Life on Mars US Casting News

[Captaindemotion]

I haven't seen the pilot with Meaney, but I would have thought he was a better replacement for Glenister than Keitel. I like Keitel a lot, but for one thing he's too old. Secondly, while Harvey undoubtedly has bad-ass attitude, Hunt should have a sense of humour. He cracks wise as well as cracking heads. I don't think Keitel has the dry sense of humour that Glenister brought to the original - I would have thought that Meaney could have brought it.

As regards Imperioli, the jury is out. He's a bit too young (thus making Keitel look even older - in the original, his character and Hunt were nearly contemporaries) and as someone else said, he's too skinny. That said, he probably has the right attitude and sort of likeable dopiness that the role requires.

I must admit though, that I have lost some interest in this remake of late. Hasn't David E Kelley departed? About the only good news of late was the move from LA to New York - 70s NY seemed a much better fit than LA.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

My only concern with him playing the role of Gene Hunt is that he isn't exactly a young man anymore.

That does strike me as odd because when he goes back in time, he's going back to a time he should remember living through as an adult. So why would he be any sort of fish out of water?

But maybe it's more interesting that way. Different from what I expected, that's for sure.

And with Imperioli in the cast, they're definitely going for an old-school tough-guy vibe. I think this is going to be too testosterone drenched for poor me, but if they amp up the sci-fi aspect, who knows.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

My only concern with him playing the role of Gene Hunt is that he isn't exactly a young man anymore.

That does strike me as odd because when he goes back in time, he's going back to a time he should remember living through as an adult. So why would he be any sort of fish out of water?

But maybe it's more interesting that way. Different from what I expected, that's for sure.

Sam Tyler is the one going back in time, not Gene Hunt... Also, Sam is in his Mid-30s, so he was a child at the time. He remember stuff, but would you really know and understand how things where for adults when you were 5 years old?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Oh, I thought Keitel was going to be the lead and the lead = the guy who goes back in time. Then him being an old fart should be no problem. I like seeing older actors being given big roles on TV shows. There's too much youth-oriented prejudice in TV as it is, and there are huge numbers of older actors who aren't getting good enough roles in movies whose talents would otherwise be wasted. Just look at BSG - the over-40 actors on that show will probably slip into oblivion when it's over and that's a damn shame.

I still don't see how this show could work in the US. The way women are portrayed in the show for the most part, while probably quite accurate for the time, simply won't fly here in the US.

If there's some degree of commentary/perspective on sexism, like "wow they were pigs back then" from the time-travelling character, then I can see them getting away with it.

After all, the current critic's darling and probable best-drama Emmy winner, Mad Men, depicts teeth-grinding levels of sexism, but the style in which it does so sort of gives them a pass. Elizabeth Moss's character for instance is sympathetically drawn and she's the secondary lead character, so we see the sexism from her perspective, even if she's hardly any sort of feminist, so she's not "commenting" on anything. The time travelling aspect of Life on Mars would allow for even more sharply drawn commentary and distance from the other characters' attitudes.

 

[flandry84]

John C McGinley from "Scrubs" would have been my first choice (if,ironically he tuned down his performance just a little).
Failing that,somebody like Ray Liotta...but Kietel,while a fine actor,just seems too intense for the role of Hunt.

Yeah,Gene Hunt is a pretty intense guy,but done with a certain knowing self-deprecation.

 

[cubbie]

I like the British LOM, but I'm praying Keitel doesn't spew lines out like Glenister. They work for Glenister because it's a (mainly) British audience. They wouldn't work for Americans, at all. Look at this site which is full of Huntisms. Americans wouldn't have a clue what he's trying to say or be intensely insulted, and the bad-ass character looses it's impact.

They reckon you’ve got concussion - but personally, I couldn’t give a tart’s furry cup if half your brains are falling out. Don’t ever waltz into my kingdom playing king of the jungle.

Steven Warren is a bum bandit. Do you understand? A poof! A fairy! A queer! A queen! Fudge packer! Uphill Gardener! Fruit picking sodomite!

As a woman, I don't find Hunt attractive. I know he's a sex symbol in the UK, but I have no clue why. He's a jerk as a cop and a jerk as a man, but he has some loose ethics that makes him "good". Keitel is perfect (as long as we don't see his tiny weenie) as a badass.

