Life on Mars USA [** Spoilers **]

JP Liz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GBHvkoDnOE

I hope we get it over here

Two great Irish actors for leads

pickarooney

Complete idiocy.

Mr.Nice Guy

It looks bloody woeful. How could they have screwed this up so badly?

Skinfull

Lets have a look at it before we blow it out of the water!

Flashraziel

It is every bit as terrible as I feared. I LOVE the original series. Best TV show in a long time but this is horrible.

Terrible Casting, badly written (Expected Better from the writer of Boston Legal) Horrible acting. O'Mara has no charisma and While I love Colm Meaney, he is NOT the Gene Genie.

All of the humour is gone from the show. It's Horrible.

They tried to make it a gritty drama which just makes the whole Time-travel angle seem ridiculous.

JP Liz

Is Mr. Michelle Pfeffier - Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley still involved????????

humanji

JP Liz wrote: »

Is Mr. Michelle Pfeffier - Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley still involved????????

I think he's just an executive producer or something, so he may not have a whole lot of input into it.

Flashraziel

As I said in another topic

Flashraziel wrote: »

It is every bit as terrible as I feared. I LOVE the original series. Best TV show in a long time but this is horrible.

Terrible Casting, badly written (Expected Better from the writer of Boston Legal) Horrible acting. O'Mara has no charisma and While I love Colm Meaney, he is NOT the Gene Genie.

All of the humour is gone from the show. It's Horrible.

They tried to make it a gritty drama which just makes the whole Time-travel angle seem ridiculous.

Dodge

JP Liz wrote: »

Is Mr. Michelle Pfeffier - Ally McBeal and Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley still involved????????

He's just title role now. He helped develop the pilot.

I'll wait until I see the final broadcast pilot before I'll comment on it

Skinfull

Skinfull wrote: »

Lets have a look at it before we blow it out of the water!

Okay now that I've seen it...I'm pretty sure "we're gonna need a bigger boat"
Oh man, it was painful!
Shame I was hoping Meany could bring something enjoyable to it. Sadly not.

Basq

A casting update on this today:

Looks like Christopher Moltisanti from 'The Sopranos' is due to play Ray Carling's character.

"The Sopranos" alum Michael Imperioli is returning to series television as co-star of ABC's new drama "Life on Mars."

Based on the BBC series, "Life" centers on Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, finds himself mysteriously transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective.

Imperioli will play Detective Ray Carling, a colleague of Sam's in 1972. He is a rough, tough sexist who has never heard the phrase "politically correct."

The casting of Imperioli is part of the revamping of the project after the departure of David E. Kelley, who penned the original pilot for ABC.

"Life," from 20th Century Fox TV, ABC Studios and Kudos, is executive produced by new writers/showrunners Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg as well as Jane Featherstone and Stephen Garrett.

The series, which will be filmed in New York, is slated to air in the post-"Grey's Anatomy" slot at 10 p.m. Thursdays in the fall.

"Mars" extends Imperioli's relationship with ABC. In December, he starred in the network's telefilm "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's for One More Day."

Imperioli, repped by UTA and TMT Management, won an Emmy for his role as troubled mobster/aspiring filmmaker Christopher Moltisanti on HBO's "Sopranos."

Could be interesting but can't imagine him as Ray.

Mr E

basquille wrote: »

"Life" centers on Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara)

I think there is one major problem with LOM, and I've just highlighted it.

Unless he got acting lessons in the last year, the show is going to suffer.

Sherifu

Mr E wrote: »

I think there is one major problem with LOM, and I've just highlighted it.

Unless he got acting lessons in the last year, the show is going to suffer.

Never heard of the guy but it definitely needs someone good in Sam's role to carry the show.

JP Liz

Source IMDB

Movie tough guy Harvey Keitel has signed up to star in his first TV series after joining the cast of U.S. drama Life On Mars.

The hit British show, which has been recast for American TV audiences, will also feature Jason O'Mara and The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.

The Piano star Keitel will play the leader of a no-nonsense homicide task force.

The show revolves around O'Mara's cop character, who wakes up in the 1970s after he's knocked unconscious in a traffic accident.

pickarooney

Not that I care, but does that mean Meaney got the boot?

lostexpectation

can't be bad as the female uk version

JP Liz

pickarooney wrote: »

Not that I care, but does that mean Meaney got the boot?

