Life on Mars

Finally watched the series premiere of the American version of Life on Mars. Man, I was really hoping to hate it.

I love (like, love love love) the original British version. It's an amazing show. (Tragically, only available illegally here in the States.) It's the kind of show that still haunts me and hearing music from it gives me chills. Anyway, with American versions of British shows you can either get a crappy ripoff or something just as good (see, The Office). So far, this is just as good.

The characters mostly have the same names as the British version, which makes me sad. I prefer to think of those original characters as their own entities - I don't want to think of these people as the same people. Especially Gene Hunt. He is amazing in the British version. AMAZING! Here, he's played by Harvey Keitel and just kind of reminds me of Harvey Keitel. I like Chris and Ray in this version though.

The show is about a detective from 2008 who goes back in time to 1973 after being hit by a car. But has he time traveled or is he in a coma? These are the mysteries of the show. Meanwhile, he has to be a cop in 1973 without modern technology. The American version takes place in New York, and right away you can show the hero back in time by showing the Twin Towers. Spooky. With the British version, I definitely didn't pick up on every pop culture reference, being foreign and all. But in this American version there will be more that I can pick up on.

There were lots of details and shots that were identical to the British show. I wonder how much they're going to keep to those plots as the show continues. I liked this, even if it was just because I kept flashing back to the British version. It'll take a couple more episodes before I know for sure. But I didn't hate it!