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US Life on Mars gets a thumbs-up

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:09:04 +1300

Jason O’Mara as Sam Tyler, with Chevrolet Chevelle SS

US Life on Mars got off to a good start. The script was neatly changed (though I wonder about the whole Colin Raimes kid scene at the end replacing the Sam on the rooftop one), and it still worked. Jason O’Mara gives a far, far better performance than he did in the first attempt, and there were good edits to get the programme down to the 42-minute broadcast time allowed by ABC.
   He has allowed himself to be more human, less beefcake, and while John Simm is hard to beat, O’Mara has come far closer with an honest portrayal of Sam Tyler.
   The relationship between Sam and Maya in the US version is softer, less distant, compared with the original—which gives the American Sam a greater motive to want to get back from 1973.
   Harvey Keitel’s Gene Hunt is not as present as Philip Glenister’s was in the original, but he has more screen presence than the first American Gene, Colm Meaney.
   Gretchen Mol shines and gives a deeper portrayal than the pilot’s Rachelle Lefèvre.
   American Ray and Chris (Michael Imperioli and Jonathan Murphy) had relatively small roles, as in the original.
   The set design gave 1973 the muted, dark tones that most associate with that period—again, a great improvement on the Kelley pilot.
   And the scene with the World Trade Center in 1973 was one that trumped the Manchester original. Sam, in the UK, sees a billboard for a motorway that hasn’t been built; here, he sees the Twin Towers.
   In all, the Americans have done well and it should silence many in the UK who were prepared for the worst.
   It is a far better adaptation than the British attempts at Who’s the Boss?, Married with Children, and Outrageous Fortune, and, I would guess, Bewitched and Law & Order.
   And it is a far better adaptation than many British shows that have been altered by the Americans, such as Fawlty Towers and Steptoe and Son.
   There were a few changes even to the US preview scenes, such as the ‘throwdown’ line (now uttered by Sam, not Gene). But it hung together very well and as the American producers wish to take a different direction with the series’ mythology, it allows for that, too.
   Nelson’s role has been reduced dramatically, plus he is now played by a white actor.
   Some scenes were eeriely familiar, even with the songs chosen (‘Life on Mars’, obviously, but ‘Baba O’Riley’, filmed as a mirror image to allow for the American traffic going the opposite way), which were identical to the UK choices. We also did not have an Americanized version of Gene’s ‘Anything happens to this motor’ line.
   While the original is still superior, this was a solidly made first episode.
   Unlike the original, I won’t be playing this over and over again, but I will be happy to watch it if it aired here.
   Congratulations to ABC, Appelbaum, Nemec and Rosenberg, and the rest of the folks associated with the remake.

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Last pre-broadcast reviews for US Life on Mars

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:58:18 +1300

The Los Angeles Times has both a video and a written review of tonight’s US Life on Mars première. Mary McNamara finds it largely positive; Robert Lloyd has a few minor reservations. Hop over to the site to see a few more clips; by (my) morning we’ll all know how it went for the new crew behind the show.

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Third actor cast in Spanish Life on Mars

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:15:27 +1300

Manuela Velasco

The Spanish have signed a third actor to join the cast of Vida en Marte, the remake of Life on Mars. Actress Manuela Velasco, niece of Concha Velasco, will join Ernesto Alterio and Antonio Garrido (Spanish Sam and Gene respectively) and play the Spanish version of Annie Cartwright.
   The new series will be set in 1977, and if my Spanish is correct (which it is unlikely to be!), Gene Hunt will be called Gallardo in the remake.
   The David Bowie song will not be used.
   Look forward to the new intro: ‘Me llamo Sam Tyler. Tuve un accidente y me desperté en 1973 ¿Estoy loco, en coma o he viajado en el tiempo? Pasara lo que pasara es como si hubiera aterrizado en otro planeta.’ Maybe it won’t be so literal.

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US Life on Mars: ‘You are surrounded by angry bastards!’

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:45:21 +1300

ABC has made a ‘Starter Kit’ to introduce people to Life on Mars, beginning this Thursday. The clip below shows many scenes familiar to fans of the original, and compared with the Kelley effort, it looks very good. Gene Hunt’s most (in)famous line gets changed by one word, but Appelbaum and Nemec, the new producers, seem to have hit the formula correctly. Importantly, there appears to be social commentary hidden within the show, which the Kelley pilot lacked.
British fans may take this to be an equivalent to the old BBC site, which is still up. Just that broadband has moved on a bit since the original series’ début in 2006.

