Sherlock vs. Sherlock

Left:Johnny Lee Miller, Elementary
Right:Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Middle:Sherlock Holmes

I’ll say up front: I’m not a Sherlock fundamentalist. I like the original series fine but it’s not written in stone or anything. I’ve enjoyed many of the Sherlock adaptations, the further from the original the better–They Might Be Giants, for example.

So I’ve been watching the BBC’sSherlockand NBC’sElementary. I’ve been struck by a couple of interesting things. I call this theBatmanvs.Supermaneffect.

For t...