summarize

[T.o.b.y]

So I was on the airplane, and the inseat video program offered an episode of Sherlock, namely A Study in Pink. And the description read: "Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet for the first time". I thought really? This is their summary for the entire episode? Um... But then I began to wonder, how would I summarize the episodes in only one sentence each?

 

I am still not satisfied with my results, so I'm asking you all to try, if you like. I bet you can do better than the airline!

[Carol the Dabbler]

What's the size limit -- the traditional twenty-five words or less?

 

[T.o.b.y]

Any number of words you like as long as it's just one sentence.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Don't let James Joyce enter the contest, then -- he wrote one sentence containing 4,391 words!  :P

 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

How about:

 

The first time meeting of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. John Watson in a 21st century adventure.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Or:

 

A current-day Sherlock Holmes meets his John Watson, and together they solve the baffling case of the serial suicides.

 

[besleybean]

I would sum up the whole show with the phrase: many fake deaths!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

A great overall show summary:

 

How to kill Sherlock Holmes without him dying.

 

The 2 sentence snag line:

How do you kill Sherlock Holmes without killing him? Watch & find out.

[Arcadia]

I'm thinking how would they describe it in the newspaper's TV guide, if it still had one. That editor was the master of brief descriptions!

 

"A Study in Pink" -- A genius detective and an army doctor join forces to solve crimes.

 

"The Blind Banker" -- A break-in at a bank leads to murder.

 

"The Great Game" -- Sherlock Holmes must solve a series of mysteries before time runs out.

 

 

I would go on but it makes it all sound so ordinary! :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

[besleybean]

And trouble is when ordinary people watch it...they just don't get it.

[Van Buren Supernova]

SIP: The brilliance of color coordination: find serial killer.

 

TBB: The benefit of wearing sunglass in a tunnel: none.

 

TGG: The wonder of keeping something from your first murder: it will come in handy one day.

 

or 

 

Best DIY, learn to do your own Botox, save your life.

 

or

 

Astronomy, still useless; paying attention to lecture when being murdered, still useful.

[Arcadia]

And trouble is when ordinary people watch it...they just don't get it.

 

So what makes the show extraordinary is the extraordinary people watching it? I'll buy that .... :D

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm thinking how would they describe it in the newspaper's TV guide, if it still had one. That editor was the master of brief descriptions!

 

"A Study in Pink" -- A genius detective and an army doctor join forces to solve crimes.

 

"The Blind Banker" -- A break-in at a bank leads to murder.

 

"The Great Game" -- Sherlock Holmes must solve a series of mysteries before time runs out.

 

I would go on but it makes it all sound so ordinary! :D

 

Congratulations, you have a fabulous career ahead of you at TV Guide!  So you've invented a second challenge for us (make the episodes sound boring) in addition to T.o.b.y's original challenge (give a brief-but-"complete" summary of each episode).

 

I cannot even hope to compete with your boring summary of "Banker," so I'll have a go at the original challenge.  How about:

 

Chinese gangsters attempt to trick Sherlock into locating a priceless artifact."

 

... or is that too spoilery?  Come to think of it, maybe that's why the TV Guide listings tend to sound so boring.

 

[sittything]

ASIP:  Sociopathic consulting detective and adrenaline junkie colleague investigate serial suicides.

 

TBB:   Terribly boring criminal puppet leads our favorite sociopath and adrenaline junkie on wild goose chase.

 

TGG:  Giant, human chess match between psychopathic consulting criminal and our favorite sociopathic consulting detective (i.e. Battle of the Personality Disordered).

[T.o.b.y]

I'm thinking how would they describe it in the newspaper's TV guide, if it still had one. That editor was the master of brief descriptions!

 

"A Study in Pink" -- A genius detective and an army doctor join forces to solve crimes.

 

"The Blind Banker" -- A break-in at a bank leads to murder.

 

"The Great Game" -- Sherlock Holmes must solve a series of mysteries before time runs out.

 

 

I would go on but it makes it all sound so ordinary! :D

Wow! You are good! Now I'm almost ready to give up... No way I can top that... I also really like some of the funny ones people have been posting. Great work, everybody!

