Life On Mars

[Scott Gardener]

Life On Mars is kind of an interesting twist on cop dramas and on this retro '70s comeback thing. The former is pretty overdone and the later has gotten downright annoying, and yet this show transcends both to be one of the best things network TV has going. Sam Tyler is a New York police detective who is knocked unconscious early on in the pilot episode, waking up in the year 1973. There he joins with the 125th, a police department from the time, where he works on cases, deals with the differences in culture between then and now, and encounters surreal enigmas hinting at how and why he is there.

The acting is top notch, with very strong characters. There's Gene, in charge of the department, the classic tough New Yorker who's goal in life is to rid the streets of the bad guys by force; there's Ray, a product of his time, complete with moustache and long hair, who follows in Old School rough-and-tumble tradition, and Anne, a female police officer who is struggling to get any respect beyond being sent out for coffee in a time when women were still considered "the weaker sex." The way these people are portrayed gives one a good sense of just how much attitudes have changed since then.

The series is also very intellectual, with Matrix-like metaphors and symbolisms interwoven, creating the sense that the whole thing could be unreal, a coma or mind control experiment.

And, in one episode, a corrupt business executive in bed with the politicians was referred to as the "Werewolf of Wall Street." The same episode made references to duality of human nature versus animal nature, so our favorite shapeshifter, even if not actually portrayed, got a brief mention as a symbolic metaphor.

[Midnight]

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[Wingman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Mars_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_on_Ma ... TV_series)

The series was adapted from the BAFTA-winning British series of the same name, shown by the BBC.

Looks like they shifted around the cast a bit, but it seems to be the same story.

Sounds like an interesting show, especially with the possibility of time travel via astral projection.

[Scott Gardener]

Ack; yes, I'm referring to the American version, since over here we don't get to see the original. Those of you in the UK, if you've seen both the original and our version, can you fill us in on how much we've screwed it up? The show (American version) doesn't seem to rely too much on unnecessary sexuality and underage characters, though it does have its share of both.

When I see British shows and compare them to American TV in general, the UK does a better job overall of portraying more realistic people, as a lot of American TV is funded by execs who want to cater specifically to 20-year-old young men. I have no idea why they covet this demographic, but it makes for a lot of car chases, unnecessarily sexy female characters in odd contexts (such as the 20-year-old physicist, lawyer, doctor, or computer expert who happens to be "super genius" enough to skip enough grades to explain how the heck a 20-year-old is holding a job that normally requires a doctorate degree), and a curious lack of anyone over the age of 40 in the main cast.

The Americanized Life on Mars steps somewhat out of this, with at least older male characters, though it does have a subplot involving a brief fling between the main character and the boss' daughter. It does, however, like anything else out of Hollywood, have a noticeable lack of women over 30.

Why are we remaking something that's still fresh and in progress? Wouldn't it be cheaper for the networks just to get the U.S. distribution rights from BBC, rather than going through the added trouble of filming a whole new TV series all over again? If I see an American studio remaking Torchwood or Doctor Who, just shoot me--it wouldn't be right to have the time rift in L.A. rather than Cardiff or the Doctor drinking coffee and traveling through time in a 1960s police car Chevy Impala.