Oh, for god's sake! In the washing machine then, on the washing mashine, behind the washing machine - whatever you want, I don't care! 

She seems to have an unhealthy obsession with washing machines … 

Open top? Front loader? Or handwashing?

Funniest evening for a long time. Thank you, ladies. 
For the record - proposal for a fanfic: Sherlock is wearing braces (suspenders) and loses them in the course of the story. In which way depends on the creative approach of the respective writer. Washing machines (any model) may be involved but are not a prerequisite. And I'd prefer the braces in connection with a white shirt. Just saying. 

SusiGo wrote:

Really? And I thought braces were the most harmless piece of clothing any can possibly imagine. 

Not when they're removed and used as substitute handcuffs. Just sayin'. 

I seem to have handcuffs on the brain lately. Must be this darned cold that's been plaguing me. Can't think clean thoughts under the influence of Robitussin. Or something. Maybe it's an attack of the rabid plot bunnies.

All the British/American differences such as braces/suspenders, suspenders/garter belt, pants/underwear, trousers/pants, jumper/sweater/jersey could make a rather funny plot when one of the protagonists is British, the other American.

LOL Maybe it could be done by a team of two of native speakers. Any volunteers?

True. That's what I miss most in Elementary, apart from the chemistry between the main characters. There so much wonderful humour in Sherlock. 

SusiGo wrote:

True. That's what I miss most in Elementary, apart from the chemistry between the main characters. There so much wonderful humour in Sherlock. 

My theory is that humor is hard to write. First of all, it's quite subjective-- what one person thinks is hysterical makes someone else sit and make a face. Also, the writers *must* know who their characters are, and that takes doing your homework, something the Sherlock writers have obviously done-- they not only know canonical Sherlock but also their modern-day BBC Sherlock. I believe they also understand their actors and have bounced off their profound acting skills and chemistry to write humor for them. And added to all that, perhaps the directors let the actors take responsibility for their own characters-- let them run, as it were, and trust their own acting instincts, with good results.

Elementary is just that....kind of elementary. We're long about episode 15ish now, and frankly, I don't know one more thing about that Sherlock now than I did at the beginning. Bad writing. I believe the actor has skills, but he has neither the good writing to back him up nor the directorial freedom to flesh out his character. Plus he's hobbled by his Watson, who has been given nothing to do, nothing interesting to say, exists only to be his conscience and nag and roadblock. It just has not worked, at least so far.

Fan fic humor is horrendously hard to write. The author *must* be able to write the characters' mannerisms and voices, and only then find something funny (and also believable) for them to say and do. Very hard for amateur writers. And rarely done or done well even by professionals.
 

Last edited by ancientsgate (January 27, 2013 6:38 pm)

SusiGo wrote:

Believe me, AG, I know how hard it is to write humour. I've been writing for years and only now I feel up to giving it a try. But Moftiss have shown that it's possible. And to me it seems as if they didn't even try with Elementary. 

I've not actually seen Elementary so can't comment on its humour or lack of but I do know that British & American humour is very different (first time I saw The Office (BBC), I was shocked at the kind of humour that was on display). NCIS does well with humour, maybe the Elementary writers can learn off them.