TV Review: Life on Mars
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
“Back in the nick of time.”
With a few exceptions, BBC television imports really work when they are retooled for American television. I was a fan of the original BBC show, Life on Mars, starring John Simm (the Master from the seires three Doctor Who finale) as desperate detective Sam Tyler and the fabulously grumpy Philip Glenister as the horribly comical DCI Gene Hunt. When I heard it was being done for ABC television, I thought there was no way this wonderful and intriguing show would work for American audiences.
And I was almost right. Originally the first Life on Mars pilot was filmed in cheesy 70’s style in bright and sunny L.A. And it was horrid. So show runners re-cast some of the major characters and transferred the location to New York City.
And much to my amazement, it actually worked.
So what is Life on Mars? On the surface it’s a weekly crime serial set in 1973. Detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara for the US version) and the 125th precinct, led by Lieutenant Gene Hunt (Mr. White himself, Harvey Keitel) solve a crime-of-the week (murder, mobsters, general mayhem) with a few over arching character plots that tie the episodes together.
“But that doesn’t sound very sci-fi” you say. And here is where I say, “Now here is where it gets interesting.”
In the pilot, Det
ective Sam Tyler is a NY city detective breaking a major case, in 2008. As he heads back to his car and radios in his location, an oncoming vehicle mows him down. When he comes to, it is 1973, and he walks into a life that has been set up for him: A job transfer to the 125th and a tiny apartment in the East Village. Sam has no idea how he has gotten there and no idea how to get back home. And now he’s a modern cop having to make-do with archaic equipment and pre-politically correct mentalities.
Now let me add in here that the US show has gone in a completely different direction than its BBC predecessor. Which is ideal. While the BBC series ending was by far one of the most amazing I’ve seen, if the show runners want the series to last longer than one season, things were going to have to change.
And the change has been for the better. O’Mara, who I was highly skeptical of from the first images I saw of him, dives right into the role of Sam Tyler. He plays Tyler’s confused and obsessive personality with realism and without being melodramatic, rarely seen in major network prime time these days. He pulls off drugged, insane, devastated and desperate in such a convincing way, it’s hard not to root for him.
Even Keitel, not usually one of my favorite actors, brings a vulnerability to Hunt that was never seen in the BBC series. Part of that is the different writing staff, but also, part of that is Keitel. Though he does bring a brash sense of humor to the show, he still can’t beat Gleister’s wonderfully brutuish version of Hunt.
In the episode, “Home is Where You Hang Your Holster,” we begin to see that Sam is not the only time-traveler around. When he captures a Councilman during a prostitution sting, the Councilman confesses that he’s not even supposed to be here, that he’s from 2009. Once he convinces Sam that he is from the future, the Councilman also reveals that he’s found a way home. Of course he dies before Sam can find out how, but it’s opened up the mystery even further behind Sam’s predicament.
The best thing I can tell you about Life on Mars is the fact that every week after watching this show I always have to say, “I can’t believe how GOOD this show is!” I am endlessly surprised not only that a BBC show is really working over here, but that even with the re-tooling of the show, it is still so well done.
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The piolet did nothing for me personally, however was anybody else distracted by how yellow the show was, it looks like the film was pushed through a process to drown it in a golden glaze
Dear WondrJenn
First. I do respect your superpowers of “TV Review”. So without you knowing it you have helped me with a problem I was facing. I need to freeup some space on my Tivo..I watched the first episode of Life on Mars which i liked but just was not “in love” if you know what I mean. So I now have 10 episodes taking up space.
After your review, it looks like there will be a “Life on Mars” marathon this weekend at my house! Its that or maybe erase my 13 episodes of “Freaky Links”! Nah! Thanks WonderJenn.. you saved the day!
LOL, Glad to be of service NJBEAR. I would really recommend at least getting to episode 7 before making final judgments. That is when the series got truly amazing for me. It could have something to do with a guest spot by Dean Winters (who adds quality to anything he touches). But the story is pretty heart wrenching.
Personally i prefer the british version, but keitel does a good job. Big fan of philip glennister aswell, can’t seem to decide which portrays the character better. I definetly prefer most of the other actors in the british version.
One thing I did leave out of the article is that I do strongly feel that the British version still needs to be seen. I have a deep love for John Simm and Philip Glenister in these roles that borders on obsessive. Is the American version better? No. But it is watchable, and I’m impressed that they haven’t made a total cluster**** of it. :)
I do remember going into the first episode thinking: oh god this is gonna be baaaaaaaaaaaad. They definetly did better than expected :)
I’m glad someone else remebers the first form of the show done in the USA, but not glad it happened
I’ve said it about Eli Stone on here before as well- but I almost wonder if Life on Mars would have made a better movie than tv show. Don’t get me wrong, I adored the BBC version (you tell me there’s time travel and I’m there in general.) but the episodes I liked the best were the pilot, the first series finale, and the second series finale. A lot of the other episodes were interesting- but a couple of them felt more chore-ish watching them. I always thought if they wanted to do anything else with the concept a movie would’ve been ideal.
I’ve always said I wasn’t opposed to an American version of this show, simply because I think the concept works really well in NYC. If the BBC version was an homage to THEIR old 70’s cop shows than the American one had to be an homage to OUR old 70’s cop shows/movies. And I’m no expert on 70’s BBC but I have to think our history in that genre is a little more richer (though correct me if I’m wrong. From what I understand spy shows are to the BBC what cop shows are to American TV in the 60′d/70’s) and I was actually really intrigued by the Harvey Keital and Michael Imperioli casting as they have that look and feel of being a NYC cop in the 70’s. (and lemme just say- a vast improvement over the original pilot which was set in LA and had Colm Meany in it. I love Colm Meany but he was poorly cast.)
I only watched the pilot (and the original pilot when it was leaked on line months prior to the debut) and it didn’t blow me away. I felt the performances were a little stale and suffered from the same thing that bogged down the American Office’s first season and the abysmal Coupling American version- they just reused the same scripts and changed the cultural references. What made Office break out was their divergence from the source and I think that’s what Life on Mars needed.
Well, WonderJenn- I’ll go back and watch the rest of the series now based on your review now that you’ve explained it DID diverge and try giving it another chance.
I like this show alot, but i think this show would be best served as a limited-run series. I think a season or two would be plenty enough to tell this story, and any more would be just stretching things.
Unfortunately the ratings for this show are pretty bad so one seeason is maybe all we get and hopefully the writers can wrap up this story if the series does get cancelled.
I really like the show. The actors are great (Keitel, I mean he’s so bad ass), Michael Imperioli is great (big Sopranos fan here) and I like the lead actor a lot.
And I have a weakness for Miss Gretchen Mol.
And it’s getting really good recently. I do hope they are able to finish things up if it gets canceled, but hope it lasts a second season, although if it’s not doing well following Lost, that’s not a good sign.
Okay. I loved the BBC version so much that I was boycotting this version (a thing I *never ever* do). I could imagine no good coming of it. But.. you’ve convinced me to give it a chance. I’m sure it can’t compare, but if I can temporarily forget the original existed, I can admit I’ll probably enjoy it