Life On Mars

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.

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.

TimeJames Poniewozik

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

VarietyBrian Lowry

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

TV GuideMatt Roush

This captures the original series’ vibe nicely.

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.

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.

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.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

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

Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker

This vivid series puts an ironic spin on nostalgia.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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."

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.