[Arcadia]

Well, heck, with all those plaudits, I feel obliged to continue...

 

"A Scandal in Belgravia" -- Sherlock meets his match.

 

"The Hounds of Baskerville" -- Holmes and Watson investigate a secret military base.

 

"The Reichenbach Fall" -- It's Holmes vs. Moriarty in this fast-paced thriller.

 

(I think I just put myself to sleep.....)

[SherlockedCAMPer]

The Empty Hearse: Sherlock ticks off John

 

The Sign of Three: Sherlock ticks off a whole wedding while solving a crime

 

His Last Vow:  Sherlock ticks off Mary after he is ticked off by CAM

 

 

(My thoughts on TEH & TSOT before I wrote the HLV item: Sherlock get's beat up by John then saves John's life & Sherlock solves 2 crimes just after completing a best man speech.)

[SherlockedCAMPer]

To continue with my theme:

 

ASIP: Sherlock ticks off Anderson & Donovan

 

TBB: Sherlock ticks off the Tong.

 

TGG: Sherlock gets ticked off by the criminal class (leaving us with ).

 

ASIB: Sherlock ticks off Mycroft & the Americans

 

HOB: Sherlock ticks off Major Barrymore

 

TRF: Sherlock ticks off Moriarty (at least a little)

[SherlockedCAMPer]

And for MHR: Anderson is right for once.

[Van Buren Supernova]

To continue with my theme:

 

ASIP: Sherlock ticks off Anderson & Donovan

 

TBB: Sherlock ticks off the Tong.

 

TGG: Sherlock gets ticked off by the criminal class (leaving us with ).

 

ASIB: Sherlock ticks off Mycroft & the Americans

 

HOB: Sherlock ticks off Major Barrymore

 

TRF: Sherlock ticks off Moriarty (at least a little)

 

I feel like scratching! :lol:

[Arcadia]

Ak! A PUN!

[Van Buren Supernova]

I missed what they wrote for SIP and TBB (they only put one episode every time and has been moving in sequence),

this is what the summary that the flight entertainment wrote for The Great Game (which is quite good imo but more than one sentence, two to be exact):

 

Holmes is far from impressed when he is asked to investigate a seemingly straightforward murder. However, the master of deduction soon suspect he may have met his match, as he and Watson are drawn into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not 100% accurate (since West's death was seemingly a straightforward accident), but I see why they wrote it that way, and yes, it's a good teaser.

 

[Arcadia]

I just realized I never got around to summarizing S3. Here goes:

 

TEH - Sherlock returns.

TSo3 - Dr. Watson gets married.

HLV - Sherlock matches wits with a master blackmailer.

 

And MHR - Anderson (last seen as one of the police officers who accused Sherlock of being a fake), now fired from his job with the police, tries to convince Lestrade that Sherlock is actually alive by showing him a series of news articles, each one featuring a mysterious stranger who unmasks criminals with a brilliant deduction, then refuses to accept the credit; Lestrade remains unconvinced and tries to talk him out of his delusion in this special seven minute mini-episode, created exclusively for BBC and airing tonight on Channel X

 

:p.

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

 

 

And MHR - Anderson (last seen as one of the police officers who accused Sherlock of being a fake), now fired from his job with the police, tries to convince Lestrade that Sherlock is actually alive by showing him a series of news articles, each one featuring a mysterious stranger who unmasks criminals with a brilliant deduction, then refuses to accept the credit; Lestrade remains unconvinced and tries to talk him out of his delusion in this special seven minute mini-episode, created exclusively for BBC and airing tonight on Channel X

 

:P.

 

It reminds me of a cartoon, when a character was lost in the jungle and met a group of native tribe. Luckily there was a translator who was able to speak both languages. So he tried to communicate, when he said a word, the translator translated for half an hour and when the native speaker replied with a whole bunch of words, it's only translated back to him as 'Hello'.

 

I thought my post is relevant but I start to doubt that it even makes any sense.....