abc's life on mars
ABC's version of Life on Mars ... I was dubious of an American adaptation of the British series, since we have a stunning tendency to ruin good British things. However, with the scrapping of Colm Meany as Gene and the replacement of him with Harvey Keitel, I decided I could look at this optimistically. And I love Gretchen Mol, so I was built up with excitement by the premiere tonight.
Some thoughts as I watch!
- Con: Lisa Bonet. I can't look at her without thinking The Cosby Show all the way. Fortunately, knowing the story, I know I don't have to look at her very often.
- Jason O'Mara: He's larger than John Simm, but still as much of a pussy (pardon my French) as Sam.
- Seventeen minutes in and Sam has cried three times. Win.
- Back to 1973, he's even wearing those ridiculous burgundy trousers.
- Harvey Keitel: This was dangerous territory. I love Philip Glenister's Gene, who reminds me greatly of my father (in the terms of frequently and wantonly threatening to beat the crap out of people and, sometimes, actually doing so), but Keitel has impressed me. Complete with his garishly white Guv shoes.
- Michael Imperioli: Oh my, it's Ray Carlin all the way! My dislike of Ray as a character aside (I wonder if his PTSD will come up in later storylines?), could they have made this usually mildly attractive man any less appealing?
- Jonathan Murphy: Very true to Chris. He's adorkable. I keep forgetting and being startled when he has an American accent!
- Gretchen Mol: May I say in advance how much I love Gretchen Mol? She has the same pin-up prettiness that she was rocking as the notorious Bettie Page, albeit rather more innocent looking. I'm not sure why they changed Annie's last name (from Cartwright to Norris), but I still like her performance, even if she's not as cute as she was in the British series.
- 'No Nuts' Norris. Ouch. I guess that's why they changed her name. =/
- 26 minutes in, Sam cries again.
- Please stand by, but where's the test card girl?
- Wait, why is Nelson an overweight middle-aged white guy now?
- Gene's drinking an Irish coffee? I respect that, but he needs a flask already. At least it doesn't have whipped cream.
- Sam, you don't want to throw down with Gene. Even if he is shorter than you.
- LOL, Sam, don't introduce forensics to the 70's. Props for getting Annie involved, though. Does she get to be a detective later?
- Sam and Annie have awesome psychobabble chemistry, but I'm not sure I'm 'shipping that yet.
- "Who dreams about being yelled at by a closet feminist member of the 1973 Women's Police Bureau?"
- Oh, Gene and Sam, inadvertently working together - and jumping over the desk. YES. And Gene's driving is still bad. Doubly YES.
- "There's your warrant!"
- The chase, the chase~
I am a somewhat incoherent writer type now. Waiting through some political ads for the end ... also, an Eli Stone preview. I've never seen the show, but I'm glad to see Jonny Lee Miller doing something productive with himself. (And by productive, I mean not such classics as Dracula 2000.)
- Crazy Sam is crazy ... aaaand, Gene to the rescue!
- I don't remember it ending like this ... I guess that's one place they did deviate. Hmm.
- Sam's crying again, score!
- Oh ... is it over now? Okay. Until next week, then.
Other thoughts:
The soundtrack is still good, the pacing is actually a little bit better than the British series (which was bloated with the extra 10-15 minutes), and it's a little predictable to me right now because it's staying so close to the original (why mess with a good thing?). For now, they have material to play with from the British series, but given that American series are 22-26 episodes per season, I don't know where it will go and if it will become like beating a dead horse with time. I will say that I'm curious as to what route they'll go - is he dead, in a coma, back in time? Jason O'Mara told TV Guide they'd come up with 13 different ideas as to why Sam could be back.
However, for now? I know what I and exfatalist (as long as she likes it) will be doing Thursday nights at ten. :)