After watching Sherlock I had low expectations for this show. Tho I must say, I have been pleasantly surprised.

I know i shouldn't compare it to Sherlock but gorram i can't fucking help it. It pales in comparison, and that's a bad thing because i can't concentrate on what's happening. Elementary seems like a retarded parasitical twin that should've been killed at birth but was nurtured by the deranged aunt. Everything about it is... average. There's no *spark* from Liu and Miller. It's just not there. You can't argue "Oh why can't we do an interpretation of Sherlock Holmes?" or something along those lines, when the fact is, the writing is what makes it. No one will ever match the quality of Sherlock without kidnapping Moffat et al and forcing them to write scripts in the dead of the night.

People who haven't seen Sherlock (most Americans surely) will probably like this show, but for those who have seen Sherlock and are eagerly anticipating the 3rd season, this show will bore you to dead. No, seriously. I'd rather watch Revolution (actually fuck no, i take that back).

Oh and before anyone makes a comment about the books, i've read them. Before watching Sherlock and before the 1st Sherlock Holmes movie with RDJ.

Watch Sherlock.

Recommend it, awesome

I may be in a minority here, but I'll take Elementary over Sherlock any day. Both are good, just Elementary's better.

So, basically, @joecan, people can't adapt a history? "Oh My God" because Dr. John Waston became Dr. Joan Watson? You surely want it to just teleport the characters to 2012 with 2012 technologies around them (not they using them in favour, as Sherlock does not in BBC's) and everything is antique scenery, antique crimes, antique menaces. It is not because it receives Sherlock Holmes name that he needs to live in 224-B Baker Street for the rest of his life or it need to be attached to London forever.

You tell that "this Sherlock looks like House" but you obviously never touched one of Sherlock Holmes books, right? House looks like Sherlock in his arrogance, perspicacity and drug activity. In the books he was openly a coke sniffer, although it wasn't knew at the time that coke was such a huge brain damage cause.

You're attached to the fact that Elementary is "sucking" the formula from BBC's Sherlock when Sherlock is actually the series who is sucking the real formula. The "attic theory" from Sherlock Holmes' A Study in Scarlet is basically never saw and Sherlock and his violin too.

As for the "meaningless side-plots that make 20+ episodes a season TV shows", it is the american way of doing series, my friend, there is no way that it is going to become anything different.

first of all, don't expect this show to be like our classic Sherlock or you'll be disappointed. this Sherlock has the observation powers but that's it, there's no comparison with him to the BBC/movie or even the book. this Sherlock has love interest, he feels sadness, he gets drug addicted, he fails sometimes, he also depends on his co workers to catch the criminals. basically it's another CSI/NCIS with bit of touch to the character. if you can remember these then you'll surely enjoy it. sometimes it may get boring but the lead character did well to the role. watch with an open mind or just avoid it completely.

Best Sherlock Holmes series ever.

Everyone seems to want to compare Elementary to Sherlock. Why? They are two entirely different takes in a stream of disparate tv and movie takes that have been going on since Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce hit the screen in 1939. (Lord knows I've had an ongoing argument with my cousins about Jeremy Brett since 1984.) Bollocks! All of it. The fact is, Elementary has become a gem of its own distinct value. A wonderful example of the magic that happens when chemistry bubbles up between two actors/characters and is not limited to them but continues on to a cast that has since, on their own merit, earned their viewer's sincere appreciation for something rather rare: Stories with characters for whom we truly feel something. Well done Elementary. I hate to see the series end.

Americans have to possess and "Americanize" everything, including now this degenerate "American" version of Sherlock Holmes, to maintain their self-deception that the continental U.S. is the whole world and they are "God's Chosen" that they are daily propaganda brainwashed to believe by global corporations. So stupid, weak minded, paranoidally insecure, pathetic, and quite scary.

This show is one of my favourites - and so much better than the terrible uk show which is too full of its own self importance (writers and actors both think they're better than they are) - it's so refreshing to see a woman (Lucy Liu!!) as the main character (and such an important one at that) at the center of an iconic story. The reimaginings of the characters are a wonderful change, and I enjoy seeing the twists the show puts on the classic stories. It's so fun seeing the interactions between all the characters, and how they've changed over the seasons. I'm always recommending this show to my friends!

Better than BBC's Sherlock.