Okay, so last night the US version of Life On Mars premiered on ABC. For those who don't know, Life On Mars was a BBC show about a 'noughties' detective who is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. He discovers he's still a cop, still has detective work to do, and has to solve the rather meta-phyical puzzle of how he got thjere and why. Did he travel in time? Is he dreaming this while in coma? Or has he simply gone insane? Quite the trifecta. The original, set in Manchester, UK, is a bleak view of the early 70's. The majority of the population are unionized factory workers, or shopkeepers, or bouncers in gentlemen's nightclubs. Women are still finding their place in society. Racists openly taunt and belittle non-whites to their faces without consequence. Yet the show also manages to slide a massive slice of warm nostalgia into this huge shite sandwich. It's a violent, it needs to be un-PC world, that portrays the world as it really was back then, one episode at time, walking the line between showing us how far we've come and how much we'd love to go back to live there. The show itself, however, is a cop show, based on a cross between The Sweeney and the original Get Carter. The Independent describes it as a "time when hair was long, lapels were wide, and police brutality came as standard." That pretty much sums it up.
The US version transplants the action to New York's East Village, which is apropos, as many of its denizens never made it out of the 70s anyway.
So, what did I think?
I didn't think it was all that bad. There were a few key moments where they hit it perfectly. Firstly, well they actually shelled out the cash to get Life On Mars and Baba O'Reilly on the soundtrack at the exact same points as the original. The shot of the World Trade Center that seals the deal that he's in 1973 is spot on, almost brought tears to Mrs Ski's eyes. All my hopes that they make this a kind of gritty, urban crime drama with a little wit thrown in, like a Starsky & Hutch, or Kojak, seem to have been fulfilled. It looks fantastic, a ton of attention has gone into the detail, and the CGI work that gives us New York 1973 is seamless.
Script-wise... Most of it was taken directly from the first episode of the original. There were obviously the changes in slang, and nicknaming Annie "No-Nuts" was a perfect hearkening back to 1977's The Choirboys (about dysfunctional and corrupt LA cops) who had a character called No Balls Hadley. Otherwise, it was a little hit-and-miss. There was too much exposition, not enough wit or one-liners, and no tension at all really between Tyler and Hunt, which is the key to the success of the show. Maybe they'll build that up more, but poor Keitel, who is seriously starting to look his age (69), didn't have much to work with in this pilot. His entrance, I have to admit is pretty classic, though... He's just standing there in the doorway to his office fanning himself - cut to Hunt gut-punching Tyler to show him who's in charge. However, it just felt a little rushed, and no surprise, as they had to get five plots that previously had an hour to breathe into 42 minutes which they didn't quite manage to do, so the impact of the event is lost somewhat.
Acting-wise, everyone was better than expected. Harvey Keitel needs to be tougher, but, as I said, they didn't give him much to work with. I was extremely impressed with Michael Imperioli as Ray, though. He seemed a lot more threatening and uncaring than Keitel, and it looks like they may turn much of the Tyler/Hunt tension into Tyler/Carling tension.
Music was good. Direction sucked, though. Too much focus on Tyler, and not enough background interplay between the other characters. This might change as the series progresses and they move away from the original scripts, but this should be much more of an ensemble piece than last night's episode was.
All in all, I'm still optimistic about it. I think the show had a good start, but I'm not sure if it would have hooked me instantly quite the way the BBC version (and I saw that on a plane... I *needed* to know what happened as soon as I landed!) did. One major plus to it is the look of 1973 New York. Although it seems a little too clean to be real, the slightly grainy, earth-tone color correction of the world gives you a great feel for 1973 NYC. I only hope enough people keep watching it to make it what it should be, an edgy 70's cop show with a 2008 detective in it.
