Sherlock Holmes is such an irresistible character — brainy is the new sexy — that American producers, impressed by the success of “Sherlock” in the UK, couldn’t wait to adapt the series for American audiences. “Elementary,” whose place on the CBS fall schedule seems like a sure thing, stars Jonny Lee Miller as the wise — and now hip — detective.

Written by Robert Doherty, “Elementary” places Holmes in New York City, where the former consultant to Scotland Yard has come for rehab. Another twist on the classic story is that Watson is now a woman. Joan Watson, played by Lucy Liu, is Sherlock’s live-in, sober companion. And of course, they live in trendy Brooklyn (if it turns out to be Williamsburg, which is the only neighborhood in the county of Kings where TV characters are allowed to live, we’ll start screaming). Co-starring in the high-profile pilot is Aidan Quinn, last seen in the doomed “Prime Suspect,” as an NYPD captain who hires Holmes as a consultant.

The fate of “Elementary” will be announced later this month at the CBS upfronts.