Life On Mars: "The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler" 10/16

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Why is everyone acting like the original was some untouchable artistic achievement?

Well, fans always do.

I liked this a lot - very funny, and the cast is universally good. Keitel is just about perfect for this.

My caveat is that the policy story itself is a bit obvious and strained - you could see the secretary-as-inside-guy bit coming from the moment she was shot, and the whole scheme played out in an implausibly convenient manner. I get the definite feeling that police mystery stories are not the point of this series, though.

Oh, and love the new neighbor.

 

[firehawk12]

I'll keep an eye out for the UK original though. I tend to enjoy their programming.

I dare you to watch Bonekickers.

I watched the whole series... I think too much of my brain has dribbled out of my ear over the years, because I didn't think it was as terrible as other seemed to think. Same goes for Robin Hood.
I am in no way saying it was good, but it doesn't seem any worse than a thousand other shows.

I watched two episodes and I just couldn't stand it anymore... I'll say that the US version of Life on Mars is better than Bonekickers, made by a couple of producers from the original Life on Mars.

Yup, that's a stretch.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I dare you to watch Bonekickers.

I watched the whole series... I think too much of my brain has dribbled out of my ear over the years, because I didn't think it was as terrible as other seemed to think. Same goes for Robin Hood.
I am in no way saying it was good, but it doesn't seem any worse than a thousand other shows.

I watched two episodes and I just couldn't stand it anymore... I'll say that the US version of Life on Mars is better than Bonekickers, made by a couple of producers from the original Life on Mars.

Yup, that's a stretch.

I know it was a huge disappointment, especially considering the creators. The acting was mostly bad, and the stories were stupid, and I have no idea why I watched the whole series.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I know there's only been two episodes so far, but I totally love this show. It's awesome. I hope it lasts ten seasons. I'm sticking with it to the end, I've decided that already.

Loved it.

Why is everyone acting like the original was some untouchable artistic achievement? It was a great show... but the new version is at least as good.

I'll take George Lucas Raped my childhood for 500 Alex.

Ain't that the truth.

I just wish we wouldn't be dividing ourselves into armed camps so soon, y'know? I realize that fans of the UK version are going to hate this one, I fully expect that. Now as I said, I've never seen the original, so I have no basis for a comparison. I do suspect that a large part - not all, but some - of the hatred for the US version is simply because it's not the original. It's sad, really. God forbid we should poke holes in the 'remakes always suck' cliché, right?

(I also realize that most of you UK'ers are going to claim that I only like this version because it's the first one I saw, or that it's set in New York, or both. I suppose that's a valid claim. But now that I *have* seen the US version, I would at least be willing to give the UK one a chance, if I somehow got a big raise at work and was then able to afford the cable programming tier that would get me BBC America. )

And Sam's neighbor is totally hot, veggie/druggie lasagna notwithstanding.

 

[Aragorn]

I wonder if Sam is taking into account that he's still himself in 1973, with a job that was waiting for him, ID and everything.

And there has to be some events he can point to before they happen to convince blondie he's telling the truth.

 

[stj]

Speaking as someone who hasn't seen the original, the verdict is below average.

The idea that Keitel's Gene is some sort of bad ass when 1.) he's can't bother figuring out who the insider at the station is because he's suffering Sipowicz Syndrome and 2.) he trades punches for laughs (Hippy Dippy was plenty humorous enough) and 3.) he absolves Tyler for going to the ADA is ludicrous. But his key character is supposed to be bad ass! It's more like whitewashed, when it comes to his relations with Tyler. Presumably we are supposed to enjoy the drowning etc. of bad guys all the more, since he is uncontaminated by being mean to Our Hero. Blech, to quote some one or other.

Plus, it is even more incredible to see other characters blithely accepting Tyler's ravings, than it is to read that they did. And he is not in a coma or on a drug trip, either in 2008 nor in 1973, and he should know it. I'll try one more week.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder if Sam is taking into account that he's still himself in 1973, with a job that was waiting for him, ID and everything.

I'm sure he is. It's for this exact reason that Sam *should* expect that he is in a coma. How else could he possibly explain it? It's certainly more plausible than actual time travel brought on by automobile impact.

