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Life On Mars
SERIES: ABC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)


8.1

based on 26 reviews
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based on 64 votes
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Get more information on this show at TV.com.

TV:

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.

GENRE(S):	Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
CREATED BY:	Matthew Graham Tony Jordan Ashley Pharoah
FIRST AIR DATE:	October 9, 2008

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...

100

Newsday Verne 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.

Chicago Sun-Times Teresa 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.

Time James Poniewozik

The premise of ABC's Life on Mars is ludicrous but irresistible.

Variety Brian Lowry

Life on Mars offers fine performers, some arresting images, sly satire and a terrific song score.

TV Guide Matt Roush

This captures the original series’ vibe nicely.

Hollywood Reporter Barry 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.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob 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.

PopMatters Cynthia 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.

The New York Times Alessandra Stanley

The premiere episode of Life on Mars, by contrast [to "Kath & Kim"], is strange and exhilarating.

Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker

This vivid series puts an ironic spin on nostalgia.

LA Weekly Robert 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.

Wall Street Journal Dorothy 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.

Boston Globe Matthew 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.

Entertainment Weekly Gillian 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.

San Francisco Chronicle Tim 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.

USA Today Robert 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.

Kansas City Star Aaron 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.

Philadelphia Daily News Ellen 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

Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan 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.

Newark Star-Ledger Alan 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."

Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd

I'm not wholly convinced by the American Life on Mars.

New York Daily News David 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.

New York Magazine John 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.

Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan

Purely as a cop show, Life on Mars is competent but not that compelling, though O’Mara does a fine job as Tyler.

Washington Post Tom 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.

Miami Herald Glenn 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.

The average user rating for this tv show is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 64 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kretz M. gave it a9:
“Life on Mars" is a great pick for fans of police/detective shows. It offers viewers the traditional “whodunit” type of program. (A new case every episode) But also gives the audience a new prospective by submersing them into the early 1970’s. The way the show uses its setting is by far its greatest asset. People from older generations watch and say, “I remember that. ” And younger viewers get an inside look at what life was like for their parents! A foreign world for a generation spoiled with the luxury of computers, cell phones, and mass communication. But the thing that I find so fascinating about the show is that it reminds us of where we came from. You think we live in a corrupt world now? “Life on Mars” reminds us of a time when it was weird for women to be cops; when prejudice dictated justice; when cops didn’t need to follow protocol; and, dare I say, presidents were involved in scandals. haha. If this show is as successful as I think it COULD be, we might see an interesting trend in TV series taking place in the past.

Jim M. gave it a10:
Engaging, entertaining broadcast television, what a concept! Outstanding. Only HBO's John Adams held my attention better. Dense, well acted, thinking television. Maybe too well done for an old-media lowest common denominator US broadcast audience. Unqualified A+ from this non-broadcast television watcher (I gave up long ago.) If major networks make more series this good they just might survive. Or at least get my eyes/business again.

James W. gave it a10:
Best new show of the year! I watched the Season Premiere and was instantly hooked.

Eric P. gave it a10:
I'm too young to have been there in the 70's. I've heard from people that this show is very close to how it was.

Roger V. gave it a10:
Damn near the only thing I watch regularly on TV anymore. Hoping for a full season, if not more.

Jason M. gave it an8:
This is a good show. The elements of an old school cop show are very good. I do wish they would do more with Michael Imperioli. It seems all his character does is complain. I do question whether things were as insensitive as they are portrayed.

Kathleen E. gave it a10:
I absolutely love this show...the interaction between the attitudes of the 70's and the present are wonderful. I am turning into a huge fan of Sam Tyler and te Loo.

Life On Mars SERIES: ABC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)

Life On Mars
SERIES: ABC, Thursday 10:00p (60 minutes)