Comments | arabian: US Life On Mars -- No 'pull' in the push-and-pull scenario

arabian

US Life On Mars -- No 'pull' in the push-and-pull scenario

Feb 21, 2009 04:38

I could be totally wrong here, but I think that a huge part of the reason that the ratings are so despairing for Life on Mars is Sam and Annie.

( Huh? And very, very slight spoilers for the last episode. )

tv, tanya fischer, life on mars

Comments 5

sensiblecat February 21 2009, 11:01:51 UTC

I've not seen the US version but I can confirm that Sam/Annie connection was there right from the first episode in the original. It ended with him about to jump off a roof and Annie putting out her hand and simply saying, "Stay."

That wasn't quite the only connection to 1973 - there was a growing sense of commitment to the team of co-workers too, and Sam gradually coming to appreciate what was good about the way they did things. But without Annie I don't think the pull would have been quite strong enough.

aroniwen February 21 2009, 15:14:01 UTC

To be fair I only saw one episode of the American Life on Mars (the third?) before throwing down the remote and swearing to avoid it. But I see what you are driving at there are a bunch of things pulling Sam towards staying in 1973, but without Annie to anchor it I can't see it having the weight that it needed. That's part of the difficulty with doing a remake, you have to know when to deviate from the original script if things start leading in a different direction- which I'm sure is not an easy call (especially if you have to deal with actors contracts et al.)

jedi_of_urth February 21 2009, 17:49:16 UTC

Still haven't watch US LoM but to comment of the UK one ( ... )

eolivet February 23 2009, 16:38:43 UTC

I think U.S. LoM botched Annie's role from the start -- so much so that I initially thought she would play a different role than she did in the Genuine Original (with either Sam staying true to Maya, or getting together with Windy -- yes, we both hoped!! :) The fact that they're now trying to paint her as the same character is bizarre to me. Sam has never confided in this Annie the way he confided in the original. She has not been the sympathetic, understanding ear she was before. I believe a huge part of that was giving her a love interest to begin with (which...why? If they were ultimately going to put her and Sam together). Because now, like you said, viewers (or at least you and I) just don't buy it.

This version of Annie works well as a sounding board, as the "skeptic" to Sam's "believer," but strictly in a friendly/professional manner. There's just...no evidence that she's really made that much of an impact on him. And if the show is trying to sell that, I really don't understand what they're doing with Maria Hunt ( ... )

harper47 February 23 2009, 17:09:43 UTC

Excellent theory and I agree. I had a predisposition to like GM because I know her because of her work at the Pirate Playhouse but . . . . there isn't any chemistry at all between them. In fact the only chemistry I see is the chemistry between Sam and Michael Imperioli's character. Now they have chemistry and their scenes together sparkle.

Ah well. I'll keep recording it but since it is no doubt heading for cancellation, I'll probably just wait and watch the episodes in a clump at some time.