An archive of articles about US television programmes and production.
US TV
Season finale: Life on Mars (US)
First there was the shock and outrage. How dare the Yanks remake the beloved British crime show Life on Mars? How could it ever be as good?
Then there was the trailer for the US pilot, which provided the answer: “It couldn’t.”
Then there was the pilot, which provided another answer: “It really, really couldn’t.”
Then there was the near complete recasting, shift in location to New York and new plots, which provided yet another pilot and a new answer: “Oh, it’s not too bad, actually.”
Anywat, after jessying it about in the schedules, doing minimal marketing and forgetting to let newcomers know what had been going on in previous episodes, ABC cancelled it, but gave the new producers the chance to wrap it all up.
Given they didn’t want to use the BBC version’s ending, so fans wouldn’t be able to look it up in advance on the Internet, they decided to give us a brand new one instead. So during the final episode, which aired on Wednesday, we found out just why US Sam Tyler had travelled back in time – and this time, it wasn’t because he was in a coma.
I’ll give them something – I wasn’t expecting what they came up with. Big spoilers ahoy.
