Why Elementary Stands Out Among Sherlock Holmes Adaptations
Matthew Cannon
Published May 17, 2026
By Published Apr 7, 2026, 10:01 AM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2026. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2026. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
While there are countless reinventions of the Sherlock Holmes story on TV and streaming, one CBS show still managed to make the character feel unexpectedly fresh and original. Sherlock Holmes is, along with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, one of the most adapted characters in literary history. There are quite literally hundreds of movies and shows starring versions of the character.
Most recently, turn the character into a rebellious young upstart. Before that, the CW’s Sherlock and Daughter and both offered fresh feminist updates on the character. However, it is CBS’s that fans of Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective should seek out in 2026.
Elementary’s Reinvention of The Sherlock Holmes Story Was Ingenious
When Elementary first premiered in 2012, the contemporary cop show’s take on Sherlock Holmes was met with a lot of criticism. As a modernized show that re-imagined Sherlock Holmes as a brilliant but troubled drug addict, it was tough for the network TV procedural to avoid comparisons to the BBC’s then-recent critically adored cult hit Sherlock.
However, included some clever innovations of its own, whether it was turning its gender-flipped Moriarty into Holmes’s former love interest or making the show’s version of Watson his sober companion. The comparisons to Sherlock weren’t entirely off-base, but nine years after its finale, it is fair to say that they sell the appeal of Elementary short.
Not only did Elementary have a lot more episodes for viewers to enjoy than Sherlock, but the CBS show also arguably aged better than the BBC show in numerous ways. For one thing, the gender politics of the British series were always dicey, whereas Elementary had a pair of truly great female protagonists in Lucy Liu’s Watson and Natalia Dormer’s Moriarty.
CBS Canceling Watson Proves Just How Special Elementary Was
For another, many of the stylistic flourishes that made BBC’s Sherlock so much fun were soon parodied into oblivion, so the sight of the title character linking clues in his head went from a cool, slick visual to a cringe worthy cliché in record time. In contrast, Elementary’s more subdued visual style avoided this issue.
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The , another attempt to re-imagine the iconic Holmes and Watson duo via a modern procedural series, proves just how impressive Elementary’s success really was. Not only did the series hold its own against a famous, acclaimed competitor, but Elementary also proved an updated take on Sherlock could be just as long-running and satisfying as the original novels.
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Cast
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Jonny Lee Miller Sherlock Holmes -
Lucy Liu Joan Watson
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WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingWriters Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Tamara Jaron, Kelly Wheeler, Jordan Rosenberg, Arika Lisanne Mittman, Peter Ocko, Mark Hudis, Nick Thiel, Brian Rodenbeck, Cathryn Humphris, Paul Cornell, Richard C. Okie, Christopher Hollier, Andrew Gettens, Lauren MacKenzie Creator(s) Robert Doherty Expand Collapse
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