Life on Mars (US Version) - Discussion Thread

[Recoil]

I've been debating for a few weeks on starting up some show discussion threads for shows that aren't talked about in here yet that I like. I'm sort of tired of the only discussions being about lame shows like Heroes (yea, I was into it the first season too, but its time to put it to rest).

Anyway, there are a few shows I have started watching this year that I like. I'm not sure if anyone else watches them, so these could be discussion threads that die extremely quickly. But if you do watch them great. Or maybe someone will see the threads and check the shows out.

First up: Life on Mars (the US version)

I'm not going to get into a "which version is better" debate, or a "the US version is crap" or even a "Jason O'Mara is not Sam Tyler" argument. Check that baggage at the door please. I am, however SINCERELY interested in what our UK brethren thought of the show. (No spoilers please).

I had initially heard about this show reading about it on this site, but then saw it was a UK only show, and pretty much that ended my chances at seeing it. I've debated trying to find Region 1 DVDs for it since the show has now completed. However, now there is a US version, so I added it to the DVR.

To the uninitiated, Life on Mars is about a Police Detective in 2008, named Sam Tyler, who is working to solve a murder case. He is sleeping with his partner and is debating marriage. A suspect he has for the murder case gets set free because he had a rock solid alibi...just before they find out he has a twin brother. Sam's partner disappears and is now assumed to be held prisoner by the murderer (who holds his victims for 48 hours or some such). Sam ends up in hot pursuit, then WHACK, he gets hit by a car.

He wakes up and its 1973. He is in 70s clothes, lying on the ground next to his car, also straight from the 70s, and looks up at the World Trade Center from Brooklyn. He has no idea why he is there and what is going on. He thinks maybe he is in a coma, or dying, because he remembers the accident. However, everyone in his reality is very real, and he ends up at the same police department solving cases.

Ive seen the first four episodes so far, and I really like the quality of the show. The imagery is great. The music, and the feel, of the show really put you in the 70s. The old school tough cops are headed up by Harvey Keitel, who I think was a good choice. Its also interesting seeing the police work with out all of the CSI lab work and computer resources. Seeing Sam's training as a modern day cop being used in the 70s comes through very well.

Gretchen Mol is interesting as Annie Norris, the only woman cop in the precint. Sam confides in her early in the show, revealing that he believes he is from 2008. She tries to talk him through his "delusions" to keep him on the job, but also does humor him a bit. There is interesting chemistry between the two.

There is also interesting "mythology" going on as to what is really happening with Sam and why is he there. In the first episode he hears his partner from 2008 while listening to his car radio. Once in a while sounds will cut in that sound like an operating room and life support, leading you to believe Sam is in 2008 in a hospital dreaming this. Then...there are these weird "Martian Lander" robot things that make random appearances. Sam swears he SEES them. Im really not sure what the deal with those are yet, or really any of it. The simplest explaination is that he is in a coma, and parts of his life are being relived through the characters in the show. He even bumped into his Mom in the last episode. But...I'm hoping there is more to it than that.

However, even with the overall mystery of why is he there and what is going on, that to me doesnt feel like the core of the show. I think it stands great on its own as an old school cop throwback show, with some interesting stories. Sam's 2008 experiences and his trying to find out what is going on and why he is in the past just lead to some interesting options.

Is anyone else watching this? Anyone from the UK see the UK version all the way through and can you comment on how it was (without spoiling the premise)?

 

[Cell]

Only four episodes in and Life On Mars has already replaced Chuck as the best one hour show on TV, it's that good. They do such a great job of blending the sci-fi element with the cop show element and still leave plenty of room for characterization, humor, and all kinds of cool things. It really is a tremendous show and i hope more people pick up on it.

 

[Recoil]

Yea, and there are great moments of dialogue as well. Like in the third episode when Sam realizes that he was in New York he thinks that maybe locating himself as a child might help him get back to 2008, and he says something to his neighbor like "For everything to be right, I need to find myself" He was speaking literally, but obviously it has a very figurative meaning. A lot of dialogue in this show works that way and its very well done.

