Life On Mars

[CBStew]

I can't watch Gretchen Mol without picturing her scampering around in the altogether as Bette Paige

[Kermit, B.]

I can't watch Gretchen Mol without picturing her scampering around in the altogether as Bette Paige

Lucky you.

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

TV needs a cop drama set in the 70's.  The set pieces on Mars are fantastic.  The muted color tones gives it a nice Barney Miller type feel.

I'll just add this to the list of shows I watched that have been canceled.  It'll be right before Dollhouse on my list.

[TDubbs]

Who is the guy that ate Cousin Larry?

[TDubbs]

Did this version end the way the Eurotrash one did?

[Tank]

Did this version end the way the Eurotrash one did?

I only ever saw a couple episodes of the Eurotrash version.

Did that one end in 2035 on the real Mars with Sam as an astronaut searching for life?

If so, then yes.

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

You know..I really liked the BBC version.  It was much better, until the finale.  But this version was pretty good too.  Especially the last 5-6 episodes.  The weakest link was Keitel.  He just wasn't a good Gene Hunt.  The other characters were good enough for supporting roles, and I think O'Mara did an excellent job playing sane/crazy/confused throughout the show.  And the ending was 100 times better than the BBC version.  It actually made sense.  The scene with Sam, his mom, and Sammy was awesome. 

[Waco Kid]

I thought the ABC version got stronger as the season wore on. I also thought the ending was good, it tied everything up and was believable.

[Kermit, B.]

Whoa, whoa.  You guys liked this ending?  In my opinion, that ending was the biggest "Fuck you" to the viewer since Dallas' dream season.  The whole damn show was about two things: (1) whether 2008 or 1973 was reality, and (2) whether Sam was going to choose to live his new life in 1973 or return to his old life in 2008.  That ending basically said, "Joke's on you!  NEITHER 'reality' was real."  It then proceeded to completely take Sam's choice out of his hands.  Yes, he said he wanted to stay in 1973 on the phone, but that wasn't even an option.  I think that ending was an insult.

I loved the BBC ending.  I thought this one was an absolute joke, and completely threw out the entire point of the series in exchange for a "bet you didn't think of THIS" moment.

[TDubbs]

Whoa, whoa.  You guys liked this ending?  In my opinion, that ending was the biggest "Fuck you" to the viewer since Dallas' dream season.  The whole damn show was about two things: (1) whether 2008 or 1973 was reality, and (2) whether Sam was going to choose to live his new life in 1973 or return to his old life in 2008.  That ending basically said, "Joke's on you!  NEITHER 'reality' was real."  It then proceeded to completely take Sam's choice out of his hands.  Yes, he said he wanted to stay in 1973 on the phone, but that wasn't even an option.  I think that ending was an insult.

I loved the BBC ending.  I thought this one was an absolute joke, and completely threw out the entire point of the series in exchange for a "bet you didn't think of THIS" moment.

How did the BBC one end?

[Tank]

I caught a couple episodes of the second season of the BBC version on OnDemand a while back, but no more than that.

Seemed decent enough, though, so I had intended to check out the American take but never bothered until Lost started up again.

Now I regret having missed most of it and kind of want to go back and watch the whole thing beginning to end.

But Kerm's right... While I don't know how the Brit version ended, the ending to this one was too much of a Dallas/St. Elsewhere cop out. I was expecting something a bit more 12 Monkeys-ish.

Still, aside from that, I liked it a lot.

O'Mara and Imperioli made the show.

[Kermit, B.]

Whoa, whoa.  You guys liked this ending?  In my opinion, that ending was the biggest "Fuck you" to the viewer since Dallas' dream season.  The whole damn show was about two things: (1) whether 2008 or 1973 was reality, and (2) whether Sam was going to choose to live his new life in 1973 or return to his old life in 2008.  That ending basically said, "Joke's on you!  NEITHER 'reality' was real."  It then proceeded to completely take Sam's choice out of his hands.  Yes, he said he wanted to stay in 1973 on the phone, but that wasn't even an option.  I think that ending was an insult.

