Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoLife on Mars Series 2
February 20th 2007 00:30
Last week saw 'Life on Mars' series 2 go to air in the U.K.
I just gotta say (and I'm sure I've said it on this blog before), 'Life on Mars' is one the best television shows I've ever seen. It could be the first truly great television show of the 21st century. It could be one of the best television shows of all time. It's so good that I want to keep on with all this hyperbolic talk just so I can think of more and more new ways of praising it.
The basic premise of 'Life on Mars' goes as thus...
Sam Tyler is a modern-day police detective in Manchester. He gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. He doesn't know if he has travelled back in time or if he is in a coma, but he must team up with a rough-and-tumble 70s DCI, Gene Hunt, and help fight crime in seedy 1970s Manchester. Predictably, the two police officer clash repeatedly... Gene Hunt is very much a man of his day, living by his wits, fighting crime with his fists as much as his head, and not very partial to the rules at all. Sam Tyler has come to the 70s armed with all his 21st century political correctness and complicated police procedures, his rudimentary knowledge of forensics gives him an edge but more often than not his new colleagues aren't particularly interested in listening to his advice.
It's the typical police show formula - but one given all kinds of new edges and dimensions via the time travel angle. The dynamic between Sam and Hunt is wonderfully deepened by their era-gap, and there's a kind of metaphysical ambiguity to it all too... after all, if Sam is in a coma, then what part of his mind does Hunt represent? What do any of the other characters represent? What's going on?
The first series of 'Life on Mars' ran for only 8 episodes, and it's said that this second series of 8 episodes will be the last. So, with this finite number, the writers and actors seem to be really giving it all they've got. Every episode is a winner, a brilliant new take on a tried-and-true police show story... new developments pop up in regards to Sam's situation all the time and you can't really guess exactly where it's all going to go. The last episode of the first series was an absolute corker. The first episode of this second series is brilliant too... it sets things up nicely for another 8 episodes, and hinted at some new twists. I can't wait.
Why can't all television be this good?
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Comment by Adele
Lost Fanatic
Day Break TV
Comment by Luke
Book Club
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
Comment by Anonymous
Your page is really Cool, I love everything about 1973 and Life on Mars. I've just stumbled across your page after I just created my group at Yahoo. Hope you don't mind but I've placed a link to this page in my links. If you'd like to join my group, the link is:
Really Long Link
Also, I did a tribute video that's been on YouTube for a bit, the link is:
Really Long Link
Many thanks, rock on,
Alan
Comment by 1970 something