These days, one might think the art of the strip-tease is long gone. Warrant's in-your-face "Cherry Pie" has replaced David Rose's wait-for-it "The Stripper" as the signature tune for portraying strip club music in the media, and identifying the modern incarnation of Gypsy Rose Lee seems nigh impossible. Tonight, however, I would like to nominate the gang behind BBC Sherlock as the likely successor to Gypsy's throne.
A handful of pictures last week, an interactive preview today, a mini-sode coming on Christmas . . . one could do a time-lapse video of the promotional roll-out of Sherlock season three, put David Rose's classic tune behind it, and Voila! The strip-tease is back.
The key to the strip-tease is two-fold. First, obviously, is the slow reveal. A little bit of something here. A little bit there. Rearrange the bits, let slip a little bit more. And second?
You have to have something your audience really wants to see.
And no gang of college boys was ever so eager to see a nightclub dancer get to her naughty bits so much as fans of Sherlock are about the upcoming "Empty Hearse." The current movie-level status of its two leads. The puzzle we were left to solve at this Reichenbach hiatus. I'm tempted to say "the moustache," as I don't ever remember such ado about a moustache, but instead I'll say "the fans themselves." The sheer love that gets poured out for this incarnation of the master detective stands alone. (We saw the portents of it with Jeremy Brett, and maybe his fans could have matched this level had they the internet to work with . . . but that is a blog discussion for another day.)
Anticipation can be one of life's keener joys. And as much as I will be happy to get to see season three of Sherlock, I will certainly miss this little period in our Sherlockian lives when it's done.
The Sherlock strip-tease. If it only led to Lara Pulver strolling around in a Cumberbatch-Freeman remake of the "Blurred Lines" video, then . . . well, excuse me for ending the blog here, my mind just went blank.
The ongoing investigation of Sherlock Holmes, reported from the Peoria, Illinois outpost of Baker Street's dirtiest half a dozen.
Well-stated, Brad -- nice use of media links to get readers on the same page, too.
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