Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on what side of the 21st century Sherlock debate you are on, there’s no stopping CBS’ Elementary which is still on the schedule for a September 27 premiere here in America. Given that it hasn’t even aired yet and as much as I want to like this and give it an opportunity to succeed, seems as though those that are charged with promoting the series keep shooting themselves in the foot and fall over themselves trying to reload as fast as possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO6uUEuWNa4

First it was a series of promo teasers that seemed to highlight portions of the script that were…elementary. Too many cliches, too many lines by both Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) that made you cringe just a bit too much. Personally, it made it clear that, unlike the brilliant British version from the minds of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (which it will forever be compared to), the CBS version was definitely not created by lifelong fans of the Arthur Conan Doyle creation. The Moffat/Gatiss passion for the product and knowledge of all-things Sherlock, along with some amazing production techniques made the BBC Sherlock the mega-hit that it is. I just don’t see this in the early promotion for Elementary.

Now, comes the newest promotional poster which make the video trailers look brilliant. Holmes Sweet Holmes and My Dear Watson. Can the bad puns get any worse? Unfortunately, both the promo trailers and promotional posters do nothing to temper the ill feelings that many viewers already have for the series that has a two strikes against it before it even premieres. I’ll still give it a shot given that Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu star, but it’s on an awful short leash already.