Life on Mars

[silverscreenselect]

Just wondering if anyone saw the show and what their thoughts were.

The pilot episode was well done, and Harvey Keitel is fun to watch. It seems to me that if they abandon for the most part the main premise of the pilot, that the main character is trying to get back to the present time, and just treat it as a fish out of water show, they could easily get a season or two of episodes. If they make his quest to get back to the present the predominant plot point, they run the risk of making the show extremely silly.

Spoiler

The English series on which this was based only lasted 16 episodes, at the end of which it was revealed that the main character had apparently been in a coma. They seem to be hinting at this in the American version, but I don't think American audiences will go for that type of plot resolution.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

I watched it and liked it enough to watch it again, but the jury is still out. The detail was amazing. The plot was a plausible as Lost I will nominate Gretchen Mol to play the Peababe in "The Bored Movie"

[WheresFanny]

I liked it pretty well, if for nothing else but the soundtrack as I am still a rabid Sweet fan and I think Hunky Dory was David Bowie's best album.

The English one was a little different because I think, like the Office, it had a finite life planned from the beginning. The pilot followed along quite closely but so did the Office and then it just took off on its own course (for better or worse).

I've always liked Harvey Keitel a lot, but it's a bit disconcerting because his character is so different than the English counterpart. But he's good at fixing things, so it might work out.

It seems like they shoot it to look all dingy and, not sepia, but something different colour wise in order to make it look '70s'. Sort of like the flashback scenes in Cold Case, but more so. I don't like that.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

Just wondering if anyone saw the show and what their thoughts were.

The pilot episode was well done, and Harvey Keitel is fun to watch. It seems to me that if they abandon for the most part the main premise of the pilot, that the main character is trying to get back to the present time, and just treat it as a fish out of water show, they could easily get a season or two of episodes. If they make his quest to get back to the present the predominant plot point, they run the risk of making the show extremely silly.

Spoiler

The English series on which this was based only lasted 16 episodes, at the end of which it was revealed that the main character had apparently been in a coma. They seem to be hinting at this in the American version, but I don't think American audiences will go for that type of plot resolution.

They could show him taking a shower and then reveal that it was all a dream.

[tanstaafl2]

Just wondering if anyone saw the show and what their thoughts were.

The pilot episode was well done, and Harvey Keitel is fun to watch. It seems to me that if they abandon for the most part the main premise of the pilot, that the main character is trying to get back to the present time, and just treat it as a fish out of water show, they could easily get a season or two of episodes. If they make his quest to get back to the present the predominant plot point, they run the risk of making the show extremely silly.

Spoiler

The English series on which this was based only lasted 16 episodes, at the end of which it was revealed that the main character had apparently been in a coma. They seem to be hinting at this in the American version, but I don't think American audiences will go for that type of plot resolution.

The word is that they have changed that primary plot point in some fashion in this US version. Exactly how remains to be determined. I have this pilot on Tivo along with about the first 7 episodes of the UK version. I plan to watch each one episode by episode, at least for a few episodes, just to see what the differences are. But I am not sure the UK plot was any more silly than most things on TV or that they couldn't sustain this one for awhile using that. Not that it appears they are going to try.

[ghostjmf]

I watched it & liked it for the good writing & acting. (Harvey Keitel & I are probably around the same age, & I must say that even with my recent "finally looking old" look (baaaah) I have aged better than Harvey. But he is making good acting use of the craggy look.)

Having said all that, I lived through the 70s & have no urgent desire to relive them. And if I want to watch a 70s police drama, there are many on in reruns (admittedly on cable these days, which I don't have, but could get if I wanted to; I could also take them out of the library these days). Now, this is going to be a 70s police drama where no-one gets read their rights & perps get roughed up "just because" & the out-of-time detective gets upset about it, but all that will get old really fast, especially if they overdo it.

There was a lot of 70s detail. I wonder if the creators are kids rather than nostalgic geezers; I've read that the Mad Men creator is a kid who never lived during the era they're depicting on TV.

I also can see that this is not going to be a time-travel show the way that show they yanked last year, which I liked, or Quantum Leap, which I also liked, was. Nor the way Cold Case often is; the characters in Cold Case don't time travel, but you get a large chunk of each show in "at the time" flashbacks.

Also, this show has to be expensive; not only ought Harvey Keitel be expensive (although after stuff like "Filthy Cop", or whatever that was, who knows), the sound track not only featuring Bowie (who I hate, but he's expensive) doing the title track, but the Stones doing the final song in the 1st ep has got to have cost something.

