Note to self: Be kind to your mom, because you know not what sacrifices she’s made for you. Also, don’t love an episode just because it has a Doctor Who reference.
Last week, we glimpsed Sam’s deadbeat salesman dad (aka Dean Winters). Last night, we met Mom. Her name: Rose Tyler. A reference perhaps to Doctor Who’s loveliest companion of late, played by Billie Piper? Considering DW is all about space and time travel, aliens and alternative universes, it’s not too far-fetched. Could Mama Rose be Sam’s companion/helper on this long, strange trip he’s on? Can she help him get back to the future? You tell me.
Speaking of, Sam and Rose’s scenes were a little, well, Back to the Future-esque. She didn’t inspect his underwear or try to kiss him, but there was something in their chemistry that made me think he was going to pull out a disappearing snapshot of himself. Among yesterday’s other allusions: Goodfellas and The Godfather. Annie also asked Sam to go see the Woody Allen film Sleeper, which, if my memory serves me right, isn’t so much about time travel, like she says, as it is about a man who’s basically been in a coma for 200 years starting in 1973. Hmmm….
addCredit(“Patrick Harbron/ABC”)
Anyway, Sam’s mother owed money to a mobbed-up loan shark. When Samtried to help her, she basically just got in more hot water with the guy’sboss (the excellent Robert Klein). And while in the end Sam did fixthings, it wasn’t until after she agreed to be one of Klein’s “girls” inorder to keep young Sam safe. Now, whether she actually hooked we don’tknow, but she did something that made her need a stiff drink and a goodcry. I’m sure Sammy appreciates her even more now.
And on the subject of appreciation, mine goes to Tanya Fischer, who plays Sam’sneighbor Windy. How is Windy not annoying already? She’s like Three’s Company’s ChrissySnow with smaller knockers. But Tanya has somehow (through shear spark)stayed fun to watch, and I hate to say it, a little more compellingthan Gretchen Mol’s Annie. Windy even had the best line of the night:“Wires get crossed and your worlds mix and things don’t feel right.Like that time Deep Purple went on The Dating Game.”
The bad news for Tanya and Co.? LoM’s ratings. The show’sbeen declining steadily since the Oct. 9 premiere, and it’s ashame, don’t you think? Or have you already cut out? If not, what wouldyou do to fix the ratings dilemma? And what’d you think of last night’s episode? Are you stoked that Whoopi Goldberg and The Wire’s Chad Coleman are making appearances next week?
UPDATE: According to preliminary ratings data this morning, last night’s LoM attracted 8.4 million viewers, up slightly from the previous week’s 7.9 million
More on Life on Mars:
EW’s official review of ABC’s Life on Mars, by Gillian Flynn
EW’s review of the original BBC Life on Mars
The trailer for ABC’s Life on Mars
Comments (1-30) of 68 Add your comment
I really liked this episode. Sam with his mother was great.
I liked it when Sam ran into Jim Croce. I thought that exchange was really funny.
I love this show…but then I was 13 in ‘73!
I love the music. I like that they throw a little comedy into mix. Hope people give the show a chance.
This is one of the few shows I will sit down and watch in real time (vs Tivo’ng it)as I enjoy it so much.
I believe Windy reminds me so much of Dyan Cannon and that’s why you gotta love her. If anyone is going to get him through this – it will be her. She’s more on the cosmic plane and is good at explaining things to him. And I think she actually believes him.
I have warmed to Keitel as well. Last night’s ep showed him a little more on the good cop side.
I like this show, I hope it sticks around. It would be paired better with “Lost” than with “Grey’s” as a lead-in.
i think this show is great but still trying to find its feet….I was hoping that some sort of major arc was going to start last night with the gangsta in the hood. I need a reason for him to be in 1973 and not just going from case to case week after week. If Robert klein was made a supporting character and Sam was fighting against him on a semi regular basis….to me, it would be more gripping.
This is the best new show in a long, long time. Now that The Shield is bowing out, this is must-see TV for me. Too bad it might not last.
Great show. Surprisingly enjoying it as much or more than the original British version. Ratings are OK, the big detriments are a 10PM start time, and the Eleventh Hour over on CBS getting a lead in from CSI. CSI still leads the ratings but they are no where near what they were a few years back. People’s viewing habits have obviously changed, so with that in mind LOM is doing fine.
I hope they don’t resort to a bunch of big gimmicks to get more people to watch. It’s a good show and ABC should be patient so it finds an audience.
Although the Sam Tyler character on “Life On Mars” is much like the Desmond character on “Lost” (ie. finding their constants), “Life On Mars” is captivating and worth watching…Harvey Keitel,Michael Imperioli and Jason O’Mara have great chemistry. Best
new show in a long time…I “ditto” that!
I almost wish that people would Google the BBC version of the show to get the show a bit more. I was sticking with it, but it always left me a little off kilter. Then, well, Windy is like the freaky little girl in the original and something about the whole thing made be watch the episode last night like it was an episode of Lost or something. Well, I don’t watch Lost like that, but I know some people do.
