160 replies to this topic

[TWoP Roxy]

From zap2it.com:

Hit by a car while investigating a murder, Detective Sam Tyler finds himself transported to 1973 New York, where he helps the homicide squad investigate a killer whose methods are similar to those of the killer he was chasing in 2008.

[Last Time Lord]

I wish to make love to this show's soundtrack. It was that awesome.

I liked the original pilot, but I thought this was even better.

[voiceover]

Okayyy. I'm liking Jason but Harvey K has further to go; Philip Glenister (the U.K. actor) is a higher bar to clear.

And -- "Little Willy"? Was I the only one who "eeeee!"d?

edited to add:

I wish to make love to this show's soundtrack.

Obviously not.

Edited by voiceover, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:05 PM.

[TheShoeHorn]

Now *that's* how you retool a pilot to make it work.

Any idea how many eps this is planned to run 6, 13 or anything?

[While A Coyote]

Raise your hand if you are willing to fess up to being one of the few who saw the utterly crappy "first try" pilot.

I had a friend who got it somehow and saw it at his place about a month ago. This is MUCH better.

But why? I'll tell you why. Shot for shot, line by line, this was almost identical to the U.K. Life On Mars Series 1 Episode 1. Except for the addition of crappy Lisa Bonet, and Annie having a bit more to do.

Keitel looks like he's going to keel over any second though.

Edited by While A Coyote, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:05 PM.

[nilyank]

I cried when I saw the Towers. If anything could prove to me that I wasn't in 2008, it would be that.

[TheShoeHorn]

It's also a shame that if this does get a full season and a dvd, you will see maybe 2 or 3 songs from this episode unless a great deal is struck for royalties.

Edited by TheShoeHorn, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:05 PM.

[filmcamerachick]

Agreed. Fantastic soundtrack.

Interesting show. I'm intrigued to see where it goes, not having seen the UK version.

Seeing the twin towers still hurts, even if it is in "the past."

[Vindication]

This was great. I was completely glued to the TV the whole time. I loved it.

[AimingforYoko]

Well, I haven't seen one second of the UK series so I have no frame of reference for comparison. So judging it strictly on it's own... I'm in. I thought O'Mara nailed it. He played as realistically as it can be played: totally freaked, but trying to work through it logically. I really liked his emotional reaction to seeing the Twin Towers. Also his wrestling with whether to kill young Colin. Keitel and Imperioli were good. I really liked Keitel schmoozing the old neighbor lady .
The music was awesome, but how expensive are the DVDs going to be?

[silentwilight]

The pilot was better than the one David E. Kelley made, but I still prefer the original.

And Jason O'Mara is good looking, but seriously? John Simm acts circles around him.

I didnt hate newAnnie as much as I thought I would.

I think the weakest link here is newSam, which is bad, because he needs to be relate-able. Maybe he'll improve.

Unfortunately, I think I'll just always compare this to the original. I'm too big of a fan of it.

ETA: If anyone cares to see, this is the original car crash/time travel scene. Even though this new version was pretty much copied from the original, you can totally see a difference. Mostly in acting. Sorry Jason O'Mara.

Edited by silentwilight, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:13 PM.

[isiscloud]

That was pretty good. I don't know Jason O'Mara, but he did a great job. Why he could use his natural accent is beyond me. He sounds a lot like Mel Gibson.

Nice set up for the show. Good to see MI again and everyone did a good job. Harvey Keitel was rough. But hey, he was the Bad Lieutenant. Gretchen Mol was great, too.

The kids playing the perps were creee-peeee.

ETA: I've seen the UK Life on Mars, but only a couple eps. That was great and this could get there.

The towers were new in 1973. Glistening in the sun.

Edited by isiscloud, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:10 PM.

[FranklinShepard]

The twin towers shot at the beginning was the best part of the ep. I thought it was...not good. Not nearly as bad as that horrific original pilot, though, and maybe if I'd never seen the BBC version, I'd like it, but I just don't know.

Harvey Keitel seemed as though he was about to keel over and die at any moment. He was talking about "When my time's up..." and I was like, "When you're 80?" And my friend goes, "In about six months?" And Gene is clearly not going to be the action hero he was in the BBC version. This is going to be a show of a lot of O'Mara running, and a lot of Keitel wheezing.

Liked Gretchen Mol, but O'Mara is still too big and tough (through no fault of his own) to play Sam. The two leads here are fundamentally miscast, and that hurts the show. No matter how much they improve it (and they did improve it greatly), they can't fix that.

[Bella Lumina]

I thought O'Mara nailed it. He played as realistically as it can be played: totally freaked, but trying to work through it logically. I really liked his emotional reaction to seeing the Twin Towers.

That reaction rang really true to me, too -- that's exactly how I imagine a New York cop would react to seeing the Towers standing again. Good stuff from O'Mara.

