There have been a lot of screen adaptations of the fictitious escapades of the famous detective by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, with a whole bunch of different actors playing it over the years. Although it is always at least a little misanthropic and sardonic, it is also always brilliant to solve mysteries in each interpretation. There are somewhat traditional versions of Holmes, such as taking Benedict Cumberbatch in the BBC series “Sherlock”, of course, but there are also twists and turns on the formula, like the hero of animated mice in “The Great Mouse Detective” and Curmudgeonly-Type-Like Doctor in “House”. But perhaps one of the most creative adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories came in the form of “Elementary”, a CBS drama that was broadcast for seven seasons and played Jonny Lee Miller as contemporary Sherlock Holmes trying to do things in New York.
This iteration of the detective was somewhat troubled, like many of his other contemporary counterparts, and was a convalescent drug addict who had previously worked with Scotland Yard but took a job to help the New York police service. Miller himself was great in the role; In fact, he is one of the best players to have ever played Sherlock Holmes, and he was joined by Lucy Liu as Joan Watson, giving us one of the most interesting Holmes / Watson Dynamics of all time. So why did CBS decided to cancel the series after seven seasons? Let’s take a look!
The seventh elementary season was its logical conclusion
According to Deadline, when the series was only renewed a few weeks after its season 6 race, a plan was already in place to conclude things for good at the end of season 7. The creator “Elementary” Rob Doherty had a specific vision for the show and him, with the rest of the creative team behind the series, had the impression of having fully represented this vision. With 154 episodes in total, it is not surprising that they could have told the story, although some fans feel like “elementary” could have run forever. And although some people asked for a renewal, Liu said it was unlikely, even if she loved working on the series. It is a kind of disappointment that we will never see Joan and Sherlock solving more cases together, but at least they never ended up falling in love with each other or anything.
There are tons of shows that are canceled too early, sometimes after a single season, so the seven seasons “Elementary” really have nothing to shake a stick. Fans were treated to a well developed end with a lot of reflection behind, and honestly? It is much more than many shows. Sometimes things right, you know, finish.
