It’s always a matter of some discernment each year when the network that gets the Super Bowl decides which of its shows to showcase following the game. Some choose new shows to debut, as CBS did with “Undercover Boss” three years ago.
Others used the opportunity to showcase an existing show, and in past years “Grey’s Anatomy,” “House” “The Office” and “Glee” played after the game, which had become the biggest annual audience on TV. Last year’s post-game show, the season premiere of “The Voice” drew 37.6 million viewers, the biggest audience since a “Friends” post-game episode in 1996, which drew an astounding 52.9 million.
This year, CBS chose one of the most successful new shows of last fall’s new season, “Elementary,” starring Jonny Lee Miller as a modern day Sherlock Holmes who lives in New York City.
“We’re going to do our level best to keep a lot of that audience in their seats after the game,” says show creator Rob Doherty. “It’s really a coveted spot. It’s a tremendous honor to get it as a first-year show.” And, he added, “it’s an incredible opportunity to expose the show to people.”
Doherty spoke to reporters at the TV Critics Association winter press tour last month, when they were in the midst of putting finishing touches on the two part episode. In making the episode, titled “The Deducionist,” Doherty said they “developed the story that we felt not only was a good example of what the show can do, but something that our regular audience would really have fun with as well.”
Lucy Liu, who plays Watson on the show, added, “he fact that CBS is putting us behind
the Super Bowl only maintains that they are really behind the show — so we feel very honored about that.”
One thing they can’t say about the episode: Exactly what time it will start. Whenever the game ends.