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'Life On Mars' on ABC HD

39K views 470 replies 105 participants last post by  vice86 
#1 ·
I was thinking that this should just be a cool throwback show. But thinking that through, I can see where some could find that idea clunky or "old-timey", so I guess that's where the "travel" aspect comes into play (at least in the head of lead character). That's one minor thing I don't care for already. So now I'm wondering if he'll travel back and forth, a la Desmond from Lost. At least those throwback ABC graphics in one of the trailers were cool.


The show may turn out to be very good (its gotten acclaim from previewing critics). Then again, it could backfire as did Daybreak. Anyways, I'll watch, if only for Harvey Keitel alone; he's got some excellent one-liners. The other little quibble I have is about its timeslot; I don't have a reliable DVR right now and 10PM is really past my bedtime. Nevertheless, I'm definitely watchin' the pilot.
 
#380 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharp1080 /forum/post/16179970


Tom,


Were you referencing my post? If not then please disregard this. H Haller asked about the ending and I replied it's different that's all. If it had been the same you know the board would be lit up with complaints.

Wasn't complaining about spoilers. Just warding off anybody who might offer one! And folks have been kind . . .
 
#381 ·
Perfect ending. LOVED it. It was obvious by all the clues left throughout the season, this is where they were heading from the beginning. The show, while thought provoking, was very lighthearted. So, I think the end fit quite nicely with the feel of the show.


I will certainly miss it.
 
#382 ·

Quote:
Yeah, but St. Elsewhere's ending was cool; the whole thing was in the head of one autistic boy; great ending!

St Elsewhere... if I remember correctly- many fans (including me) felt "cheated" by that crazy- out of left field- ending.

Yes, it was clever and fantastic- but totally unnecessary. There was never a "mystical" aspect to St Elsewhere- so to introduce that element in the final episode was just out of place for a straight out medical drama.


Life On Mars US- judging by the mixed reaction here- it looks like a Soprano's type "love it" or "hate it" result. I imagine if you hate the ending, it kind of taints the whole series. If you love the ending... it just kind of reinforces how you feel about the whole US run.


I watched it live on Wednesday, and as I indicated in my earlier post- loved the ending. My wife and kids watched it last night from the TiVo... they thought the ending was absolutely outstanding. They couldn't stop talking about it after the show. They already asked me to be sure to have all the episodes on the server cause they're going to watch all the episodes again hunting for clues that may hint at the ending



PS... our overall favorite scene without question was the closing shot of Gene's white loafer making the (sure to be) famous first human footprint on Mars.
 
#383 ·
I'm "OK" with the ending.

Unlike some, that think the ending would have been fitting for a 1 episode show, ... I think the opposite.

Any problems with it seem to stem from the fact that this ending was supposed to be revealed 50, 70 or more episodes "down the road" from now...


They instead had to cram it unexpectedly into this last episode.

Yes, this is where they were going ..

The hints given so far, "Spaceman", Toy rocket, "Project Aries", Views from space, the mars rover visions, ect ...

I could see, in future episodes, how they would have done things like slowly elevating "noNuts" to "commander" like status, develop a much stronger Father/son relationship w/ Gene, after this real father story arc was done, more development of know-it-all Windy ect...

All leading up to a more satisfying 2035 reveal.

Also, it seems obvious that a "regular" episode was slightly modified, & filmed, & the ending added .. I'm sure , given more time, they probably had better ideas on how he would "get back" & transition from '73 to '35, & have a more satisfying stop in '09 .....
 
#385 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by gwsat /forum/post/16180657


I agree that the ending of the U.S. version of Life on Mars was all right. While it was somewhat flawed, I thought it superior to the very dark and ambiguous ending of the British version. Here, at least we had an understandable and mostly satisfactory resolution to the story, which is more than you can say for the BBC version.

The producers had stated in various interviews that they didn't want to have the same explanation as the BBC series had. They didn't want anyone to just look up the BBC series on wikipedia and figure out what the ending would be. So, if you had read any of those interviews (or heard the podcasts) you knew that it would be different. I'm glad that they did something else.


The chosen ending does explain just about everything we saw in the series. The big surprise was that 2008 was also "not real." In fact, 1973 was more "real" than 2008 because 1973 had people he knew playing the characters he was involved with in 1973. If it had gone for more seasons, it probably would have had close to the same last few minutes, but we would have seen more of 1973 and it could be that the reveal at the end might have been more smoother. I don't know whether we would have had most of the events we saw in the last two episodes had they known of a season 2 pickup. It could be that the confrontation with his father wouldn't have been as final if they were continuing.


