Friday, January 7, 2011

30DaysofTV Day 3 - Your Favorite New Show (started in 2010)

If I had been participating in this challenge in early November, I would have said that the best "new" show from 2010 was probably AMC's The Walking Dead. Good acting, nice plot lines, zombies; it pretty much has everything that makes a show good (emphasis on the zombies). But on Thanksgiving Day (oh-so-thankful), I found my REAL favorite new show of the year, which surprisingly had no zombies at all.



This three episode series was produced by Steven Moffat (whom you will soon will be hearing more of) and originally aired on the BBC over the summer. Then PBS's Masterpiece Mystery series snatched it up and made it a part of their Sunday evenings. On that Thanksgiving, we were trying to find something to watch with Daniel's parents and I suggested we watch the long-ago DVR'd Masterpiece Mystery I had never bothered to watch. What followed was an entire family completely engrossed in a roller-coaster adventure of a show!



The premise asks the question "What would it be like if Sherlock Holmes was solving cases in modern times?" The answer is, "Badassness."

This Sherlock Holmes, played by the marvelous Benedict Cumberbatch, uses text messages, emails, and even has his own blog.* When John Watson (Martin Freeman...who I LOVE), a returning Afghan war vet (the original Watson was actually a vet of the SAME war) is introduced to Sherlock as someone looking for a roommate, the unlikely pair take up residence at 221B Baker Street (heehee) and start solving crimes. There are plenty more throwbacks to the old stories: Mrs. Hudson is now the Landlady, not the housekeeper; Inspector Lestrade is now Dectective Lestrade, and infamous Moriarty is just as up-to-date as Sherlock.


"Conan Doyle's stories were never about frock coats and gas light; they're about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes — and frankly, to hell with the crinoline. Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that's what matters". - Stephen Moffatt

The three episodes are immensely fun to watch and re-watch. The best part of the entire show is watching the friendship develop between John & Sherlock. You can see that John is going to be what keeps Sherlock grounded, and Sherlock will be what keeps John going. It's the original Bromance!


(wonder how many fan-fiction shipper sites are out there already...)


Can't wait till later this year when the next three episode series debuts!

* For the geeks:
Sherlock's Blog
What Other New Shows Are Great??

One More Thing (Not really Television Related): I have to admit that I was never a Sherlock Holmes fan. When I was young, mysteries never gripped me the way fantasy did, so I mostly left them alone. Two series made me a Holmes fan though. One, Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice which is the first of a series about a young woman, Mary Russell, who becomes Sherlock's protege. And two, the Enola Holmes children's book series by Nancy Springer. Enola happens to be Sherlock's sister, and just as capable at handling mysteries as her older brother. I highly recommend them both.

-over and out-

2 comments:

Bren said...

Are you just trying to become British like me?

Have you stopped using ice?

Do you like tea?

Is KC Sporting soon to be your favorite team?

Betty (Beth) said...

I like tea, but I LOOVE ice and soccer is still really boring to me. I sure like their TV though. :-)