Often, the episodes reflect the British version and even seem to be adaptations of those episodes. British Sam met his mother in Manchester, England around the 4th episode as well. He also ran into Marc Bolan of T-Rex (as opposed to Jim Croce) at a gangster’s night club and told him to be careful if he drives Mini Coopers (he died in a car crash in one).
I hope ABC gives this show a chance, I really enjoy it. It makes me crazy something as good as this show is getting beaten by something as badly written as “Eleventh Hour”, all due respect to Rufus Sewell…
I love this show and hope it survives. The male actors are making this show work, the females not so much. Kind of the opposite of the lamented, lost Swingtown.
I liked the BBC version of this show and would love to like this one as well. But it aggravates me that they obviously did meticulous research and got clothes, music, cars and most of the other cultural stuff right. But they completely overlooked the fact that the Knapp Commission had just happened and the NYPD was nothing like this anymore. If only they had either set the show in 1971 or paid more attention to the NYC history, I would really love this show.
have to say I am really liking this show. it is interesting and well acted. I hope it sticks around because it makes a nice companion to GA on Thursdays.
There’s also the weirdness in that John Simm, who played Sam on the UK LOM, played the Master on Who. So, Rose is the Master’s mother? O_O
I like the show. I hope ABC keeps it around for a full season.
To TC – Thank you. That bothered me too.
Eleventh Hour is FAR BETTER than “Life On Mars” — and that includes better written. “Life On Mars” could have been a great movie, but as a broadcast network TV show — where the badass cops from 1973 can’t curse or really draw blood or really have sex with whores and/or anyone else — onscreen at least — it is totally pointless, to me at least.
I loved the British version, especially Gene! I was married in 73.
I want to like this version but it’s just not as good.
I’m done with the show and here’s why: If Sam thinks he’s in a coma or a dream, why doesn’t he loosen up and enjoy himself more? If he thinks he’s really in 1973, then why is he trying to impose his 2008 values immediately on a 1973 culture? It gets him trouble every week and is illogical.
Either way, the heavy-handedness of the show has worn thin. Oh well.
I am lovin’ this show! And episode 4 may be the best yet.
The beginning of the episode was, I thought a masterpiece–the boy Sam falling asleep as his mom sings and then letting go of his “mars rover” toy, which slowly slides down the blanket which morphs into the skin on the neck of the adult Sam. Then the now ultra mini rover races into his ear. Anyone else out there reminded of Philip K. Dick? Creepy. My spine was literally getting that little tingly feeling you can sometimes get with the sublime–that feeling of awe verging on terror when you confront mystery and horror in one moment. Did anyone else have that happen?
The sex appeal of the cast all around is pretty high, I think. That Jason O’Mara is probably cute no matter what your gender or orientation. And of course Gretchen Mol is just lovely, in addition to being a fine actress.
I have to say that the BBC version is much better than the ABC’s version of the show. The episodes for the ABC’s show seems messy when you compare it to the BBC version. I have watched every episode of the BBC’s version and it’s witty and well written. I especially like the two characters of Gene and Sam from the UK version and don’t understand why they would cast such a short and skinny guy for Gene. Last night’s episode when Sam is handcuffed to the bed it’s actually gene who breaks down the door but for known reasons they had to change it since this gene is short and skinny and could no way have broken down the door. So, basically like things near and there make it unenjoyable to watch.The UK version much better!
Every single time they said “ROSE TYLER” I was completely thrown out of the story. I found it extremely distracting.
I love this show! The acid trip/handcuffed to the bed scene was great…Micheal Imperioli stating Sam’s “Misgivings” was hilarious!
I just couldnt figure out why no one heard the mom had the same last name as Sam and didnt think about a relationship being there.
I love the neighbor and I love Annie! Two strong women…we dont need Lisa Bonet back…(she really isnt in the show anyway…)
Quit compariing it to the BBC show..alot of us havent seen that version…so drop it already!
I am loving Life on Mars. I totally agree that Windy should have been annoying by now, but through the actress’s sheer “bubbliness,” she’s not. Anyone catch the neon VERIZON light in the background when Sam and Gene are drinking by the river after finding Adrienne? THAT’S the kind of stuff that disappoints me (Knapp Commission included). I was born and raised in New York (way after 1973), and I like the “history,” I just wish there were more.
Love this show! Why is it that intelligent, creative, thought provoking shows, like this and Eli Stone, can’t find an American audience? ABC, please keep these shows on the air…refuse to pander!
I liked the nod to Doctor Who… the original BBC Sam Tyler was actually named after Rose Tyler from Doctor Who, so it’s like coming home full circle. (One of the people working on the show was trying to come up with a last name for the main character, and asked his young daughter for a suggestion. The daughter said “Tyler” and they liked it and went with it, only realizing later that the daughter had gotten this name from Doctor Who.)