Life On Mars ABC USA

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Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

ABC is introducing their own rendition of Life on Mars in the fall line up.

It premiers October 9th.

I'm not convinced this show Americanized can work.

The shows will probably be available on the ABC.com website after they are originally broadcast.

Life on Mars ABC
Out Here in the Fields (Series Premiere)
Oct 9, Thu 10/9c
Modern-day NYPD Detective Sam Tyler finds himself suddenly hurtled back to the tumultuous times of New York City in 1973 when he's hit by a car while chasing down a criminal.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

The first pilot they made was apparently terrible, with modern day political correctness stifling the depiction of '70s racism and sexism, thus robbing the show of its central conflict, the one between Sam Tyler's modern attitudes and Gene Hunt's neanderthal ones. The fact that Hunt sometimes turned out to be right made the BBC series even more morally complex. But Harvey Keitel was a big fan of the original and apparently made bringing the new version closer to the source material a condition of his coming on board, so I have hope for it yet.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

Hope you are right.

I don't think Harvey Keitel is the kind who would back down in the face of PC BS.

My main concern is if by some act of the gods ABC gets 'Life on Mars' right, there were only 16 shows for the originals complete UK run. What are they going to do to stretch it out for a first season of 23 shows?
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote:Hope you are right.

I don't think Harvey Keitel is the kind who would back down in the face of PC BS.

My main concern is if by some act of the gods ABC gets 'Life on Mars' right, there were only 16 shows for the originals complete UK run. What are they going to do to stretch it out for a first season of 23 shows?
Probably what they did for The Office. Only the first episode of the American version was adapted from a BBC episode, after that, they started using all original scripts.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

So what did everyone think? I thought they did a good job of Americanising it. The people responsible understood what made the original work and what needed to be changed for an American audience, which is the key to a good remake. I thought it was worth moving the location to New York just for that shot of
Spoiler
the brand spanking new World Trade Center.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by katied »

I've been watching parts of it(ER is on at the same time)but ER is getting boring so I may switch over to Life On Mars full time as of next week.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

Sorry to say I missed the début. Completely forgot about it :(
ABC has the full episodes on-line.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

I've become fond of the Americanised series.

In my opinion Jason O'Mara could take on characters written for Mel Gibson and do well with them.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote:I've become fond of the Americanised series.
Glad someone is. Isn't it struggling in the ratings?
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

Kristatos wrote:
Blowfeld wrote:I've become fond of the Americanised series.
Glad someone is. Isn't it struggling in the ratings?
Is it? It may be. I downloaded the shows through a pay per-episode internet service and have yet to watch the show on ABC.
They put it after Lost, I would hope the Lost audience would get Life on Mars.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote: They put it after Lost, I would hope the Lost audience would get Life on Mars.
Well, looking at the ratings for each episode on the show's Wikipedia page, it looks like the hiatus, and showing the following episodes out of sequence (with the cliffhanger at the end of the episode just before the hiatus not being resolved in the episode immediately following it) has taken a chunk out of its ratings.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

Kristatos wrote:
Blowfeld wrote: They put it after Lost, I would hope the Lost audience would get Life on Mars.
Well, looking at the ratings for each episode on the show's Wikipedia page, it looks like the hiatus, and showing the following episodes out of sequence (with the cliffhanger at the end of the episode just before the hiatus not being resolved in the episode immediately following it) has taken a chunk out of its ratings.
That was annoying. I thought I started the wrong episode :x I assumed it was becasue ABC played them out of order, if it was intentional it was boneheaded.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote:
Kristatos wrote:
Blowfeld wrote: They put it after Lost, I would hope the Lost audience would get Life on Mars.
Well, looking at the ratings for each episode on the show's Wikipedia page, it looks like the hiatus, and showing the following episodes out of sequence (with the cliffhanger at the end of the episode just before the hiatus not being resolved in the episode immediately following it) has taken a chunk out of its ratings.
That was annoying. I thought I started the wrong episode :x I assumed it was becasue ABC played them out of order, if it was intentional it was boneheaded.
Makes me wonder if someone high up at ABC isn't deliberately trying to kill the show, for whatever reason.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

What did you make of the spin-off Ashes to Ashes?
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote:What did you make of the spin-off Ashes to Ashes?
Haven't seen it yet. It starts on BBC America next Saturday, I think.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by katied »

BBC America is going to start showing Ashes To Ashes in March. It takes a while, but BBC America eventually gets the interesting TV shows from the UK.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

The Americanized Life on Mars has enticed me to the spin-off. I'll give the first episode a look see.
I think BBC America is the only outlet the States have for Torchwood too.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

US Life On Mars cancelled

Bummer. At least the remaining few episodes will air and it won't just get yanked from the schedules like some shows.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Blowfeld »

Kristatos wrote:US Life On Mars cancelled

Bummer. At least the remaining few episodes will air and it won't just get yanked from the schedules like some shows.
Pretty much inevitable when I start to like a show :(

Some consolation that the remaining shows will air. Here's to hoping they included an ending for the series. Although I seriously doubt the Americans will go for the suicide conclusion of the original.
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Re: Life On Mars ABC USA

Post by Kristatos »

Blowfeld wrote:Some consolation that the remaining shows will air. Here's to hoping they included an ending for the series. Although I seriously doubt the Americans will go for the suicide conclusion of the original.
Don't see why not. What's it gonna do, damage the ratings?
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