 

[Timby]

But now that I *have* seen the US version, I would at least be willing to give the UK one a chance, if I somehow got a big raise at work and was then able to afford the cable programming tier that would get me BBC America. )

I don't think it plays on BBC America; the show's been over for a few years, now. But the DVDs are readily available on our side of the pond.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But the DVDs are readily available on our side of the pond.

They are? Who sells them? I have never seen them in the actual stores in this area. And on Amazon, the only version available is a Region 2 import (my player is not regionfree).

 

[Timby]

Son of a bitch, that's my mistake. My local Borders has a pretty big BBC / imports section, and I could have sworn I've seen the DVDs there. Random hallucination, I guess. I'm sorry about that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ 'Sokay. Although if I did have a regionfree player and was to be looking for any imported TV series on DVD, it is far more likely to be this.

 

[Timby]

To be fair, it's a pretty easy process to flash the firmware on your computer's DVD-ROM drive to be region-free.

 

[James Cole]

^ 'Sokay. Although if I did have a regionfree player and was to be looking for any imported TV series on DVD, it is far more likely to be this.

If your DVD player is less than 3-4 years old, there is a strong chance it can be made region free by typing in a code from your remote. This site has a list of the codes under "DVD hacks".

Oh, just bought the first season of Charlie Jade myself. I got the Australian version, which is region free but in the PAL format. $24 US shipped if you're interested.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

One thing about the show taking place so long ago is that at his age Sam has no significant personal memories of the time. He might know a few major historical events, but beyond that his information will be limited depending upon how much attention he's paid to various movies and the talk of older people around him - unless he was really, really into history.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ 'Sokay. Although if I did have a regionfree player and was to be looking for any imported TV series on DVD, it is far more likely to be this.

If your DVD player is less than 3-4 years old, there is a strong chance it can be made region free by typing in a code from your remote. This site has a list of the codes under "DVD hacks".

My player (Sony BDP-S300) has no hacks.

 

[Pingfah]

Those things Keitel pulled out of the safe weren't microdots, they were blotters

 

[stj]

One thing about the show taking place so long ago is that at his age Sam has no significant personal memories of the time. He might know a few major historical events, but beyond that his information will be limited depending upon how much attention he's paid to various movies and the talk of older people around him - unless he was really, really into history.

Unless the series has the insane premise that Sam is <25, any time travel theory can be eliminated by adult Sam visiting child Sam and family. It is profoundly false that he wouldn't think about visiting them. Whatever the UK show was, this one is mainly about the joy of watching Harvey Keitel beat on people.

 

[Chris3123]

So after seeing the pilot, who's staying onboard and who's jumping ship?

I am most definitely sticking with it. I love this show.

 

[Maestro]

The original LOM has been run on BBCA. They ran a Second Series marathon the Sunday prior to the US version's premiere. However, other than this, they don't seem to be good about rerunning it.

Son of a bitch, that's my mistake. My local Borders has a pretty big BBC / imports section, and I could have sworn I've seen the DVDs there. Random hallucination, I guess. I'm sorry about that.

The Borders to which he refers does indeed have an outstanding BBC & imports section. JKTim, you may have indeed seen DVDs for LOM there. Region 2 DVDs that they may have obtained by some sort of lucky mistake.

 

[diankra]

One thing about the show taking place so long ago is that at his age Sam has no significant personal memories of the time. He might know a few major historical events, but beyond that his information will be limited depending upon how much attention he's paid to various movies and the talk of older people around him - unless he was really, really into history.

Unless the series has the insane premise that Sam is <25, any time travel theory can be eliminated by adult Sam visiting child Sam and family. It is profoundly false that he wouldn't think about visiting them. Whatever the UK show was, this one is mainly about the joy of watching Harvey Keitel beat on people.

The UK show became about the joy of seeing Philip Glenister beat up people too (while shouting 'Armed Bastards!')!
But in both cases, Sam is back in a time when he was about three/four years old (pretty sure that int eh US pilot he states that he was bborn in 1969, which is straight from the UK version) - a time when your memories aren't coherent, just flashes and impressions without any context. Like, oh, say, a girl in a red dress who he remembers without knowing why... ;-)
If they follow the template of the UK version, Sam will encounter his parents, and even himself, and find that they aren't as his childhood 'memory fragments' has him remembering them.