WOW! Did anyone else catch opening epsode of "Life on Mars"

[Hallie Ephron]

Last night we watched the opening episode of a series, originally from the BBC, on public television "Life on Mars." John Simm is brilliant, truly brilliant playing a detective who gets hit by a car and (is he in a coma or is it for real) ends up in 1973... I was breathless by the end. Whooping and hollering at how perfect the ending was. It was one of the most stunning TV dramas I have ever seen. I gather it won lots of awards and American producers tried to remake it here but it failed.
As I said, Wow! 

[I. J. Parker]

Sounds great. I hope it isn't HBO.

[Hallie Ephron]

It's public television - I get it and I pay $5 a month for cable TV...which is to say I don't get squat.

[I. J. Parker]

A woman after my own heart! Thanks. Will check it out.

[Julie Morrigan]

I loved Life on Mars- great stuff! The first episode sets the standard and it stays just as high throughout the series. (John Simm is terrific as The Master against David Tennant's Dr Who, too.)

[Hallie Ephron]

Julie, where did you see it? Sounds like you saw the whole series.

[I. J. Parker]

Alas, we don't seem to get it. Must be a local thing.

[Julie Morrigan]

Hi Hallie - I live in the UK, so this is homegrown for me. The one I missed, and that my US-based mates have told me is wonderful, is the Red Riding Trilogy. That's one for me to catch up on!

[Charles Breckenridge]

I loved the concept, but watching the US version, I lost interest as it veered into quirky sci-fi.

There was an excellent book with the premise that a man would never die if he stayed on Manhattan island. He moved around when his youth became noticeable against his friends or lovers' aging and he had all this very cool knowledge of Manhattan, but that series only lasted a few episodes. The concept of time travel offers so much to work with, it seems there would be more success with these TV series.

[Hallie Ephron]

Haven't we seen this happen often, US filmmakers take a perfectly fabulous French/British/etc. drama and create a mediocre version. The opening episode certainly didn't feel sci-fi. It reminded me of Memento. Or The Sixth Sense.

I missed the Manhattan-bound time traveler.

"The concept of time travel offers so much to work with" -- Funny you should say that, when the opening episode ended my husband commented that he wondered how on earth they could keep writing episodes that kept the concept fresh and working.

[JackBludis]

I liked the American Remake and I watched every episode. They nailed the early seventies as far as I am concerned, except that they crammed in too many artifacts, trends, etc. I believe the tried to cover some of the sixties and all of the seventies into a neat box.

I think it was targeted for eight episodes, but they crammed it into six, and at the fifth and sixth episodes, you could see the cramming.

[Richard Sanders]

I agree with you, Jack. I couldn't miss an episode of the ABC version, not with that cast--Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol, Jason O'Mara. Only episode I hated--the last one. I just couldn't buy the whole secret life on Mars premise.

[JackBludis]

I forgot about the ending. Yes, it was pretty lame wasn't it. They probably planned the whole eight episodes and figured on the show continuing into another season. I'd bet that the ending was tacked on just for a way to conclude it.

I really didn't like the ending of the British Version either, too downbeat.