We know Major Tom's a junkie...

[lozenger8]

People on fandomsecrets are saying Ashes to Ashes is a better show than Life on Mars.

... I don't get that AT ALL. Even if you like it more? It is, in no objective way, a better made show. The beginning was dire, both Ash and Matt admitted that the tone was off in S1, the way it was shot up until S3 was awful, the plot holes were many and gigantic

Comments

[theficklepickle]

People on fandomsecrets are saying Ashes to Ashes is a better show than Life on Mars.

I'm with you on this; I just don't get that at all! There are different things to like about both shows and objectively I don't think there's any real basis for comparison. Life on Mars was the series that established the rules, after all - it did all the world-building (and the character-building) and each individual episode was stronger in almost all respects than any given episode of Ashes to Ashes.

Not that I see Ashes as necessarily inferior overall, or an unworthy successor to the original. In fact I was expecting to hate it and ended up not doing so, but neither did I completely fall in love with it. The moments of brilliance were perhaps fewer and further apart, and some of the minor characters got a bit tedious (I grew to loathe the clown, but then I ended up hating the Test Card girl as well!) but on the whole it was a lot better than I ever thought it would be. Better than Life on Mars, though, it certainly wasn't ... although I

[lozenger8]

They're very different beasts in many ways, but on production values alone, LoM is better than A2A.

(I admit, I still don't quite understand how someone could like A2A better than LoM, but I have more tolerance for that than saying it's a better product.)

[chelseagirl]

Isn't the idea of fandomsecrets that you *know* you are saying something that is contrary to the commonly held opinions?

I still have not seen most of Ashes to Ashes; when I finally sat down to look at some of the s. 2 files, they didn't seem to want to play on my computer. And I can't seem to care that much; I found Alex hard to warm up to in s. 1, and Gene and the guys just wasn't a solid substitute for Sam and Annie and Gene for me -- take out 2/3 of the characters I'm invested in, and my interest slides.

[lozenger8]

It's not the secret-maker, though, it's other people. That's why I'm confused.

I liked Shaz a lot, but I missed Annie so, so much, and they didn't explain her disappearance at all.

[wolfy_writing]

Yeah, I think some people are not good at the objective quality versus personal preference thing and/or don't like to bother. (I tend to be in the second category. It's a lot of mental energy and second-guessing myself for a conclusion that will only lead to me making irrational negative judgements about my own tastes, so I don't do the "objectively better" thing unless there's a special reason.)

[lozenger8]

I know I have the best tastes, so this isn't an issue for me ;)

[wolfy_writing]

True. You're pretty much perfect.

[lozenger8]

*nods*

Glad someone else out there appreciates that.

But in more seriousness, I don't have guilty pleasures, but I can usually say, "oh yes, this could be better edited/written/shot, however it has all of THIS going for it..."

[basaltgrrl]

It may simply that some of the cadre of"Galex" fans are active participants on fandomsecrets, and thus are skewing the results. Clearly LoM has had a longer-lasting fandom presence, and as you say, objectively it was better put together--the scripts, the filming, etc.

[lozenger8]

I totally forget people ship Gene/Alex 99% of the time, hahaha. Oh, dear.

LoM is so much tighter written, yeah. And I found it more affecting, though I admit a lot of personal bias goes into that.

[draycevixen]

I'm sure you just ran in to a legion of Gene/Alex fans... or fans of 80s music... or people who saw A2A first... or Ray & Chris fans... or people who have a marked preference for shows with a central female lead... Really, it could be any number of things.

Like you, I just don't understand confusing "I prefer..." with "It is necessarily better because I prefer it." I love many dodgy things but I *know* they're dodgy, like Pros and dislike many things where I recognize the quality of them they just do nothing for me.

[lozenger8]

I found it weird that it appeared to be more than one person.

We are very similar in this regard. :D