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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Life On Mars
EMAILPRINTSERIES: ABC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 90 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Created By:
Matthew Graham
Tony Jordan
Ashley Pharoah
First Air Date: October 9, 2008
Summary
Starring Jason O'Mara, Harvey Keitel, Lisa Bonet, Michael Imperioli, and Gretchen Mol
Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) finds himself transported to the 1970s after a car accident in this remake of the award-winning British drama.
Also On Metacritic
TV: Life on Mars (UK): Season 1 Life on Mars (UK): Season 2
Episode Guide & More Info: More about this show at TV.com
Also On The Web: Life On Mars (UK) Official Show Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
NewsdayVerne Gay
The producers ("Alias" alums Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec) have created a Dickensian (with a nod to L. Frank Baum) universe, draped in shadows, pastels and mystery, while aurally wrapped in chestnuts from the Sweet, Five Man Electrical Band and the Ramones. This new series has enormous promise.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-TimesTeresa Budasi
The time-travel element puts enough of a twist in it to move it a couple of notches above all the other entries in the fall season, not to mention all the same-old police procedurals clogging the networks.
Read Full Review >TimeJames Poniewozik
The premise of ABC's Life on Mars is ludicrous but irresistible.
Read Full Review >VarietyBrian Lowry
Life on Mars offers fine performers, some arresting images, sly satire and a terrific song score.
Read Full Review >Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
The script, from Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg, is true to the spirit of the original and exciting enough to make you swallow the premise and beg for more.
Read Full Review >Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
The new American version moves a little faster, which may sacrifice some of the subtlety of the original, but overall this first episode is a faithful adaptation.
Read Full Review >PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
This idea--that Sam is experiencing his coma as an “alternate reality” via a TV show--is wickedly clever. It’s a question as to whether Life on Mars can sustain and develop this idea, which is really an investigation of limits.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
The premiere episode of Life on Mars, by contrast [to "Kath & Kim"], is strange and exhilarating.
Read Full Review >LA WeeklyRobert Abele
O’Mara’s Sam is incredibly engaging, and I’m pleased with how well this Americanization of an already very fine piece of flinty cop nostalgia is going.
Read Full Review >Wall Street JournalDorothy Rabinowitz
Four episodes of Life on Mars have by now aired, each livelier and more confident than the last and--despite its mush of a lead character--justifiably so. That's no small triumph.
Read Full Review >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
They've pulled together a vivid cast and evoked the ideal tone - not comedy, not psychodrama, not sci fi, but an intriguingly evasive blend of them all.
Read Full Review >Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Based on a popular BBC series, Life on Mars, like Mad Men, makes a long-ago era feel both alien and nostalgic, like in the sweet moment where Sam wanders into a record store and just beams.
Read Full Review >San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
If the ambition of the pilot continues, American television may get another remake right. We'll have our first hint this next week. In the meantime, enjoy the pilot.
Read Full Review >USA TodayRobert Bianco
Happily, the American version--a second try, after an original pilot was scrapped--makes mostly wise decisions, starting with trusting the show to O'Mara. He's off to an excellent start, particularly in grounding the story by keeping his reactions rooted in reality.
Read Full Review >Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
While I prefer the British Mars, the show's premise is so strong that this decent execution of it is hard not to recommend.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
ABC sticks its neck out a bit further with Life on Mars, a pretty good remake of a remarkable series that also appeared on BBC America
Read Full Review >Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Both ABC's Life on Mars and CBS's "Eleventh Hour" have the comfortable feel of many shows that have come before them and lasted a long, long time.
Read Full Review >Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
It still has some problems, and may not be able to milk the concept any longer than the Brits did, but the central concept--modern law-enforcement veteran has to deal with a world where forensics science is in its infancy and civil rights are treated as inconveniences at best--is still appealing, and in some ways more so when it's transplanted to the early '70s New York immortalized in cop films like "The French Connection" and "Serpico."
Read Full Review >Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd
I'm not wholly convinced by the American Life on Mars.
Read Full Review >New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
The show raises questions, and fans of the paranormal will find they're kept open in reasonably interesting ways. The problem is that time-travel shows require a level of attention casual TV viewers don't always want to invest.
Read Full Review >New York MagazineJohn Leonard
This is a flabbergasting cast, so far called upon to do not much besides posturing. But my fingers are crossed, and my eyes too.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Purely as a cop show, Life on Mars is competent but not that compelling, though O’Mara does a fine job as Tyler.
Read Full Review >Washington PostTom Shales
Despite the prestigious presence of stars such as Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Lisa Bonet and Gretchen Mol, Life on Mars, a new ABC crime drama, comes off as naggingly undistinguished.
Read Full Review >Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Jason O'Mara is enormously appealing as the determined but befuddled Tyler....Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Life on Mars' writers, who seem to have been knocked considerably deeper into history than their character.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 90 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kieran Devlin gave it a3:
It has the music, at least, but this remake of Life On Mars UK was entirely unnecessary and extremely poor in comparison to the great original. I don't need to watch more than 10 minutes before hitting a WTF moment, as something not in the original is included. Maybe I haven't watched enough, but it was genuinely awful from what I saw.
Chuck T. gave it an8:
This show was great. It definitely wasn't just another cop show. There was a great twist and the mystery behind the plot was refreshing. I would have given this a perfect 10, but ABC canned the show for some reason and the last episode (whether ABC's or the writer's fault) was absolutely horrible. It made no sense to the show and ended so wrong.
Bryan B gave it a10:
It took some time in the beginning to hit stride, but the series eventually found its niche and was incredibly strong the second half of the season. Great cast and visuals throughout. The nuanced and multifaceted Sam/Annie love story was the best of the season and one of the strongest in television history, and the surprise twist at the end of the series tied everything together well. The series will be missed.
Vicky H gave it a10:
This show is and was amazing! Too bad they cancelled it.
mona c gave it a10:
The three best shows I have seen in the past several years are Life on Mars, Mad Men, and True Blood. It's a crying shame that Life on Mars has been cancelled. That said, the finale was extremely well done. I kept waiting for the writers to lapse into psychobabble or present an ending that was poorly thought out or broke the basic rules of storytelling -- but they didn't. It worked very well. And it made a chump out of me, because I'd been watching for it like a hawk and still didn't manage to predict it, with all the hints right there in plain sight. Bravo!
tim m gave it a10:
This was a fantastic way to make a series of one season. I believe that this is a new-wa and exciting way to make a series. The beginning was or fantastic the plot was captivating.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
One of the best shows in the current season, so why oh why was it canceled?