I'm fascinated. I love shows like this that offer a little window back in time. The atmosphere is great so far.

[TarHeelTeacher]

As someone who was terrified of an American version when I heard about it, I am very happy. Seeing the twin towers was like a punch in the gut. O'Mara's reaction to seeing the towers was, IMO, pitch perfect

[Suzako]

I was nervous about Jason O'Mara. I hadn't heard good stuff about him from the original pilot and he looked bland. But I thought he was really good. I liked him and I think he struck the right tone.

Harvey and the rest of the 1970s cops (except for Annie) seem more like cartoons right now, but that's ok, its just the first episode and I think the character of Sam Tyler was established nicely.

I've watched a few episodes of the original and I'm curious how they'll maintain the show past 16 episodes (the length of the original series). Still, I'll at least tune in for the next episode. The music and visuals really were arresting. Love the "Life in Mars" sequence although . . . . why was Sam listening to his ipod at an urgent moment like that? Oh well, the song made it worth it.

[Kareny]

I cried when I saw the Towers.

I had more of a shot to the gut kind of reaction. It was obvious from his reaction what he was looking at before the shot changed, I got it right away from his face and knew exactly what was coming, but I still felt just a strong jolt of shock when they cut to actually show the towers. Good, effective editing on that. That shot alone was worth changing the location from LA to New York.

Seems like a good start - I'm hoping this takes off, but we'll see. I'm intrigued by the rumored changes from the BBC version, which did have some interesting mythology setup that was wrapped up almost a little too easily. It worked for a short series, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with this long term.

Edited by Kareny, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:15 PM.

[Khajiit]

And -- "Little Willy"? Was I the only one who "eeeee!"d?

I'm downloading that song right now!

Very good pilot! I haven't seen the original, either, so I might be easy to impress here. I did think a few of the "fish out of water" jokes fell flat (cell phone, Diet Pepsi), but I highly enjoyed the show overall.

[While A Coyote]

And Jason O'Mara is good looking, but seriously? John Simm acts circles around him.

To give O'Mara credit, he's picked up his acting a bit since Pilot #1. Maybe part of it was being surrounded by better actors this time.

Part of John Simm being so good is how totally befuddled he looks at times. O'Mara is playing this a bit more as outraged than befuddled.

I didnt hate newAnnie as much as I thought I would.

Old Annie was a weakness of the old series--one of the few big ones. Nice girl, but she wasn't a good actress. Gretchen Moll actually IS a decent actress.

any idea how many eps this is planned to run 6, 13 or anything?

I think this got a full standard 22 episode season. Which is a problem if they are basing it TOO tightly on the 8 episode original template.

Seeing as how this literally was all of LOM-UK Series 1 Episode 1, they've used up a full 1/8th of their supply. So no matter what they're going to have to write a lot of original content.

[Last Time Lord]

I thought one of the cops (Chris?) looked so much like his direct counterpart that it was a little freaky.

He had the nervous adorkable-ness down pat.

[norahcynthia]

Not bad...not bad at all! Being a fan of the original British version it was hard for me not to keep comparing the two...especially since it was basically identical to it, with just a few minor changes. I definitely do not think this was as good as the British version, and none of the actors really have the personality or presence of their British counterparts, but it still wasn't bad. Definitely not the disaster I thought it was going to be when I first heard about it. I think I would have liked it better if I hadn't ever watched the UK series.

My mom was in her 20's during the 70's and she said watching the US version was making her much more nostalgic than the UK version ever did. I know I'm getting more of a '70's cop show' feel while watching it than I did watching the original.

Too bad they couldn't think of a good substitute for the creepy test card girl. Seeing the Towers was pretty powerful and sad though, I'll give them that. Not sure what I think about the changed ending though, except that it probably works better with this less vulnerable looking Sam.

Edited by norahcynthia, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:21 PM.

[chilivariety]

I thought it was okay, but not that great (as some of the reviews led me to believe).

The biggest problem is the actor who plays Sam Tyler: Jason O'Mara. The dude is not a subtle actor. I know Sam's world has been turned upside down, but O'Mara's performance had way too much over emoting. "You want a throw-down right now!!!!". I'll give it a few episodes, but he doesn't seem like can carry the show as a lead. Strange that he's the only actor that survived the purge from the first pilot.

The other actors are fine; Harvey K is fine, but, hate to say it, I think he's too old for this role.

Best thing about the show so far is the soundtrack and the images of the non Disneyfied NYC of 1973.

[Last Time Lord]

Seeing as how this literally was all of LOM-UK Series 1 Episode 1

Isn't that was The Office did before going off in their own direction?