They also do a great job of tackling modern stories and issues. I even liked it when Sam fell asleep in front of the TV and woke up with Nixon was giving his speech on oil dependency, then the TV flashed static and it was Bush saying almost the same thing several decades later. This show really does do a good job at covering many stories and angles in it.

 

[Jonny_Fever]

I was hoping this version would be good. Since I don't have cable any more I'll either have to wait for it come out on dvd or find other means of watching it. I watched the UK version last year and I really liked it. The contrast between the modern day cop and the 70's counterparts was done very well. I liked that even though the story took place in the 70's, it was an over-the-top 70's if you know what I mean. I can't wait to watch the US version. I think the UK one only went 2 seasons which was probably only about 20 episodes so I wonder what's going to happen with the US version if it get picked up. They will have to start deviating from the original somewhat.

 

[Galahad]

The UK version of Life on Mars was brilliant. The only way they could get away with a character as politically incorrect as Gene Hunt, was to have him examine through the lens of a character from the modern world.

I used to watch the show side by side with my Dad... and all his pub mates and even the local council used to wrap up early so they could get home to watch it. Many cops who had their heyday in the 70's have said that things were exactly like that then... not just the technology and the investigation style... but the complete lack of modern sensibilities.

Ironically, Hunt has become a bit of a nostalgic hero... (I don't think the writers intended him to be to such an extent). I suspect that Ashes to Ashes as it continues to evolve, is going to be a "Taming of the Shrew" type thing. Whereby the female protagonist, Alex Drake gradually helps him to become less of a dinosaur.

If that happens I can see the sequel series going under.

Back to Life on Mars... and it seems from what you are saying, that the Martian Landers are playing a similar role to Test Card Girl.

I hope that the US version has a character equivalent to the barkeep Nelson... who was criminally underused in the second series here in the UK.

I always thought he was like the diametric opposite to Test Card Girl.

 

[Recoil]

Im not sure if the Martian Lander robot things are similar to the girl you posted from the YouTube clip or not. They are in there pretty sparingly, and don't talk of course. There HAVE been scenes however, where Sam's TV is on that "testcard" screen at all hours of the night, and that is when he has some encounters/hallucinations and sees/hears various things on the TV and such.

 

[Galahad]

Well he used to have other hallucinations in the UK version too. Characters from Open University shows or children's television would break off from the topic they were discussing and interact with Sam before slipping back to what they were talking about.

Does the US version have a Nelson character?

 

[Recoil]

Im not sure who Nelson is, so its tough to say who may be assuming that spot. There is no one named Nelson in the show yet at least. But then, its only four episodes into it.

The other hallucinations you described, about TV shows breaking off and talking to him and the like, they are doing that as well in the US version.

 

[Galahad]

Nelson's the barkeeper in the UK version. He's in it right from episode 1 and in his brief moments always gives sage advice to Sam... almost as if he knows more than he is letting on... but they didn't really explore this in the second series and pretty much dropped it like a hot spud.

 

[Recoil]

No regular bartenders in this season yet. This coming week's episode looks to be a good one as well. They have Whoopi Goldberg lined up to guest star, who I'm not a huge fan of per say, its at least an interesting choice. But that being said, it looks like she might fit well into the plot of the episode, we will see.

 

[GaribaldisHair]

Can't comment on the US version of this, although I did love what I saw of the British version, I just have a burning question that I would genuinely like an answer to.

Why does the US so often make its own versions of British TV shows (the other biggie recently being The Office, of course) rather than just show the original?

 

[Recoil]

I don't know for sure the answer to this, but I believe it has something to do with the British creator of the series wanting to make stacks of cash selling the rights to a Hollywood studio. What other motivation is there?

 

[Galahad]

Sometimes that's the case... (horrifically the makers of Dad's Army even tried to launch a US version), other times it's not the writer/creators willing choice. Take the recent fracas over Spaced for example. Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes have all been pretty vocal about not endorsing the US attempt at remaking the show.

