Sunday, March 8, 2009

There sure is a lot of stuff going down on Mars lately.

Seriously, for the Life on Mars crowd, things have just been hopping.

Firstly, the alphabet has officially cancelled the American version of the series.  They have agreed to let it finish its initial 17 episode order (which is one more episode than the original series) and apparently the cancellation was announced in time that there will be closure.  The reactions I have seen to this news have varied widely, from "Oh thank God!" to "Well, man, this sucks."

Personally, I can't seem to find myself very upset by the news at all, even though I really have been starting to enjoy this version.  Here's the thing.  I have said from the moment I found out they were making an American version of the series that I didn't see how they were going to pull it off unless they were intentionally planning to give it a short run, which it was pretty clear the show's producers had no plans to do.  The whole concept of this series needs a tightly planned story arc and it needs an ending.  To stretch it out for seasons upon seasons is simply to defeat the purpose and to be completely unfaithful to the original show.  So honestly, I'm a little relieved that they will have to wrap it up and that we'll actually get to find out what weird alternate explanation the Americans have for what actually happened to Sam Tyler.  

Besides, the episodes I have enjoyed the most in this version have been those that weren't just cookie cutter remakes of episodes in the original series, and we only got a few of those.  I have been noticing a disturbing trend recently to go back to ripping off the episode ideas from the Brits.  Most upsetting of which is the fact that it looks like this week's episode will be a remake of my least favorite from the original--the key party episode.  Gah.  Really?  Really?  Is that necessary?  Come on!  Not cool people, not cool.  Sigh.  End rant.  I have already expressed my feelings about key parties.  I won't rehash.  Let's just say that this week I will probably be less inclined to pay much attention while I watch, just to save my sanity.  Come on guys.  I mean, I know originality is taken with a grain of salt when you are remaking a show that has already been done (and in this case clearly can't really be improved upon), but wasn't the big sell about making an American version that it would in fact be completely different than the British version?  If you are trying to have an entirely new explanation for why Sam landed back in time, don't you think you should have some entirely new story ideas too?  I'm just saying.

Anyhoo.  The next bit of news is definitely more exciting.  The original series is finally coming to us on DVD.  Huzzah!  Series (or season, for us Yanks) one will be available on region one DVD this July, and I believe it is planned to release series two sometime next year.  Yay!  If you never caught the orginal and are sad to see the current genesis go, give these DVDs a whirl when they come out.  It will fill the void.

And the last bit of news, for fans of the original series, BBC America last night premiered the sequel series to Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes.  In this show we get another present day detective, one Alex Drake, played by Keeley Hawes (you may know her from MI-6/Spooks or Death at a Funeral--she's also married to the wonderfully talented Matthew Macfadyen) finds herself somehow thrown back into the past.  This time the erstwhile time traveller lands in 1981, and promptly runs into Gene Hunt, Chris, and Ray from the original series.  This of course induces a major freak out on the part of DI Drake because she has read all of the reports Sam Tyler filed about his adventures in the brief time between waking up from his coma and killing himself (which we know was him actually deciding to return to 1973, real or not).  Drake knows she was shot just before waking up in the past, and assumes that she is also in a coma and finds herself among familiar company because she had been reading Sam's reports just before she was shot.  What the twist seems to be is that since Drake knows that Sam was in a coma while he was experiencing his blast from the past, she knows it is entirely possible her "coma" (as she assumes herself to be in) is going to lead to her death.  And she is damned determined not to die.

I am going to reserve judgement for another episode or two I think.  It does seem like they are trying to take this in a slightly different direction than the first series, so my fingers are crossed it isn't just a rehash.  I will say that so far the best part is the return of Philip Glenister as the original Gene Hunt.  Man, he is such an ass but you can't help but love him anyway.  Yay!  The worst part so far is the creepy clown that is stalking Drake.  Apparently we get a creepy tin-man type clown instead of the creepy little girl in the television this time around.  Seriously, these people want to give me nightmares.  Sigh.  

So, that's all the Mars drama I know about.  Like I said, lots going down.  

In other news, I was on the final chapter of the last book from my reading pile I wanted to tackle  before jumping back into the Wheel of Time series yesterday when my husband walked in and handed me Watchmen.  So I went ahead and started that last night.  Man, it is kind of dark and intense.  But I am enjoying it.  I believe we are going to try to catch the movie this coming weekend, so I shall at least be prepared.  I am amused that apparently the mainstream has been baffled by the film so far while the geeks of the world seem to be more or less satisfied.  I am glad that something so specialized is being so highly publicized.  Usually the films that aren't expected to appeal to the broader audience just get ignored by the advertisers, so huzzah for Watchmen.  

Well, I wish you all a spectacular week!
C

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