[sweetcarrie]

Not bad, really. The stuff that was the same as the UK was good of course, and a lot of the new stuff actually worked pretty well too. Some of it was a little too rushed in comparison, but that's probably at least partly because of the fact that the episode is, what, 43 minutes, instead of the 55 or so that the original got.

Everyone did a good job overall. I like Chris, he's sort of cute, and I liked Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, and Gretchen Mol, too (although I don't know how I feel about new Annie: I like the assertiveness, but there's gotta be a little more softness in there, too). I'm not entirely sold on Jason O'Mara as Sam yet, but he's better than he was in just the little bit I had seen before. Interesting that the one part tonight when I thought his acting was most effective was one of the few scenes not lifted from the original (when he was telling the guy to shoot him).

And poor Sam. UKSam at least had the luxury of a private bathroom.

I'm optimistic. It'll be interesting to see how this does in the ratings. ABC's Thursday night at 10 shows haven't had very good track records in recent years have they?

[cutecouple]

Between my local affiliate and cable company, I was cheated out of the first 20 minutes or so, but I did like what I saw. I think there's a base here to take the show in a somewhat different, unique direction once they get into their own scripts. It's also worth noting that each UK episode is 15 minutes longer then the US counterpart.

[While A Coyote]

ETA: If anyone cares to see, this is the original car crash/time travel scene. Even though this new version was pretty much copied from the original, you can totally see a difference. Mostly in acting. Sorry Jason O'Mara.

Yeah. While O'Mara did some passable work later in the episode, you can see the "meat" of the difference here. Simm emotes big time when he's in pain, a mix of anger and sadness, but plays being hurled into the past as subtle confusion. He's paralyzed by what's going on, befuddled, and you can hear it in the tremor of his voice, the way he holds his jaw, etc. O'Mara plays the same thing as angry in the present, angry in the past. He's not paralyzed, he's defiant. Which COULD work, if he was doing it better... but most of the time he isn't.

And the camerawork and directing choices seem much sharper and smarter in the original. There's a more operatic feel to it. Big sweeping circular pans instead of cheap ass back and forth cut shots.

Edited by While A Coyote, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:29 PM.

[puck101]

"O'Mara is yet another foreign actor (he's Irish) playing American on American TV

Yeah and it would have been better had he played it as a Dubliner who immigrated with his parents when he was 16, instead of a (colorless) tv "American" like this. Encouraging Annie to use her mind? Shit cops I know aren't that politically correct NOW!! "... some crazy metaphor for my inability to commit," yeah because blue collar guys talk like that all the time. O'Mara's a good actor but this ain't working for me. Same for Annie. Keitel and Imperioli are potentially the heavy-hitters but it will always be "Sam in his wisdom, saves the day." The music is cool tho. Edited to say I have NOT seen the UK version so obviously I'm not comparing it. And didn't Imperioli have the line of the night?

Edited by puck101, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:57 PM.

[silentwilight]

Old Annie was a weakness of the old series--one of the few big ones. Nice girl, but she wasn't a good actress. Gretchen Moll actually IS a decent actress.

Aw, no, I loved old Annie!
I really thought I wouldnt like Gretchen Mol, but she wasn't that bad.

And the guy who plays Chris- not bad too!

See, I'm trying not to complain anymore :)

[filmcamerachick]

Everyone did a good job overall. I like Chris, he's sort of cute, and I liked Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, and Gretchen Mol, too (although I don't know how I feel about new Annie: I like the assertiveness, but there's gotta be a little more softness in there, too).

That's funny - I actually felt the opposite about Annie. I felt she was quite soft (not in a bad way, just that she was somewhat gentle, or - I don't know - timid, for want of a better word. She doesn't seem comfortable with rocking the boat, anyway, which is something I associate with assertiveness.) I felt terrible for her during that precinct scene, when she was clearly uncomfortable being singled out in that manner by Tyler. That little vignette sharply reminded me what it was like for women in the workforce in the early part of that decade - she clearly has the brains, but can't show them too much, so as not to threaten the guys and perhaps even jeopardize her position. Her "softness" - which she is naturally assumed to have, being a woman - is taken advantage of, in that she is given the "fluffy" sort of assignments the guys don't want to deal with.

I don't know if I'm expressing myself properly - I just sort of felt her frustration that she wasn't allowed to be (or felt she couldn't allow herself to be) MORE assertive, as it would, as I said, threaten the macho guys with whom she works.

Edited by filmcamerachick, Oct 9, 2008 @ 10:29 PM.

[Radagast]

ABC's Thursday night at 10 shows haven't had very good track records in recent years have they?

A little something called 'Lost' comes to mind.

Nicely done overall, I do want to reserve judgement until we get a story that I don't already know the plot of from the original. O'Mara's managed to impress, and Keitel's Gene may just have a hope of living up to Glenister's.

Gretchen Mol, however, is a goddess in uniform. Highlight of the episode, for me.