In any case, it would be interesting to see the episodes again with some of the "actual" situation in mind.
 
#386 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Plasmacat /forum/post/16180226


I thought the ending was terrific. Way way better than the British version ending.

There were hints throughout the series - those tiny robot thingies crawling around Sam.

Loved it!

Ditto here. Not sure why folks hated it so much, it's just as plausible as anything else they could've come up with. It makes the Life on Mars title meaningful, and it closed things out well. If only every series with a serial arc had such a well-defined beginning and end.


The wife and I will miss Sam, and Annie, and Ray, and Gene... great music, great characters, great writing, great atmosphere. Just terrific.


Bravo ABC, you did good.
 
#387 ·
Haven't been following the series weekly, just hit and miss. Watched the series finally and enjoyed it.. I have a question so I will PM Nottenst, the above poster..check your PM box
 
#388 ·
I'm confused now. Sam is how old when he comes out of stasis? If he was dreaming of being a little boy around age 6 in 1973 as has been established. That would make him around 41 in 2009 right? Now jump ahead to 2035 and that's where I'm having the issue. I need sleep and my brain is not deciphering all of this today!
 
#389 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharp1080 /forum/post/16190403


I'm confused now. Sam is how old when he comes out of stasis? If he was dreaming of being a little boy around age 6 in 1973 as has been established. That would make him around 41 in 2009 right? Now jump ahead to 2035 and that's where I'm having the issue. I need sleep and my brain is not deciphering all of this today!

His dream was originally of him being his current age (say 41 in 2035) as a cop in 2008. This dream came with a certain set of memories that were not his own memories, but those of the cop character. Then something happened which moved his dream to 1973 and certain people in that dream were influenced by/based on the real people of his life, but he had the memories of the 2008 character.
 
#391 ·
Sorry if someone already hinted a thsi but if the series had continued. They could have had a cliffhanger with Sam getting back to 2009. He would wake up from his coma and see another robot. Cut to black and blowing some minds. The whole 2nd season would have been devoted to trying figure out what 2009 he was in? Then the Mars ending at some point would have really fit. So I withdraw my contention that if I had watched 5 seasons and that had been the series finale I would have been disappointed. I think I'm missing the show more now than I would have ever imagined after reading and thinking about some of the possibilities that could have been.
 
#393 ·
The bottom line is that this ending, as "creative" as it was, had no purpose. The British ending made sense because of the underlying sentiment of the show; the ending completed the story. In the US version, the ending was totally removed from the story, it was a separate entity, with only the characters being the same. At least Dorothy in Oz learned something about in her dream; all Sam learned was that he shouldn't be mad at his dad? While creative, it totally missed the mark. St. Elsewhere was different, in that the story had to do with the hospital as a whole, not just one character's life, so it wasn't a let down to find out the the story of the hospital was all in the mind of an autistic boy. Here, the whole show revolves around Sam's efforts to get back to 2008 and to find out why he's in 1973, only to find out that these questions weren't real, his character wasn't real, and the past (both pasts) weren't real. I'm just glad the season hadn't gone on if this was the ending they planned all along. As disgusted as I am at this point, I would have been more disgusted if this ending capped a two or three year run. Leave it to American writers to screw up an incredible idea. They didn't have to mimic the British ending, but don't be lazy; come up with a good reason for all that has come before, not just a goof up in the dream programming -- sheesh.
 
#394 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by petesimac /forum/post/16195542


They didn't have to mimic the British ending, but don't be lazy; come up with a good reason for all that has come before, not just a goof up in the dream programming -- sheesh.

Most likely they just didn't have time to shoot the same ending as the UK version and have it make sense. If they were heading in that direction it would take more than 2 episodes to do so. For example, in the beginning of the show Lisa Bonet was considered a co-star and Sam's true love, but in the end she didn't even appear. You would think when Sam awoke from "cold sleep" that she would be there in some context, but she wasn't. That was a sure sign that they were on borrowed time.
 
#395 ·
OK, I know nothing about the British version of LOM so without that prejudice I can easily accept and enjoyed the ending, abrupt as it was given the decision to not continue the series.


One lingering question I have is what figure was it in Sam's 2008 memories that became his father in 1973? I mean if Gene is actually his father, who is the guy that got shot on the pier in 2008 terms? I did miss a couple of the earliest episodes, so if that answer is apparent from viewing them, I apologize.
 