Sheesh, there are whole movies that go with 2nd & 3rd-choice songs because they can't get or can't afford the releases for the songs they really want. And this is a TV show. Its no oddity that TV shows usually feature mood-setting songs by artists you never heard of before, even if they're good ones. But a 70s show has to have, well, 70s music or it ain't gonna work, at least not for us real geezers in the audience.

[silverscreenselect]

Having said all that, I lived through the 70s & have no urgent desire to relive them. And if I want to watch a 70s police drama, there are many on in reruns (admittedly on cable these days, which I don't have, but could get if I wanted to; I could also take them out of the library these days). Now, this is going to be a 70s police drama where no-one gets read their rights & perps get roughed up "just because" & the out-of-time detective gets upset about it, but all that will get old really fast, especially if they overdo it.

What I liked was the way that Keitel and the guys in the squad were not painted as being complete suspect-bashing Neanderthals, while Jason O'Mara was the wise voice of reason. In one key scene, Keitel was able to get the old lady to talk by slipping her some booze in her coffee and shmoozing her a bit, something O'Mara didn't think of. If they build on this, and have them both grow on each other, the show has some possibilities.

Two other good story line possibilities are the romance-to-be between O'Mara and Gretchen Mol and how that will impact his feelings for Lisa Bonet in the future, as well as the idea of the past and present being interconnected on some level like the serial killer story line in the pilot.

Having said that, the question becomes how many episodes the show can spin out of these developments without becoming a stale rehash of the same jokes week after week.

[T_Bone0806]

"Life on Mars" by Bowie, "Little Willy" by the Sweet (who I also have a soft spot for in my heart, Fanny..), and "Out of Time" by the Stones on the soundtrack. What's not to like?

It was promising enough to bring me back for a second episode. I am afraid to like it TOO much, though, as I am already getting a premonition of early cancellation.

Speaking of early cancellation, I guess the CW show "Reaper" wasn't brought back for a second season? I hadn't heard it was cancelled, but I don't see it on the schedule. That sucks. That and "Pushing Daisies" were my two (and only) favorite new shows of last season. I like quirky, and they were/are both quirky. Ray Wise was hilarious as the guy "downstairs".

[silverscreenselect]

It was promising enough to bring me back for a second episode. I am afraid to like it TOO much, though, as I am already getting a premonition of early cancellation.

Life on Mars easily beat CBS' new show Eleventh Hour and ER in the ratings last night. Thursday is a very important night for TV ratings because many commercials for Friday movie releases air Thursday nights, but the ratings for Life were definitely positive. Of course, you always have to see how many people come back the second week.

[T_Bone0806]

It was promising enough to bring me back for a second episode. I am afraid to like it TOO much, though, as I am already getting a premonition of early cancellation.

Life on Mars easily beat CBS' new show Eleventh Hour and ER in the ratings last night. Thursday is a very important night for TV ratings because many commercials for Friday movie releases air Thursday nights, but the ratings for Life were definitely positive. Of course, you always have to see how many people come back the second week.

Well, that's promising. I had suspected that "Eleventh Hour" would prevail in the battle between the newbies, because of the "CSI" lead-in, and the fact that I had been reading swooning reports of the hotness factor of its star. Add to that the fact that this is the last season for "ER", and I was not optimistic over "Life on Mars"' chances. So far so good, then. Cool.

[plasticene]

Speaking of early cancellation, I guess the CW show "Reaper" wasn't brought back for a second season?

It looks like Reaper will return later in the season, according to this website.

Reaper Season 2 starts its first of 13 episodes in midseason, presumably in January. Meaning there’s still one reason to watch this network.

[ne1410s]

psm:

at the end of which it was revealed that the main character had apparently been in a coma. They seem to be hinting at this in the American version, but I don't think American audiences will go for that type of plot resolution.

Or an autistic child looking at a snow globe...

[traininvain]

I ejoyed it, but I have to nitpick at a few things: I'm pretty sure that by 1973 the NYPD had changed from the green/black/white police cars to the light blue & white cars. And, my father was a city detective back then and never had and would never have had long hair like that. He was in his early forties, and cops of that age for the most part just didn't go with the long hair. Plus Keitel will be seventy next year, and no seventy year old was wearing their hair that long. There were a couple of other things that I could also nitpick at, but, it was nice to take a trip back to the 1970's. And I haven't heard that Sweet song in a long time. I did get to see Sweet open for Queen right around when Love Is Like Oxygen was a hit. I will continue to watch.

[SportsFan68]

Sounds good to me. I'll watch it if I can find it.

[mellytu74]

I meant to watch it and completely forgot!

Anyone who saw it -- will it be easy to pick up the thread next week? Should I check something like Television Without Pity to get up to speed?

[cindy.wellman]

I liked it. I also liked being able to watch Michael Imperioli again. His muschache was a little big though, but obviously authentic for the time period.