Yes i think Meaney is gone as Hunt and now Keitel is playing Hunt

Gretchen Mol joined the cast as Annie (another recast change)

kevmy

Apparently David E Kelley is gone, it's now being set in New York instead of LA and they are going to do a grittier version than the camp pilot.

I had sources yesterday but I'm too lazy to remember them now

JP Liz

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/life-on-mars/lisa-bonet-finds-life-on-mars-21803.aspx

Production for the ABC series Life on Mars has finally started, after a long delay because of recasts and staff changes. And, with it, they have announced that Lisa Bonet, otherwise known as Denise Huxtable on the 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show, has joined the cast of the upcoming series.

Bonet takes on the role of Maya Daniels, the present-day girlfriend of lead character Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara). This could mean an interesting love triangle—Sam gets hit by a car and finds himself in 1973, and while trying to get back to his actual time period (and to Maya) he becomes close with cop Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol). The two girls will never meet, but quite ironically, Annie's efforts to get beyond menial jobs and be treated as a real cop will affect Maya's efforts to become a cop as well. Bonet joins other co-stars such as Jonathan Murphy and Harvey Keitel.

The 40-year-old actress was best known for her role as Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show. The second daughter of Cliff and Clair Huxtable (Bill Cosby and Phylicia RashÄd), she began her run in the show as the popular high school student whose love life is marked by her constantly having new boyfriends. She later leaves home to attend college—a storyline which was explored in the spin-off sitcom A Different World, which explored racial topics that The Cosby Show wouldn't have otherwise. Bonet returned to The Cosby Show in 1989, already portrayed as an airhead, with ideas her family couldn't comprehend.

Bonet also appeared in several films, the most notable of which include Enemy of the State, High Fidelity and Biker Boyz. Her inclusion in the Life on Mars cast marks her first television role since the 2002 television movie Lathe of Heaven.

Life on Mars premieres on October 9 from 9pm on ABC.

JP Liz

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lifeonmars/index?pn=index

Basq

JP Liz wrote: »

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lifeonmars/index?pn=index

Christ.. anyone watch the video on that site? What has that scruffy tramp done to Christopher Moltisanti?!

