The American adaptation of the cult British series, about a contemporary cop who finds himself in the early 70s, made its debut last night. Was anyone watching? Should we watch? Should we keep posting discussions? Does anyone want to submit a review?
I think they're trying too hard to make it just like the BBC show was. I'll give it a few weeks and if they seem to do the same story lines, I'll probably stop since I've seen the original.
I'll spoiler tag this just in case somebody DVRed it: Also, the shots of the WTC towers was just a little gratuitous. Yes, we realize that the show is set in NYC in the 70's but you don't have to pound it into our heads over and over.
They claim they're going to deviate from the original, especially with reference to "explanations" for what has happened to the protagonist. It seems, however, that has very little to do with what makes the original work.
The only one that I've seen that worked was The Office. The rest have sucked, so I didn't bother. Now if there are others or even this one that I need to see to change my mind, let me know.
Then again I'm an American who'd happily pay a TV License if I could see BBC programming as it airs. Heck I'd even learn to spell "properly" if that was required. :)
The first season of the Office in the US was pretty bad though. They basically rehashed plot lines from the BBC series. It wasn't until the 2nd season when they really deviated from the original that it became a great show.
Not to say that Life on Mars would follow a similar treatment but I wouldn't rule it out so quickly based on that.
The only one that I've seen that worked was The Office. The rest have sucked, so I didn't bother. Now if there are others or even this one that I need to see to change my mind, let me know.
The most famous is probably All in the Family, which was a re-envisioned, Americanized version of Til Death Do Us Part. I know Brits prefer the original, but All in the Family became the definitive NA 70s tv show.
I watched it, and all I could think was that it was a pale imitation of the British version. With worse acting and much worse music (specifically, using the same song that's the theme for CSI:NY was... a bit off).
It was about 35% more PC, too, which I kinda saw coming. I also figured the girl would be way more ballsy, which is a bit ironic, I suppose.
As an avid watcher of the original on BBCA, I was eagerly waiting to see how well they'd pull it off. I feel they did a fairly good job of blending the past with today's reality, especially the pointed references to the World Trade Center. They went so far as to mimic the characters physical appearance, except for substituting a good looking blonde for the fair looking brunette police woman. The one fault I find so far is the casting of Harvey Keitel as the Gene Hunt. Harvey's a great actor, but he is simply too old for the part. I will keep watching (TiVo is a wonderful thing) for a few weeks or until it is canceled before making up my mind...