I loved the BBC ending.  I thought this one was an absolute joke, and completely threw out the entire point of the series in exchange for a "bet you didn't think of THIS" moment.

How did the BBC one end?

SPOILERS:







Sam basically abandons his 1973 gang in the middle of a gunfight to return to 2004.  When he gets there, there's a great scene where he's at a meeting and doesn't realize that he's stabbing himself in the finger with a pen, to the point of making himself bleed.  When he sees this, it reminds him of a time in 1973 when Annie slapped him and said, "Can you feel that?  Then, it's real."  He goes to the roof of the precinct and throws himself off.  He wakes up back in 1973, and helps the gang out of the jam they were in.  Presumably, he spends the rest of his time in 1973, while back in a coma or dying in 2004.  It was a terrific ending, in my opinion.

[ChuckD]

Whoa, whoa.  You guys liked this ending?  In my opinion, that ending was the biggest "Fuck you" to the viewer since Dallas' dream season.  The whole damn show was about two things: (1) whether 2008 or 1973 was reality, and (2) whether Sam was going to choose to live his new life in 1973 or return to his old life in 2008.  That ending basically said, "Joke's on you!  NEITHER 'reality' was real."  It then proceeded to completely take Sam's choice out of his hands.  Yes, he said he wanted to stay in 1973 on the phone, but that wasn't even an option.  I think that ending was an insult.

I loved the BBC ending.  I thought this one was an absolute joke, and completely threw out the entire point of the series in exchange for a "bet you didn't think of THIS" moment.

How did the BBC one end?

SPOILERS:







Sam basically abandons his 1973 gang in the middle of a gunfight to return to 2004.  When he gets there, there's a great scene where he's at a meeting and doesn't realize that he's stabbing himself in the finger with a pen, to the point of making himself bleed.  When he sees this, it reminds him of a time in 1973 when Annie slapped him and said, "Can you feel that?  Then, it's real."  He goes to the roof of the precinct and throws himself off.  He wakes up back in 1973, and helps the gang out of the jam they were in.  Presumably, he spends the rest of his time in 1973, while back in a coma or dying in 2004.  It was a terrific ending, in my opinion.

I agree with this Kermit post.

[Kermit, B.]

What do you guys think of Gene's stupid white shoe hitting the surface of Mars?  Is 2035 yet ANOTHER fake reality?  I don't think that makes the ending any less stupid, but it's something else to ponder.

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

Here's how I see it (SPOLIERS BELOW)....

The original ending was terrible (or should I saw the last 10 minutes ruined it).  The whole run of the show was Sam believing he was in a coma and trying to get back to 2004 (ie. wake up from his coma).  So Sam makes a choice to "wake up" by leaving the gun fight (because he wants to go home so badly).  So far I'm good with how it's playing out.  Turns out, Sam longs for 1973 once he's out and about in 2004.  So he "decides" to go back by jumping off the roof of a building.  Now, had he decided he didn't want to live in 2004 and committed suicide (and actually died) as a result of wanting to go back, I would've loved that ending.  But the fact that he can apparently control whatever it was that sent him to 1973 (he goes right back to where he was when he walked out on them), was lame.  He shouldn't be able to control it.  He should've decided to stay (because he grew to care about these people), or he should've left and not been able to get back.

In the new series, the ending resolves all of the weird things he saw, his father issues, his personal issues and his relationship issues.  At no point was Sam ever in control of what he was going through.  There was no mysticism.  The points you're referring to (1973 vs 2008, going back vs staying) don't apply to this Mars show, it's carryover from the original.  The issues in this Mars show ended up being Sam working out his.  His wanting to stay was simply a symbol of his resolving his issues.  When he awoke in the shuttle, every regular character was there (explains why they were with him at the 125), Windy was explained, his father issues were resolved, he discovers that he has deep feelings for Annie, it explains Hyde, the 125, Gene Hunt (although that was corny), the rovers...  I personally like that he grows up to being an astronaut after being into them as a kid.  I thought it did a much better job of being consistent within the show than the original did.