lostexpectation

disappointed for colm meany that he got dumped

JP Liz

Jason O Mara interview with TV Guide

In Life on Mars (Thursday, Oct. 9, 10 pm/ET), ABC's remake of a BBC series, present-day NYPD officer Sam Tyler (Irish actor Jason O'Mara) gets hit by a car during a particular high-stakes case and wakes up in 1973. Just like that. His journey back to 2008 is hampered by a precinct full of rogue cops, including Harvey Keitel and The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli, and a capable though before-her-time policewoman, Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol), who becomes Sam's closest ally. Plus, there's the tricky fact that nobody quite believes him. It's a nutty premise, but Hollywood has shown us that 1970s New York cop stories are rich with dramatic possibility. We talked to O'Mara and executive producer Josh Appelbaum about relocating the show from Manchester, England, how O'Mara mastered the local accent, and, well, what the heck this show is really about.
TVGuide.com: How did you deal with the challenge of adapting this incredibly popular BBC series? Did you feel a responsibility to honor it in any way? Or change it?
Josh Appelbaum: We were all huge fans of the BBC show. And, you know, it being a cop show set in 1973 gave us the opportunity to move the show to New York. But then we were like, what speaks to that time? If we can get, you know, a Harvey Keitel-type, that would be fantastic -- and we got Harvey himself, and if we could get a Michael Imperioli-type, that would be a dream, and we got Michael. The best thing about bringing it to the States is being able to put these quintessential New York actors in that world.
Jason O'Mara: We're still trying to present it in the spirit and tone of how it was on the BBC but, you know, there are very specific differences. Some of the stories are similar, but once you see Episode 2, you'll realize that we're taking it in a slightly different direction.
Why? What happens in Episode 2?
Appelbaum: Literally the first scene of Episode 2 is Sam in the squad room late at night standing by a blackboard. Annie comes in and finds him and he's written down these 13 things on the board and 12 of them are different [explanations of Sam's dilemma]. Sam's doing what the audience will do, which is to say, what the hell is going on here? Is he in a coma? Has he traveled through time? Is he dead and in purgatory, heaven or hell? Is there some interdimensional ripple here? He goes through the entire list, and each one of the options will be explored in the first 13 episodes. There was a certainty in the British version that Sam was in a coma; that certainty does not exist in our incarnation.
In the pilot, though, Sam seems to be communicating with 2008 using different forms of technology -- the doctor's on the TV, Maya is on the car radio -- and they seem to indicate that Sam is in a hospital in a coma.
O'Mara: To clarify, 2008 communicates with Sam; he doesn't communicate with 2008.
Appelbaum: That is a big part of the rules of the show. One of his frustrations, his goals, is to actually get a "two-way line" somewhere.
TVGuide.com: Have you guys paid attention to other period shows, say, Mad Men or Swingtown, for ideas on how to be period-correct?
Appelbaum: Yeah, I'm a huge fan of Mad Men. It was really important to us that we not do a send-up of the '70s, but something that felt like it lived organically in the time. It's not all about lava lamps and bellbottoms and that kind of stuff.
O'Mara: Also, it's not just how 1973 actually was back then, but how 1973 was portrayed in movies of the time, you know, Serpico or The French Connection. It evokes something nostalgic and romantic, while also being sort of gritty and dangerous.
TVGuide.com: How large a role will Lisa Bonet have in the series? [Bonet plays O'Mara's 2008 girlfriend.]
Appelbaum: In the second episode, there will be a visitor that will come into Sam's life that will open up that mystery. One of Sam's goals is to return to his love separated through time, Maya. I'll just say that Lisa is going to appear in several episodes in the beginning.
TVGuide.com: Jason, did the New York cop accent give you any trouble?
O'Mara: I talked to a couple of dialect coaches, one of whom I work with on set every day. We didn't want to do a stereotypical New York accent, where everybody's talking all gangster-y or too cop-like, you know? We wanted to give it a subtle flavor. It's harder to do a subtle accent of any region than it is to do an immediately recognizable, you know, Italian New York accent or a Jewish New York accent or an Irish New York accent. I've tried to blend a few things together.
TVGuide.com: The music choices are pretty fun. Are you simply trying to create a '70s vibe or are you trying to add additional commentary through the songs?
Appelbaum: We're definitely not playing any songs that weren't recorded between 1970 and 1973. But we didn't want to make it a juke box, you know, a "greatest hits" show. We were really looking to find more obscure songs from the era, but by familiar artists. We tried to find deeper cuts on their albums, in the whole spirit of the show, which is just a little off.
O'Mara: There's definitely commentary in every song choice. I'm totally stunned every time I pick up a script and see what music we're using. I download it and put it on my iPod and I listen to it going to work. If there ever was a TV show that needed a soundtrack album, it would be this one.

Basq

I still think Harvey Keital was a horrific casting choice for Gene Hunt.. maybe he'll change my mind, but really doubt it!

TarfHead

from www.latimes.com

"I'm not wholly convinced by the American "Life on Mars." Some of the new dialogue is overripe ("You're here to make me curse the day my father's sperm asked my mama's egg if it could have this dance"), and there's a tendency to explain the obvious. And, while I am happy to see Keitel grace TV with his presence, I'm not yet sure he's big enough, physically, for this part. I might be wrong about that. And I'll be following with interest to see where it all goes."

TarfHead

A good start last night, according to metacritic

http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/lifeonmarsusa

mike65

Hmmm, I'm a bit more optimistic. Not that it ever needed remaking of course. There is something about New York that makes it intrinsicaly better than LA for a retro themed show. Or is that just me?

Mike

pickarooney

mike65 wrote: »

Hmmm, I'm a bit more optimistic. Not that it ever needed remaking of course. There is something about New York that makes it intrinsicaly better than LA for a retro themed show. Or is that just me?

Mike

Definitely agree, LA has no soul (from what I gather from a million TV programs).
Why didn't they make it in Detroit, though? Cars and music from the 70s... ?

Mr E

Apparently the first episode is an almost scene for scene remake of the original UK Episode 1. With 22 episodes due to air in season 1 alone (6 more than UK season 1 and 2 combined), they're going to have to pull some big strings to keep it interesting. It will be interesting to see how far the new content deviates from the original.

TarfHead

Mr E wrote: »

Apparently the first episode is an almost scene for scene remake of the original UK Episode 1.

So too was the first episode of the US Office. And they're now in Season 5 and have carved out their own identify, seperate to the original.

It can be done

CiDeRmAn

Anyone else who can't wait to see this?
Going to watch the first one right after this post, see if they have messed too much with the formula.

