In the US: Thursdays, 10pm, ABC. No start date yet
Ah, Life on Mars. Everyone’s favourite BBC show about time-travelling cops who are really stuck in a coma (there’s more than one, you know). Harking back to bygone days of politically incorrect cops shouting "Gov!" and beating up crims before going to the pub for a swift pint or seven, it gave us lovable rogue Gene Hunt to grudgingly admire while we simultaneously gloried in nostalgia and looked at the recent past with just a touch of smug superiority.
But, oh the wailing and gnashing of teeth when it was heard that US network ABC was going to remake it. "Bloody yanks. They’re just not going to get it," screamed a thousand armchair and pub xenophobes around the land. And when that trailer came out, many a person could see their point.
Even ABC saw their point after giving the pilot a look-over. At the moment, it’s busy relocating the whole thing to New York from Los Angeles and is recasting.
So what, you might ask, is the point of reviewing this, the original pilot? Well, I think it’s instructional. Firstly, given the script itself probably won’t change that much, it’s interesting to see what changes have been made and will probably make it through to the series proper. Secondly, it’s interesting to see whether the trailer made the pilot look better or worse than it actually is. And thirdly, is Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt anywhere near as good as Philip Glenister, assuming he doesn’t get recast?
Continue reading “Preview: Life on Mars (US)”