#396 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveFi /forum/post/16195600


Most likely they just didn't have time to shoot the same ending as the UK version and have it make sense. If they were heading in that direction it would take more than 2 episodes to do so. For example, in the beginning of the show Lisa Bonet was considered a co-star and Sam's true love, but in the end she didn't even appear. You would think when Sam awoke from "cold sleep" that she would be there in some context, but she wasn't. That was a sure sign that they were on borrowed time.

Right. I never saw 'Maya' again after the first ep or two. In fact, I didn't see Whoopi's appearance either; that's an ep I may have fallen asleep on, though.
 
#397 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ridgefamus /forum/post/16195840


OK, I know nothing about the British version of LOM so without that prejudice I can easily accept and enjoyed the ending, abrupt as it was given the decision to not continue the series.


One lingering question I have is what figure was it in Sam's 2008 memories that became his father in 1973? I mean if Gene is actually his father, who is the guy that got shot on the pier in 2008 terms? I did miss a couple of the earliest episodes, so if that answer is apparent from viewing them, I apologize.

Although I saw the BBC version of Life on Mars, too, I rather liked the ending of the U.S. version. It had its weaknesses but, man alive, the BBC version's ending did a worse job of winding up the show, I thought.


Almost without exception. remakes of movies or TV shows will be criticized by some who loved the original as just pale imitations. That's often true, of course, but not always. In stark contrast, I thought the U.S. version of Life on Mars was every bit as well done as the BBC version.
 
#398 ·
I think I would've been just as happy, or happier, if it had ended 10 minutes earlier, with Sam hanging up on mission control man.


As it is, the ending feels disconnected from the sentiment of the show, which was summed up nicely by Ray -- we're on a rock with no rhyme and reason, and all we can do is find some people who make our time tolerable.
 
#399 ·
The ending was perfectly congruent with the show. What was the show about? A guy who finds himself suddenly ripped from 2008 somehow 30 years back in the past dealing with 1977. Throughout the show there are really strange things happening, notably (Uh, this was a BIG hint) micro sized Mars rovers crawling into people's orifices.


So someone mysteriously transported to 1977 ends up in the finale circa 2039?, coincidently about 30 years from now. The ending/explanation actually is far more realistic than a time travel fairy tale which violates physics. A dream sequence while under suspended animation via cybernetics 30 years more advanced than today is at least somewhat plausable. Nothing about the finale (a scenario 30 years into the future) violated the spirit of the show which, once again, was about a guy somehow transported 30 years in the past. May I add that the title of the show was also in keeping with the finale.
 
#400 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by philw1776 /forum/post/16198024


The ending was perfectly congruent with the show. What was the show about? A guy who finds himself suddenly ripped from 2008 somehow 30 years back in the past dealing with 1977. Throughout the show there are really strange things happening, notably (Uh, this was a BIG hint) micro sized Mars rovers crawling into people's orifices.


So someone mysteriously transported to 1977 ends up in the finale circa 2039?, coincidently about 30 years from now. The ending/explanation actually is far more realistic than a time travel fairy tale which violates physics. A dream sequence while under suspended animation via cybernetics 30 years more advanced than today is at least somewhat plausable. Nothing about the finale (a scenario 30 years into the future) violated the spirit of the show which, once again, was about a guy somehow transported 30 years in the past. May I add that the title of the show was also in keeping with the finale.


Naw, the title of the show is not a literal reference, that's why I think the US ending was such a lazy job of script writing -- "Gee, Mars is in the title, why not have them literally land on Mars, yuk, yuk." The Mars lander that Sam kept seeing was just a reminder to him and the viewers that he was in the wrong time. Obviously Sam never traveled back in time; he was either in a coma in 2008/9 or mentally ill, having never lived anywhere/time other than 1973, or something in between. Why introduce Maya and his full life in 2008 if it was all just an induced dream to occupy his mind while in hibernation on the way to Mars; just have him wake up in 1973 and not know why or where he came from. How much better would it all have been had Sam woken up, after the Mars scene, in a dark room with no clues as to what time-period he was in. How would Sam feel? Which "reality" does he miss the most. What would he choose, if he could choose: to go back "home" to 2008, to be a real space-man about to set foot on Mars, or go back to 1973 and Annie? Or have him wake up in an insane asylum, with Annie as one of his nurses, and the others as staff of the asylum. Or perhaps he was always in 1973 and was in a coma in that time-period. There are so many good options; it's sad that they took the lame, corny, literal, lazy way out.
 
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