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locker_monsterI couldn't help myself. I watched the premiere of the US version of Life on Mars. Okay, so the whole point of importing the show was to take the concept and place it in America, right? I mean, if you wanted original Life on Mars, an American network could have just bought the UK version. So it was really sad to see that the US pilot was practically a scene by scene reconstruction of the UK pilot with nothing new or too radically different. Case in point...
UK logo. On a side note, I've always enjoyed the theme music for the UK version. Something very dynamic about it.
US logo. I'm not overly familiar with UK shows that get an American transplant. Does the US The Office have the same logo as the UK The Office? No cool theme music though; the show pulls a Lost and has the credits appear after the first act break.
So the plot for each pilot is the exact same. Sam Tyler, present day detective, is trying to track down a serial killer who kidnaps women, holds them for 30 hours, and then strangles them. Sam is struggling to find the killer and his girlfriend Maya becomes the next victim while trying to crack the case. Then there's the whole time travel/crazy/stuck in a coma angle. But more about that later.
The teaser. The scenes are pretty much blow for blow. Kind of sad.
Seems every suspect needs a trash can lid to fight off the cops. Also the same in each episode, two kids watching the chase, cheering on the bad guy instead of Sam. Same dialogue even, minus some Brit speak.
An element they kept the same is Sam's girlfriend.
Both are a different ethnicity from Sam and both work with Sam in the same police station. One slight difference (shocker!), is it seems US Sam and Maya are in a happier relationship than UK Sam and Maya. I got the sense UK Sam and Maya were drifting apart; US Sam and Maya discuss meeting Maya's parents, suggesting things are better between them. That changes some of the dynamics between characters, I think. US Sam will have less attraction to US Annie, which is a shame, because I really liked the relationship between UK Sam and Annie.
Anyway, Maya gets kidnapped and Sam drives off from the scene distraught.
Both Sams are man enough to have a little cry. ;-)
But this is what bugs me. Exact same shots!
These shots of Sam just before his accident and afterwards bug me the most. They're clones of each other. Does the US version really need the same angles? Did they do this with The Office? I'm tempted to check out Eleventh Hour, the other UK import this TV season, to see if the pilots were exactly the same, too.
And it seems the US version is also borrowing those flashbacks Sam has of that forest and the woman in the red dress.
Does this mean US Sam will eventually learn his father is a criminal? Because that was the whole point of the woman in the red dress/forest flashbacks.
Shot cloning continues right into the moment Sam wakes up in 1973.
Sam even has the same confused look. Coincidence, you say? Maybe.
Interesting thing about these shots, the camera angles are all reversed. Probably because of the whole right-hand/left-hand drive thing American and British cars have going on.
Now, this is one of the few shots where the US version takes advantage of the fact that it's in New York City. UK Sam notices that motorway hasn't been built yet, but US Sam notices that the Twin Towers are still standing. It's sort of an eerie shot. US Sam's in this simpler time, but he knows what's to come.
Now these shots are just the height of laziness. You've probably noticed both Sams are wearing the same outfit. It's slightly amusing how the US version stars an Irishman as Sam. Might as well have had John Simm play US Sam. ;-)
I hope US Life on Mars picks up once the show starts with original episodes. Not that I'm planning to watch more.
Up next: character comparisons (and more clone shots).
UK logo. On a side note, I've always enjoyed the theme music for the UK version. Something very dynamic about it.
US logo. I'm not overly familiar with UK shows that get an American transplant. Does the US The Office have the same logo as the UK The Office? No cool theme music though; the show pulls a Lost and has the credits appear after the first act break.
So the plot for each pilot is the exact same. Sam Tyler, present day detective, is trying to track down a serial killer who kidnaps women, holds them for 30 hours, and then strangles them. Sam is struggling to find the killer and his girlfriend Maya becomes the next victim while trying to crack the case. Then there's the whole time travel/crazy/stuck in a coma angle. But more about that later.
The teaser. The scenes are pretty much blow for blow. Kind of sad.
Seems every suspect needs a trash can lid to fight off the cops. Also the same in each episode, two kids watching the chase, cheering on the bad guy instead of Sam. Same dialogue even, minus some Brit speak.
An element they kept the same is Sam's girlfriend.
Both are a different ethnicity from Sam and both work with Sam in the same police station. One slight difference (shocker!), is it seems US Sam and Maya are in a happier relationship than UK Sam and Maya. I got the sense UK Sam and Maya were drifting apart; US Sam and Maya discuss meeting Maya's parents, suggesting things are better between them. That changes some of the dynamics between characters, I think. US Sam will have less attraction to US Annie, which is a shame, because I really liked the relationship between UK Sam and Annie.
Anyway, Maya gets kidnapped and Sam drives off from the scene distraught.
Both Sams are man enough to have a little cry. ;-)
But this is what bugs me. Exact same shots!
These shots of Sam just before his accident and afterwards bug me the most. They're clones of each other. Does the US version really need the same angles? Did they do this with The Office? I'm tempted to check out Eleventh Hour, the other UK import this TV season, to see if the pilots were exactly the same, too.
And it seems the US version is also borrowing those flashbacks Sam has of that forest and the woman in the red dress.
Does this mean US Sam will eventually learn his father is a criminal? Because that was the whole point of the woman in the red dress/forest flashbacks.
Shot cloning continues right into the moment Sam wakes up in 1973.
Sam even has the same confused look. Coincidence, you say? Maybe.
Interesting thing about these shots, the camera angles are all reversed. Probably because of the whole right-hand/left-hand drive thing American and British cars have going on.
Now, this is one of the few shots where the US version takes advantage of the fact that it's in New York City. UK Sam notices that motorway hasn't been built yet, but US Sam notices that the Twin Towers are still standing. It's sort of an eerie shot. US Sam's in this simpler time, but he knows what's to come.
Now these shots are just the height of laziness. You've probably noticed both Sams are wearing the same outfit. It's slightly amusing how the US version stars an Irishman as Sam. Might as well have had John Simm play US Sam. ;-)
I hope US Life on Mars picks up once the show starts with original episodes. Not that I'm planning to watch more.
Up next: character comparisons (and more clone shots).
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