Other people

Not many surprises when I read at IO9 this morning on US Life on Mars about a casting call:

Fletcher Bellow (28–30 yrs old) In 1973 he is one of the first African-American detectives in the NYPD. Bellow manages to use his brains and sense of humor to navigate the system, and climb the ladder. He even manages to make peace with his bigoted colleagues on the force. In 2008 he will become Sam Tyler’s mentor on the force. Looking for an actor with a lot of personality, charm and humor …

It looks like a British story will be used in the US series.
   However, a bit more disturbing was this change to proceedings, according to the ABC website:

At home in Sam’s apartment building in the East Village, there’s Windy, a free-spirited, post-hippie chick who can teach Sam a thing or two about the cultural revolution taking place in front of his unbelieving eyes.

   Not sure who this is based on. Nelson the barman is still there (albeit played by a Caucasian-American actor) so I guess Windy is the Life on Mars equivalent of Arthur Fonzarelli, Cosmo Kramer or Steve Urkel. Note how they, too, are typically referred to by one-word names.
   Maybe the character is based on Windy Miller from Camberwick Green?