Why CBS Canceled Elementary After 7 Seasons

There have been quite a few screen adaptations of the fictional escapades of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, with a whole bunch of different actors playing him over the years. While he's always at least somewhat misanthropic and sardonic, he's also always brilliant at solving mysteries in every interpretation. There are somewhat traditional versions of Holmes, like Benedict Cumberbatch's take in the BBC series "Sherlock," of course, but there are also some twists on the formula, like the animated mouse hero in "The Great Mouse Detective" and curmudgeonly detective-like doctor in "House." But perhaps one of the more creative adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories arrived in the form of "Elementary," a CBS drama that aired for seven seasons and starred Jonny Lee Miller as a contemporary Sherlock Holmes trying to make a go of things in New York City.

This iteration of the detective was somewhat troubled, like many of his other contemporary counterparts, and was a recovering drug addict who had previously worked with Scotland Yard but took a job assisting the New York Police Department. Miller himself was great in the role; in fact, he's one of the best actors to ever play Sherlock Holmes, and he was joined by Lucy Liu as Joan Watson, giving us one of the most interesting Holmes/Watson dynamics ever. So, why did CBS decide to cancel the series after seven seasons? Let's take a look!

According to Deadline, when the series was renewed only a few weeks into its season 6 run, a plan was already in place to wrap things up for good by the end of season 7. "Elementary" creator Rob Doherty had a specific vision for the show and he, along with the rest of the creative team behind the series, felt as if they had fully depicted that vision. With 154 total episodes, it's not surprising that they were able to get the story told, though some fans felt like "Elementary" could have run forever. And while some folks have clamored for a revival, Liu has said it's unlikely, though she did love working on the show. It's kind of a bummer that we'll never get to see Joan and Sherlock solve more cases together, but at least they never ended up falling in love with one another or anything.

There are tons of shows out there that are canceled way too soon, sometimes after just one season, so the seven seasons "Elementary" got are really nothing to shake a stick at. Fans were treated to a well-developed ending with a lot of thought behind it, and honestly? That's a lot more than many shows get. Sometimes, things just have to, you know, end.