When you were writing Elementary, how much did you try and do rewrites of traditional holmesian stories vs original mystery ideas? Did you try to keep it about even, or were there not enough ACD-era stories to adapt to fill 6.5 seasons even if you did all of them? And did you manage to get to all the ACD era stuff?
(i've really only seen Elementary and 1 of the old Jeremy Brett movies--The Solitary Cyclist--and while I've been meaning to get around to reading the originals it just hasn't managed to happen)
We didn't really have a systematized approach to this. It was more organic, using elements of canon whenever it seemed fun/appropriate without forcing wholesale adaptations of canon stories unless inspiration struck. "Hounded" is probably the most obvious example of riffing fully on a canon story. Kitty's story and Mycroft's relationship with MI5 are examples on using elements of canon as inspiration without being slavish faithful. We'd also use bits of canon as teasers or as b-stores, for example in "The Latest Model," the teaser touches briefly on "The Adventure of the Three Students" and the documentary that enrages the would-be shooter is basically "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot." I don't think we managed to get to all of canon, nor did we try.
Another example is that for "The Solitary Cyclist" all we did was a quick throwaway reference in "The Adventure of the Ersatz Sobekneferu" whereas the Brett version, as you mentioned, adapted the entire story.
Doyle wrote 56 short stories and 4 novels for 60 canon stories total. We did 154 episodes, more than 2.5x that, so there's no way we could have relied solely on canon to fill out the series.
Since someone brought it up in comments, added the nod to the classic Holmes/Watson costumes from "Meet Your Maker" below. It's a fairly good example of times we'd briefly reference canon or the previous adaptations.
JOAN: The only question is, should we go in our normal clothes… or in costume?
As Sherlock looks at her, and we puzzle as to their next stop…
EXT. NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE - MORNING
CLOSE ON a man and a woman -- their backs to us -- as they wait in a long line outside the building. The man wears an INVERNESS COAT, while the woman sports a DEERSTALKER CAP. It’s classic Holmes and Watson… except…
REVERSE ANGLE reveals that it’s not Sherlock and Joan. It’s another couple, clad head-to-toe in steampunk gear. They wait in line with other steampunk cosplayers, families in matching Tyvek coveralls, and a man in a duct tape suit.
We FIND Sherlock and Joan -- clad in their normal attire -- moving along the line toward the front.
gummygunk
romaincrisis
turnnoffyourmind
origamiaround
pixelskylines
stormborns
