Tuesday, March 3, 2009

No more "Life on Mars"


Variety (via NY Mag's Vulture) has the news:

ABC has decided to end the show after a single year -- but in an unusual move, the net will keep the show on the air through the end of its full run.

That will give the series a rare opportunity to sign off with a proper finale, wrapping up the series' core mystery.

Network insiders said they were fans of the show and pleased with its creative chops -- but that the ratings ultimately didn't warrant a second season. The most recent seg of "Life on Mars" averaged just a 2.0 rating/5 share among adults 18-49, as well as 5.5 million viewers.


The show had been filmed, in part, around the neighborhood going back to last summer. We liked the premise -- time-traveling cop returns to 1970s NYC. And we championed the show until we actually watched it. Oh, it was fine. But I stopped watching after the second or third episode.

Here's our complete "LIfe on Mars" coverage.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not too surprised with this. the acting was unbalanced. Keitel was amazing, but the lead dude sucked. I continued to watch merely because I like seeing the filming location around the 'hood.

From what I gather, the BBC version is amazing, so I will just get a hold of those.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm definitely going to check out the BBC version one of these days...

Anonymous said...

The sequel to Life on Mars is going to be airing on BBC America starting this Saturday and is called Ashes to Ashes. It's set in the 80's this time and still has Gene Hunt.

BBC version of Life on Mars was much better than the US in my opinion.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/ashes

Anonymous said...

It amazes me that ABC would go to the effort and COST of producing a show like this and yet skimp on the writing staff. The few episodes I watched featured some seriously wince-worthy (along with air sucking in between clenched teeth) dialogue. The fact that 5 million people were still watching is truly shocking.
The BBC series is better yes, but honestly is not really that amazing. The casting and writing are much better, but there is better british Tele out there. Btw, the beeb is flogging the dead horse of LOM and has created a spinoff. "Ashes to Ashes" has a female cop who travels back in time to the 80's after being shot in the line of duty in current day Manchester. I will not be checking in on this one....

Unknown said...

Yeah, dialogue was terrible. And it drove me nuts that they couldn't even bother to make the streets signs yellow in the exterior shots. And yes, I'm a stickler.

Grieve said...

The damn show just made frustrated me...Why didn't ol' Sam just have some fun? I wrote this last Oct. 10:

Think of the fun you could have! Porn in Times Square! Betting on sporting events that you already know the outcomes to! I don't know. Maybe check out some shows. Are the New York Dolls playing somewhere?

Savor the opportunity...revisit a now-vanished bar...go to the top of the World Trade Center (which they showed twice...)....Buy up a ton of buildings in Soho and become a real-estate baron!

Plus, I had so many questions...Did he travel back with money? They showed his East Village apartment...Where did he eat breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Why wasn't anyone smoking during the scene inside 7B? Why did all the extras look like players from a summer stock production of Hair?

Jill said...

I had a lot of questions about this too, a lot of missed opportunities when traveling back in time that he seems oblivious too. And how does he get paid? How did they know to get him a fully furnished apartment and a closet full of clothes, AND A CAR. Even in 1973 people in Manhattan did not regularly own cars (though cops always did I suppose). Our car was totally broken into in the lower east side in 1974 yet petty crimes don't seem to happen relentlessly. And they never ride the subway. I could go on.

I was happy when he finally realized he should look up his mother but who could resist seeing themselves as a child? What a cop out.

Since all of the commenters appear to be boys, I have to say, the lead dude is very nice - he took his shirt off in a recent episode and I would watch that anytime, anywhere.

Anonymous said...

Ha! Good points, Jill.

The lead fellow also could have bought up a crapload of those 70s styles and sold them to one of those fancy consignment shops on 11th Street back here today for TOP dollar.