 

[Recoil]

So I guess saying the creators selling the rights is wrong, because the creators don't always have the rights to the show or the concept (appears they did in Life on Mars's case though). What I should have said is whomever owns the rights are the ones wanting to cash in. Sometimes its the studio. Sometimes something or someone else...

 

[darth_librarian]

There is (or was) an assumption that US audiences would not tolerate anything with a totally or predominantley UK cast, hence the need for pointless remakes. That and the fact that cheap-ass UK production values show up on glossy US networks. This lead to some serious clankers, such as the US Red Dwarf and Coupling attempts. The latter simply re-used the UK scripts pretty much wholesale.

Personally, I think this is not actually the case, UK shows go down fine in the States if they are good enough. Dr Who gets top billing on Sci-fi now. It may be due to over-precaution on the part of US networks, or over simplifcation on the part of British Networks.

The Office did it a bit better, with totally new scripts for the US version. It sounds like this formula is working well with Life on Mars. I love the UK version (and its 80's sequel, Ashes to Ashes, which for me is equally good in different ways) so will try and get hold of the US one for a look-see.

You should get hold of the UK one Recoil, if only for comparisons sake.

 

[Recoil]

You should get hold of the UK one Recoil, if only for comparisons sake.

I plan to, its just a matter of when. If I watched the UK version in its entirety (wouldn't take long as it was only a couple seasons) then I run the risk of "spoiling" the US version. However US TV typically doesn't work like it does in the UK. In the UK a show can run only two seasons, have a complete story told, its fans feel fulfilled and all is good --- onto the next thing. Here in the US when we have a hit, the networks try to bleed the writers dry until after 5 seasons of good ratings the show is unrecognizable from its original concept. Or, a show is good, but ratings are poor, and its yanked off the air without warning and without the writing staff able to give the viewers a satisfactory ending.

So either way, the outlook is usually bad for shows of the type Life on Mars seems to be. I guess I either wait until it gets canceled, or wait till it jumps the shark in Season 3 or 4, then watch the UK version.

 

[Ranger1]

I plan to, its just a matter of when. If I watched the UK version in its entirety (wouldn't take long as it was only a couple seasons) then I run the risk of "spoiling" the US version. However US TV typically doesn't work like it does in the UK. In the UK a show can run only two seasons, have a complete story told, its fans feel fulfilled and all is good --- onto the next thing. Here in the US when we have a hit, the networks try to bleed the writers dry until after 5 seasons of good ratings the show is unrecognizable from its original concept. Or, a show is good, but ratings are poor, and its yanked off the air without warning and without the writing staff able to give the viewers a satisfactory ending.

So either way, the outlook is usually bad for shows of the type Life on Mars seems to be. I guess I either wait until it gets canceled, or wait till it jumps the shark in Season 3 or 4, then watch the UK version.

having checked out the episodes shown so far i can say that it is very much like hearing the same story from two people, the general plot is the same but the details are vastly different, except in the first episode where the used the exact script (with a few exceptions due to time limitations) that was used over here.

 

[Recoil]

So far this show continues to not disappoint. I really liked Thursday's episode. It was a little over the top with the whole "Black Liberation Army" / Whoopi Goldberg part, but I thought it was a fun nod to shows of that era like "Shaft." I thought the story of the Priest being the same one presiding over his mentors funeral in the future (2008 anyway) was a nice touch. I also liked the comment about how he was given a chance to finally say goodbye to his father, that "they" just choose which one. In fact the entire delivery of the episode in regards to Sam was pretty solid. They have been setting things up that he is dead or dying for the first several episodes, and really made an attempt to make you think he was dead and in purgatory, with the newspaper article about "Hero Cop Killed" but it turned out to be his old mentor, which was a nice twist. I guess that still leaves us with the concept that he is in a coma somehow, since his girlfriend made the comment about how she wished Sam could have been there to say good bye. I know its kind of an obvious choice, but they certainly made a big case in tonight's episode about heaven and angels being involved --- especially at the end with that mystery guy leading the Keeshan girl away, and the comments about taking care of his old mentor.

All in all a pretty solid episode. A good bit of fun in it, and I really like the chemistry with him teaming with the younger version of his mentor in the episode.