ABC has cancelled the US version of LIFE ON MARS. But in an unusual move sure to please fans, they are going to let the producers shoot a final episode that wraps things up. The series only lasted a few episodes longer than the UK original which was, in just about every way, better than the U.S. version, despite the likes of Michael Imperioli and Harvey Keitel in the cast. The question now is…will they use the same ending as the British original or come up with a new fate for time-traveling cop Sam Tyler?
This unusual move is much appreciated. I don’t know how the UK version ended, and I really don’t care. I’m not watching the UK version until the USA one is over. I am always irked when networks just nuke a show mid-plot. This has been a rough season all the way around — big budget shows slashed in favor of more “reality” shows which are, of course, unreal, except for the profit margin. I shouldn’t complain, being as that I am featured on three reality shows this year — Murderous Women, Snapped and the endless re-airing of two episodes of Dog Whisperer. Hell, my dog gets fanmail!
The exposure helps book sales, and in these economic times, all sales are welcome.
I am so not surprised at the cancellation.
I watched–if one can call wincing and groaning at how it had been dumbed down and Americanized–a few eps. of the US version of LIFE ON MARS. I TRIED to divorce it from the UK series and take it on its own merits, but it didn’t have any. It was like high school readers’ theater compared to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
At least it gave some work to the US actors and the film crew, but after the third ep. I gave up and went back to my DVDs of the original.
Much as I like Harvey Keitel, he just ain’t Philip Glenister, which means he just ain’t Gene Hunt.