Of course, I kinda know what they already did to the show, seeing as I have the original pilot, and I'm sorry, I was all ready to like seeing Colm Meaney on TV again and sure he'd be brill but he just wasn't the Gene Genie.

Anyway, off now to see the new try at the thing, with Mr. Keitel in command, fingers crossed

Mr E

There was alread a LOMUSA thread, CiDeRmAn..... threads merged.

Looking forward to hearing your review... I'm afraid to watch!

CiDeRmAn

It's very very good.
Suprised me, given that the original pilot was awful, playing around with the formula, no Annie, the team comprised of a more traditional US cop line up, much more CSI than The Sweeny!
But now, thank the gods, they went back, made some hard changes, no more Mr Meaney, and went right back to the source, the BBC show that started it.
While it's not a carbon copy of Life On Mars, it is, I would say, as close to the original as possible, whilst changing those things that had to change.
To start with it's now set in New York '73, and the language that may have upset US censors has been removed, it still manages to give you the idea that these are hard bitten cops, certainly Harvey Keitel as Gene does that almost on his own, the rest of the squad is there too, with a thankfully reinstated Annie, a similarly smart and capable cop who is reduced to the go-fer simply by being female, similar stories then as Sam tries to get her to see what she can do, how she can overcome the obstacles of a sexist world, and the same incredulity from Annie, as she wonders what planet he's from!

A nice return to the screen too for Lisa Bonet as Sams future love interest, also maintaining the themes are the talking tv characters, addressing Sams "real world 2008" predicament.

Music, also sets the scene, with the whole thing feeling nicely familiar to seasoned Gene Genie fans, as the opening episode really does feel nicely done, fears of a travesty abated in this viewers mind anyhow.
The best comparison is with The Office, where they took a UK show, did the series opener as an almost scene for scene copy of the UK original and then took it off on it's own path, I'm hoping they do the same here.

I'm sure better and more verbose folk will be able to turn a more critical eye on the series, but I'll be looking forward to more, new old tales from NYC circa '73.

lostexpectation

what wierd gratituos ipod placement

Mr E

lostexpectation wrote: »

what wierd gratituos ipod placement

Heh... 40% of that sentence was spelt incorrectly. Good going.

Looking forward to watching this later...

Basq

Mr E wrote: »

Heh... 40% of that sentence was spelt incorrectly. Good going.

If you were being pedantic, you could say 60% since iPod should technically be spelt with a capital 'P'

Not gonna bother watching the new version of the pilot since, bar the actors, it's essentially the same plot and shot-for-shot scenes throughout. Though if I'm wrong, let me know.

chalkitdown1

basquille wrote: »

If you were being pedantic, you could say 60% since iPod should technically be spelt with a capital 'P'

Not gonna bother watching the new version of the pilot since, bar the actors, it's essentially the same plot and shot-for-shot scenes throughout. Though if I'm wrong, let me know.

It's about 95% similar to the uk first ep. There's a couple of scenes that they added, one of which was a great addition, imo.

JoeyJJ

I enjoyed it alot, can't wait for the next episode, what night is it aired in the US?

Basq

JoeyJJ wrote: »

I enjoyed it alot, can't wait for the next episode, what night is it aired in the US?

Thursdays, I think.

J-blk

JoeyJJ wrote: »

I enjoyed it alot, can't wait for the next episode, what night is it aired in the US?

Basquille is right - Thursdays. New episode airs tonight:

http://epguides.com/lifeonmars%5Fus/

JoeyJJ

Happy days something for Friday evenings...

Sherifu

As much as I like Meaney he was pants in that original teaser. I still have a bad feeling about where this is going. Hopefully they'll pull it out of the bag.

lostexpectation

somebody said they were worried keitel was going to be short and i was like no way, and then i saw the show and i as like damn he is short, and somebody in the guardian i think criticised it for placing it in newyork, the original show was in manchester and a downtrodden post industrial second city, apart from the social attitudes that was the other key part of the first life on mars, he said it should be in somewhere like baltimore.

Basq

** MINI RANT ALERT **

Well balls... here was me thinking the second episode would be an original storyline (a lá 'The Office').

But no, it was a rehash of an existing UK episode, and it was pretty poor IMO. Both myself and my girlfriend were cringing and fidgeting throughout it.. it was a tad boring, over-acted by O Mara and Keital (seriously, watch the scene where Gene tells Sam to clean up June's blood - it's really woeful).

