Life on Mars Rocks

Life on Mars had its premiere last night after what appears to be a storied history. The show is good. Really good. It’s so good that I was hoping it would never end. Entertainment Weekly’s Pop-watcher Aubry D’Arminio agrees:

Then there was that moment during last night’s premiere when it hit me: Lord, was I wrong. I LOVE Life on Mars. Sure, you can’t tell that much from just a pilot, but just think about it. The show has brought The Sopranos‘ Michael Imperioli, The Wire‘s Clarke Peters, and The Cosby Show‘s Lisa Bonet all back on TV. And during the same hour! More than that, it got Harvey Keitel on series TV in the first place. And he’s great (sorry, Philip, still love you though). Lead Jason O’Mara, on the other hand, is a freakin’ revelation. Sure, he rocked The Closer, but I didn‚Äôt expect this. This is good.

Life on Mars proves that the big networks will still risk it all on something different when the occasion arises. Look at how well Lost and 24 have done and when they hit prime time they were unusual. Lost has gotten, well, lost and 24 feels like the lover who is always leaving town. But Life on Mars has something different about it which should turn it into a hit and keep it on the air. It was a big deal in the UK already and this is the American version. Is it better than the original? I don’t know.¬† A cop from 2008 is thrust back into 1973 to find or stop a serial killer from ever becoming a serial killer. The music, the clothes, the lack of modern technology – it’s all there. Gretchen Mol is mesmerizing as the feminist female pencil-pushing cop who will one day be taken seriously. It’s going to be a long week waiting for the second installment.