Life on Mars US starter kit

A second clip has emerged, this time of Sam’s arrival at the 125th Precinct. Again, it is very familiar, and it is established early on that he has transferred from ‘Hyde’. By Chris’s discussion with Sam, it is Hyde Park in New York, as I had guessed. Harvey Keitel has the personality to carry Gene Hunt’s character, and Jason O’Mara is finally less beefcake compared with his first outing.

Life on Mars US episode 1 Sam arrives

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First review of US Life on Mars online

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:15:02 +1300

Someone has seen American Life on Mars already: Kelly West at Cinema Blend, who gives it 3½ stars. A lot more photographs on the page as well. Ms West makes no comparisons with the UK original and gives away nothing we don’t know already, but for American viewers, she does evaluate how suitable the show is airing after Grey’s Anatomy. There is, interestingly, one comparison to Journeyman, my favourite American show last year.

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US Life on Mars publicity shots revealed from ﬁrst episode

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:41:03 +1200

Spoiler TV has some more publicity shots from the US Life on Mars, and here we can see some of the effort that has gone in to making the American version reasonably faithful to the British one. I have only chosen five for commentary; Spoiler TV has far more.

Lisa Bonet as Maya

Haven’t seen Denise Huxtable for a while. Lisa Bonet has a recurring, guest-starring role as Maya Daniels, Sam Tyler’s present-day girlfriend. In this respect you can see the potential for the storylines relating to African–Americans and mixed relationships, in the same way as the original covered the topic in relation to Ugandan Asians (Archie Panjabi was the original Maya Roy).

Sam in the 125th

Sam (Jason O’Mara) doesn’t ask for a ‘PC terminal’ but the ad did show he had similar, albeit Americanized, dialogue as he arrives at the 125th Precinct of the NYPD. The set is far more 1973 than the original remake’s attempt.

Michael Imperioli as Det Ray Carling

Michael Imperioli’s portrayal of Ray Carling is more in line with Dean Andrews’: cheeky and an opponent to Sam’s arrival in the precinct.

Melissa Silver as Suzie Tripper

Melissa Silver has a guest-starring role in the pilot as Suzie Tripper, and like her British counterpart (Jane Riley as Dora Keens), has to spend time in the lost-and-found to help Gene and Sam with their enquiries.

Annie has a psychology degree

And despite Gretchen Mol’s character Annie Norris having a different surname to Liz White’s, the briefing scene where Sam gets into the psyche of the killer appears to be far more faithful to the original than David E. Kelley’s attempt, which seemed more like Jason O’Mara trying to seduce Rachelle Lefèvre (the second Annie Cartwright) in front of the department.
So, no real surprises in the storyline of the première episode in October, but it will be very interesting to see how the episode hangs together with the action transferred from Manchester to New York (by way of Los Angeles).

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More US Life on Mars footage, in the new ad

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:19:17 +1200

It’s the new US Life on Mars commercial! (FDA warning: contains 90 per cent new ingredients.) There’s new footage of Sam being hit by a car, this time in New York, and the look certainly is closer to the original, albeit Americanized. I am actually more encouraged by this than the first trailer with the David E. Kelley-produced clips.

Life on Mars new spot

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May the Wilberforce be with you

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:28:53 +1200

Marshall Lancaster’s best line in last night’s Ashes to Ashes on Prime was cut. I can understand the need to cut for advertisements in New Zealand and we will always argue on what is appropriate and what is not, though if you are my age or older you may wonder why the last line was missing. I apologize in advance to anyone who finds this offensive: it is poking fun at the behaviour of a more homophobic time. [Postscript for New Zealand readers: the comments contain a spoiler. Do not read on if you do not want to know.]

Ashes to Ashes - Talking Ray ... into being Gay !

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Life on Mars US shows off set

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:15:25 +1200

For US Life on Mars fans, hop over to the official page at abc.go.com/primetime/lifeonmars/index for a walk-through of the American Sam Tyler apartment set, set in the lower east side of New York City. It looks the part and has that depressing feel as the original. Another little touch that they have got right second time around.

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Mel Brooks meets Cary Grant

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:41:58 +1200

Melvin Kaminsky meets Archie Leach, as told to Johnny Carson.

Mel Brooks on The Tonight Show

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