 

[firehawk12]

Americans have their own vernacular for "gay". Well, to be honest, they lack subtlety and go straight to fag.

If you watch Ashes to Ashes... Hunt's the manly man protector that apparently all women with head trauma want in their lives even though they insist that they are perfectly fine living independently. Yeah.

 

[cubbie]

I totally agree, firehawk! Head trauma is right!

 

[firehawk12]

Yep! But on the other hand, between Gene and Sam, I would hazard to guess that most women would rather choose the abrasive ass rather than the overly sensitive logician.

 

[cubbie]

Sam was at least sensitive! Sam and Annie were cute together.

 

[firehawk12]

Are we going to have a "what's a better LoM-universe" ship battle?!

I do agree though, Annie+Sam is much better than the Ashes to Ashes romance.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Not only was it ridiculous fro Annie to fall for a mental person, but it's criminal negligence that she allowed Sam to keep his badge once it became clear he was living in crazy town.

Rachelle is being wasted on Swingtown. However, at east Swingtown is being produced weekly unlike another show I could mention which has been in limbo since 2006.

 

[N-121973]

I'm currently Rewatching LOM and it seems to me from reading about the US version the problem with it is that its trying to be too much like the UK original. The premise can probably be reworked for most countries, providing they model it after a beloved cop show of that country and era. For instance LOM is modelled after the Sweeney (don't know how many non-British posters will have heard of that show) with healthy dollops of All the Presidents' Men and the original Get Carter thrown in for good measure. Phillip Glenister said he modelled his Gene Hunt after 70s Football Managers like Brian Clough. I don't see any of that translating well in the US.
Now if the US show was modelled after Kojak for instance with Keitel's character based after Theo Kojak and the rest of the cast taking roles similar to that show I could get it. Or Starsky and Hutch with Sam finding himself partnered with someone modelled after Dave Starsky (complete with flash car), I think that could work.
By the way I haven't bought Ashes to Ashes yet, do they mention on the making of documentary which show(s) inspired that one, given Ray and Chris' wardrobe and hair I'd have to say The Professionals.

 

[Jack Bauer]

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/08/lisa-bonet-join.html

Former Cosby Show offspring Lisa Bonet is joining the cast of ABC's adaptation of the time-tripping U.K. cop drama Life on Mars, sources confirm to me exclusively. Bonet will play Jason O'Mara's present-day girlfriend.

Bonet's hiring comes on the heels of another high-profile Mars casting: Earlier this week, Gretchen Mol signed to play O'Mara's circa '73 squeeze, setting the stage for one unorthodox love triangle.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Gretchen Mol is a good actress. Looks like I really might have to check this sucker out. Against all my expectations, they are assembling a strong cast.

As long as they promise to ditch the godawful it-was-all-a-dream ending (a real dealbreaker for me for any TV show or movie besides The Wizard of Oz, really it's a throw-the-TV-out-the-window offense), and it sounds like that's definitely out, who knows, maybe this can work out okay.

I wonder how much Mad Men is going to influence this: a show with a very strong aesthetic attached to a certain period of history, plus a lot of sexism. And Mad Men's probably going to win an Emmy...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

As long as they promise to ditch the godawful it-was-all-a-dream ending (a real dealbreaker for me for any TV show or movie besides The Wizard of Oz, really it's a throw-the-TV-out-the-window offense), and it sounds like that's definitely out, who knows, maybe this can work out okay.

The fact that "It was a dream" didn't mean it invalidated anything in the series though, in the original that is. And in fact "it was a dream" wasn't the end, he killed himself in order to go back, and lived another 8 years in his dream world. Which suggests there may be more to it than that in the long run.

 

[firehawk12]

Well, that's the thing... Alex's subconscious made up that ending. I mean, unless they are actually in another dimension or they actually time travelled...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Well, that's the thing... Alex's subconscious made up that ending. I mean, unless they are actually in another dimension or they actually time travelled...

Well they have suggested that there is "Something more" to Gene Hunt, so unless they're just trying to play up the "mystery", then there has to be more to it.

 

[firehawk12]

I still think it's all Hunt's dreams. First he wanted a best friend, then he wanted a girl.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I still think it's all Hunt's dreams. First he wanted a best friend, then he wanted a girl.

And he's in the 50s?