And it was the first episode I'd seen with the new casting choices and I wasn't too happy with them to be perfectly honest. Keital appeared angry with none of Gene's likeability and O Mara just seemed out of his depth in the role. But on the plus side, always good to see Lee Tergesen back on our screens.

I really don't think I can take this show seriously if it continues rehashing scenes and storylines from the UK version (the US Office had it right but all original storylines after the pilot).

I mean just as a comparison.. watch the UK version of the "swimming pool getaway" scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qD1tkEsgDA

Perfect use of music ('Live and Let Die'), humour ("get off him, he's got a veruca!") and it shows how likeable and watchable both John Simms and Philip Glenister are as actors.

And now watch the US version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP69cMwgt14

Notice the lack of everything that made the original scene it's lifted from fantastic.

I really wanted to enjoy it.. but unless it goes forward independently with original storylines from now on, it'll always be a poor comparison in my eyes!

** END OF MINI RANT **

Would love to know what everyone else thought though..

Mr E

Interesting, basquille... I watched episode 1 tonight, and thought it was a vast improvement on the pilot that was leaked earlier this summer. Jason O'Mara was more natural (and more likeable) as Sam. Apart from some terrible, out of place (and out of character) dialogue from Keitel's Hunt, it was a really solid opener to the series.

I'll try and get around to the second one over the weekend.

Disappointed that they're sticking with copies of UK episodes though. I was hoping episode 2 would be something new. I'll still watch with interest. What I saw of episode 1 tonight makes me want to see more, and thats good enough for me.

Basq

Mr E wrote: »

Interesting, basquille... I watched episode 1 tonight, and thought it was a vast improvement on the pilot that was leaked earlier this summer. Jason O'Mara was more natural (and more likeable) as Sam. Apart from some terrible, out of place (and out of character) dialogue from Keitel's Hunt, it was a really solid opener to the series.

Might give the reshot pilot a watch so.. but pretty damn disappointed with episode 2.

mancduff

Saw the first episode and allthough a remake of the original i thought it was a good remake especially

the twin towers shot

but after seeing the second episode i agree with basquille, F in terrible cringe inducing tripe.

The fight in the hospital was very poorly done carryonesque

just can't see harvey keitel pulling hunt off. Hopefully as many have said it pulls off in its own direction because i keep comparing it to the original when they're doing the same scenes and it doesn't hold up to it IMO. (and wots with the 90's daytime soap ally mcbeal piano crap during tender moments, really pulls you out of the seventies)

Basq

Put on my Life on Mars - Season 1 DVD this evening and watched the second episode. And it made me realise how much of it was lifted for this episode.. don't get me wrong, there was some scenes left behind and original scenes added but nothing worthwhile!

mancduff wrote: »

F in terrible cringe inducing tripe.

The fight in the hospital was very poorly done carryonesque

Also from the UK version, it didn't change much:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG2f34GAnTg

Maybe was a tad more up-front with punches and violence.. but the "fight" around the hospital room was supposed to be somewhat "slackstick-y". Still, it comes down to the likeability of Hunt and Sam (and that's something the performances from Keital and O Mara lack).

J-blk

The second episode apparently took a massive 25% drop in ratings from the premiere:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/10/17/life-on-mars-ratings-falling-to-earth/

Given how trigger happy US networks are with cancellations, it might not be around long enough to produce any original episodes (if that was ever the intention of the writers though...).

Sherifu

Lol at Imperioli and Keitel in the clip basq posted. The state of them.

ixoy

Caught the pilot in the U.S. and thought that, while fairly well executed, it was still just an inferior copy of the original show's pilot.

Keitel has none of Glenister's charisma and just seems angry without that cocky charm that worked so well. O'Mara just does not have that quiet intense presence that Simms brought either. Others in the cast are okay, although I can't take their Ray substitute seriously as I keep hearing Chris' voice (from "The Sopranos") in Michael Imperoli.

At least they kept the "Life on Mars" playing when Sam gets transported back - I honestly would have flipped the station if they hadn't. There were hints also that it would follow the original show's first season arc with some of the visions, although I'd like to be surprised!

As to lower ratings, I imagine they're fairly keen on it doing well - it was pretty well advertised over there, including a big billboard at Time Square. On an aside, there's an excellent Dexter advertising campaign there.