Life on Mars: the American redux

[BlaRo]

http://io9.com/390242/bbcs-life-on-m...egal-treatment
The Life on Mars remake on ABc, premiering for the fall season.

As a huge LoM fan, I gotta say...it's one thing to bitch about American Top Gear, but now I know where you guys are coming from. This version looks truly awful in comparison.

I'll only watch it for two reasons:

1. Colm Meaney looks exactly like Gene Hunt.
2. There'll be plenty of badass old American cars to ogle at. I'll probably just watch it on mute and fast-forward through the boring talky bits with people.

[jetsetter]

The problem is that even if they brought the British version over hear it would get terrible ratings. British television just doesn't work over here (most British television is terrible anyways so no big loss) so we will get remakes of various programs.

It is interesting to note that the leads in the US version are Irish, Canadian, and Australian.

[essentialatom]

Syndicating the original Life on Mars would be unlikely to work, considering the references and in-jokes to British culture of the Seventies, and observations on how things have changed in this country, so a remake makes more sense for the prospective audience. I'm certainly curious to see what the show is like - the trailer starts off by making it look like any old CSI/Law and Order clone, then it becomes quite cheesy, a bit like Starsky and Hutch.

I certainly don't think that Life on Mars is sacred - few things are - which makes it perfectly valid for a remake or reimagining. If the new one's good, it's good, if it's bad, I still like Life on Mars.

[essentialatom]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

(most British television is terrible anyways so no big loss)

Big words

Surely if the programmes were terrible they wouldn't get remade for you guys

[Lupin_IV]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

It is interesting to note that the leads in the US version are Irish, Canadian, and Australian which is interesting.

Redundancy!

[Lupin_IV]

Originally Posted by essentialatom

Big words

Surely if the programmes were terrible they wouldn't get remade for you guys

You overlooked the 'most' in that statement.
The few good ones there are get brought over or remade.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by Lupin_IV

Redundancy!

It's been a long day.

[Peter3hg]

Now It Sucks To Time Travel Via Head Injury

The American remake of British time-travel show Life On Mars has only just started airing trailers (with the wacky wa-wa pedal music) and it's already in trouble. According to Entertainment Weekly, David E. Kelley (Boston Legal) is out as executive producer, and ABC is bringing in a new team. Not only that, but the entire cast may be scrapped — with the possible exception of star Jason O'Mara. That means no more Colm Meaney as the gruff-but-brutal detective Gene Hunt. This chaos is starting to remind me of last fall's Bionic Woman, which suffered cast changes and behind the scenes shakeups before its launch... and a swan-dive in the ratings afterward. [Entertainment Weekly]

http://io9.com/5014430/now-it-sucks-...ia-head-injury

[Shawn]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

The problem is that even if they brought the British version over hear it would get terrible ratings. British television just doesn't work over here (most British television is terrible anyways so no big loss) so we will get remakes of various programs.

This is simply untrue... maybe you're one of those people who struggle to follow the UK accent.

Many of the most popular shows on American TV had their roots in the UK... such as American Idol and the Office. And US remakes of British shows do work, considering AI and the Office in America are more popular than they were in the UK.

[Dsemaj]

Pre-airs have been leaked to the usual places. I'll give it a go - might be good. The UK version will probably be superior, though

[B33R]

it sux...watched it yesterday...damn! the bluescreen(greenscreen) shots are WORTHLESS

gene hunt is not gene hunt...
the only 2 differences are:
1. the budget
2. the cast(and the cast SUX too...)

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Dsemaj

Pre-airs have been leaked to the usual places. I'll give it a go - might be good. The UK version will probably be superior, though

The UK version really is, although the UK version relied on so many Britisms from the 70s I can see why it's not ideal for a US audience.

Thing is, this US version - I've seen the pre-air - is, well, nothing special. They've taken the plot, the characters, they've practically taken it scene-for-scene and camera-angle-for-camera-angle in some places, yet...it doesn't feel as special as the original. Then again I thought the original was pretty damn good.

So what do I think? Well, for one Colm Meaney is excellent. Keep him. For two, it should less try to be a carbon copy of the original set in the US and instead set out to be its own thing. The Office in the US got good when it stopped copying the UK version. Let this one run, use US ideas and writers, and see what happens.

In the end if the US version is crap it doesn't bother me hugely, I've the UK boxset to go back to.

[BlaRo]

My problem with it, the same as what most have with American TG, is just the cast. Tyler and Hunt had such a great dynamic in the original, the way they constantly played off each other and shared that rapport with each other. They were antagonistic but still respected each other, and there was a whole onscreen chemistry (yeah, it's cliche, but it's true) that comes rarely in the industry. From the clip I saw of the American one Sam Tyler looks as wooden as a Ken doll, and Anne seemed just as two-dimensional. Maybe I was too hasty to judge, but I still don't have high hopes for it.

Not to say that all American shows lack such charisma - The Office took a few seasons to find its stride but now it deserves its #1 spot, showing that American remakes don't always fail. Of course, the pilot episode of that show was also a carbon copy of the original...and as a result it almost got cancelled.

[Firecat]

I haven't seen the Brit version. But I did just watch the pilot of the US version, and I thought it was excellent. Very trippy, but not sci-fi (Which I was expecting it to be). I almost want to go check out the original show now. But if it's the same stories, I think it's better that I don't.

[HotCooler]

Firecat For now - just watch british one. US one is lacking most of the originall's appeal. It's not the story that make this show great. It's actors and their work.

[Cobol74]

BBC's LoM is too British for a US audience - many of the cultural references are lost on them. (Test card F for instance) And I do agree about UK shows (or from anywhere else for that matter) not working in the US. Whether that says something about all the rest of the worlds TV (being crap) or something about the US (mass) mentality I am not sure.

[Dsemaj]

I've got the first season of LoM UK, and I have to say, it is brilliant. To me, the US version will always be in it's shadow, no matter how good it is.

I mean, the US pilot just came off as a bit lame in parts, even before I saw the UK version. The US pilot felt wooden, cliche and unconvincing. The UK version does everything a whole lot cooler, and because they didn't resort to CGI, the set design is a whole lot more convincing. Can't wait to watch Ashes to Ashes

[HotCooler]

Cobol74 Yes, I agree. You may not understand some of the jokes and cultural references. (And I bet I understand even less than US ppl. ) Buy still what you can is more than enough to keep you watching it with your eyes wide open.

[Cobol74]

Being a Brit I am OK with it - just questioned whether foreigners in general, and Americans in particular, would get the best out of it. Ashes to ashes would be easier to get I think.

[Speedtouch]

If I didn't know that was real, I genuinely would think that was a fake take-off video, with jokes no-body understands. It looks so unbelievably bad! And the fact that they have used the same names, but different actors in the US.

It won't be anywhere near as good as British LoM was. John Simm is one damn good actor (sure over time the series' sort of deteriorated slightly, but it still looked better than the US version does at its lowest point), and he managed to portray emotions beautifully. Will the US market even want that kind of emotional rollercoaster ride that we got, or will it just be 'lets kick the door down because its 1973!'?