Hound" was in the Strand in 1901-2 meaning for Sherlock to comment on it, John would probably have already moved out to Queen Anne Street; Paget is the bane of Watson not one of the key elements that made the short stories the success they were and Mrs Hudson's nod to Star Trek is anachronistic ("Damn it, Dr. Watson, I'm a landlady, not a plot device."). But since it's from fanboy-geniuses not corporate hacks, I'm sure it'll be hailed as brilliant. We will see what the special will be like, but a mustache-hating Victorian Watson...
I don't know if it's only me but I saw a lot of similarities to the Jeremy Brett series - from the music and the 'hoofs' to the way Benedict Cumberbatch held his pipe in his mouth and spoke. For one second, in fact, I even thought Benedict Cumberbatch looked exactly like Jeremy Brett in one of the scenes. The first scene also looked very similar to Brett's 'A Scandal in Bohemia.'
ReplyDeleteNot that I mind. :-)
What is this world coming to? I absolutely agree. I couldn't see Sherlock Holmes in this trailer (yes, I finally watched it), I just saw BC acting (badly). He seems to have lost it. I like his older work up to and including Sherlock S1/2 far more than anything he's done since then. Before he got lost in the characters he played. Now he seems to be so self aware and that makes it hard for me to watch. Is this a consequence of those self-referencing scripts? I just don't know.
ReplyDeleteI think you're being a little harsh. There may well be some wink wink stuff but that is little to do with BC. I remain excited by the special and will judge it in full when I've seen it. The peek has almost certainly been tailored to appeal to the more excitable elements of the Sherlock fandom rather than the rest of us.
DeleteI hope you're right, Alistair! But, really, what good is it to excite the excitable part of fandom and then later lament the fact that they're over-excited?
ReplyDeleteI hope that the teaser is not an excerpt from the special, but something special made for the fans. It does highlight one of the problems with the series as it continues to progress, that is it is so full of "homages" to versions of Sherlock Holmes movies, TV shows and pastiches--as well as "homages" to non-Sherlockian influences--that it has no unique identity of its own. It's a pastiche of pastiches. It's the fans that have given the show an identity. When, thirty or forty years from now, some other media creator wants to pay homage to BBC Sherlock, there will be very little to take from Moffat and Gatiss. Instead, it will be fandom-created identifiers that will be turned to.
ReplyDeleteAgain I agree with Mr O'Leary. Especially when you read something like this: http://www.cinemablend.com/television/How-Sherlock-Superfan-Affected-Course-Show-72995.html you do ask yourself, 'What *did* they come up with on their own?'
ReplyDelete