Ha! Americanized Life on Mars starting now on ABC!

[supernova]

:D I want to see how they do this.

I really would like it if it were as good as the superbly priceless original.

[philosophie_en_rose]

1. The first pilot was horrific.

They recast everyone but Sam Tyler and moved the show from LA to New York. I love the original and I hope the new new pilot does it justice.

[supernova]

2. LA?

That's wierd. They is definitely NYC.

But I don't know if Harvey Keitel, whom I adore, will be as good as Philip Glennister as the bastard with a heart of gold.

[philosophie_en_rose]

5. Glenister doesn't share Keitel's serial killer vibe.

I couldn't see Keitel in Ashes to Ashes, either.

[supernova]

6. Yeah, Glenister always comes

across more as scrappy and irascible, rather than evil.

He's really good in Sharpe's Justice too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzZA377jDGs

[philosophie_en_rose]

7. He has a movie coming out soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaBwVs9hya0

[CBHagman]

28. I'm grateful for that.

I've got the first disc of State of Play home to watch, but it's nice to know there's something else to look forward to...

[DS1]

3. I saw their first attempt, before they scrapped it and brought in Keitel

It was god-awful. Hope this is better.

[supernova]

4. I missed the first one

Not sure I want to see it now. :P

So far, this seems almost word for word from the original pilot, with obvious place differences.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. The first attempt looked like a Mannix rerun

Really cheesy.

[Ilsa]

8. This one felt very different, but I enjoyed the music. I hardly

recognized that it was supposed to be the "same" show.

[supernova]

9. It did feel different

but that's to be expected.

Part of the fun of that show is the seldom heard anymore music gems from the era. :-)

[madeline_con]

31. Speaking of music...

Wasn't the tune "Baby You're Out of Time" the Stones? I've been looking for it ever since I heard it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. It was better than I expected

but still not as good as the original.

[Fenris]

11. Awesome, but lacks Cortina!

[billyskank]

13. Why do you always remake our shows?

We never remake yours. We just put the originals on. :shrug:

[sasquatch]

14. Because Baby Boomers outlawed people with new ideas and decided to steal from others

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Hey, I'm a Boomer and WE had original British programs

like The Avengers, The Prisoner, and Danger Man, all in their original forms, when I was a teenager. When I was a child, we had Robin Hood, The Buccaneers, and Sir Lancelot.

It was those Gen Xers who couldn't take full-fledged British programs. :evilgrin:

[sasquatch]

23. Yeah but it was GG's doing the programming then

Its the Boomers today that're doing the programming.

[CBHagman]

27. Both wrong. There has long been borrowing of plots, etc.

Think back. Remember Norman Lear's version of Till Death Us Do Part, All in the Family?

Think back even further. There was Parfumerie, there was The Shop Around the Corner, there was In the Good Old Summertime. Then came She Loves Me and You've Got Mail. Think they're done yet?

http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsL/laszlo-miklos.html

Think back even further. Where do you think Elizabethan playwrights got their ideas? And Chaucer? Borrow, steal, rework.

Not that I equate sitcoms and cop shows with Chaucer, but still there are basic stories that are told again and again. Sometimes it's magic. Sometimes it's just another show.

[sasquatch]

34. I know originality is difficult but there's difference between borrowing ideas andflat out theft.

[Orsino]

16. So we can understand the dialogue.

We appreciate having nuanced characters turned two-dimensional, too, for easy comprehension between Cheetos.

[supernova]

17. Because the industry has the idea

that we aren't sophisticated enough to appreciate the originals. :P

Well, the industry would be very surprised, and scared, to learn how much of us out here in the hinterlands enjoy international TV just the way it is.

:hug: Good morning, Billyskank

[mwooldri]

24. Ah but we remake all the US game shows though.

And give them spiffy new names.

And of course if you remember a few years ago them prize limit rules... Sale of the Century anyone?

Mark.

[DerBeppo]

30. because...

despite what people like to say, production values matter. a good show is a good show, but a good show with more than 100 bucks spent on production is even better.

[Blue_Tires]

32. original ideas are illegal in network studio creative teams

yours are 'safe' and are already tested and true before tv viewers...as seen by the glut of reality tv and everything else...besides, if there is ONE american pop-culture TV cliche that never dies; it is the New York-based cop show with hard-edged characters...And for so many years, TV executives were so out-of-touch, they probably never even heard of the show ideas that their underlings were plagerizing....

here's to hoping that they never decide to steal "Tatort" and set it in New York....

[WCGreen]

15. I watched the 11th hour instead...

I really like Rufus...

[philosophie_en_rose]

18. It wasn't that bad.

I just watched it on Tivo and it's not that bad. The shots of the 1973 NY skyline were amazing.

[supernova]

19. Eerie seeing the WTC up and running again

:crazy:

[DS1]

20. I've figured out what's wrong with this version

In the Brit version, Sam Tyler is a tiny guy, he's shorter than everyone around him. In the US version, he's taller than "the Gov" or in this case Harvey Keitel.

In the US version, he's pretty buff, compare that to



The "Gov" in the UK series could kick Tyler's ass up and down the street, but Tyler confronted the "Gov" when needed and that's what gave the show its magic. Tyler, in the UK version, faced down his superiors with logic. In the US version, he does it with part logic and part physicality.

[philosophie_en_rose]

29. The original Sam was also played by a better actor.

Sam could have been insane, in a coma, or back in time. He certainly cried and shouted a lot. American Sam just seems a little inconvenienced.

[DS1]

21. Nevermind, they totally fucked it

[atomic-fly]

25. how is the brit version? nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Available only on Region 2 DVD

but can be ordered from Amazon UK and played on a region-free player or your computer.

[Blue_Tires]

33. if you ever watch it, you will curse ABC for stealing and 'americanizing' it

[philosophie_en_rose]

35. It's on BBC America

There was a marathon just before the American series started.