Will 'Mars' be a hit on this side of pond?
Scott D. Pierce
It can turn out like "The Office," which was very successful in both versions. Or it can turn out like "Viva Laughlin," a horrifically bad and mercifully short-lived Americanization of "Viva Blackpool."
What generally has to happen in order for this sort of thing to work is that the American version has to use the British show as a jumping off point. It has to build something rather different, even if it's built with the same framework.
Anybody who's seen both versions of "The Office" could tell you that ours is a lot like theirs. But not exactly like theirs.
So maybe there's hope for ABC's "Life on Mars," which premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. on Ch. 4. Because it's not trying to be exactly the same as its predecessor.
Certainly the jumping-off point for the new series is pretty much the same. Police detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) is in the middle of not only a big investigation but a big romance. And both involve the same woman, Maya Daniels (Lisa Bonet) — who happens to be his partner.
His cell phone doesn't work. Personal computers are years away. The NYPD is full of tough guys who don't worry about technicalities like search warrants and who are sexist pigs. And the World Trade Center towers over Manhattan.
Sam's 1973 boss, Lt. Hunt (Harvey Keitel), is a tough guy who'll happily beat up a witness to get information. Detective Ray Carling (Michael Imperioli) and detective Chris Skelton (Jonathan Murphy) have similar temperaments.
The smartest one in the precinct is Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol), but she can only serve in the Police Women's Bureau as what amounts to a secretary.
Sam can't figure out if he's crazy, in a coma or if something science fiction-y has happened to him.
The American version pretty much has to be different because, whereas the British version ran for 12 episodes over two seasons, the original order for this one is 13 episodes — with hopes of lasting several seasons and dozens, perhaps hundreds, of episodes.
"You have this great concept of a cop from 2008 who is very attuned to ... DNA evidence and all sort of technology, and here he is thrust into a world where there's a whole other kind of ethos to everything," said executive producer Josh Appelbaum.
And so those stories, I think, will be sort of endless for us. The crimes will always be strong and exciting and the way that they solve them will just be a great source of conflict. It will be a whole new way of telling cop stories, particularly."
You can be the first to comment on this story.