Back in January, talking about some of my favorite returning TV shows, I said:
Life on Mars was the only new series we sampled this fall, and we got totally hooked. (No, I never saw the British original, so please don’t tell me how much better it was; for the record, I never watched the original British version of The Office, either.) This show’s a head trip, and a lot of fun to watch. Detective Sam Tyler was hit by a car in 2008, and came to in 1973 – or did he? If you grew up on 1970’s TV cop shows, the police scenes feel like time travel themselves. The show is taking its time explaining some things – although it did get an order for more episodes this year – so you do need to be patient; in the absence of Lost, this has been our “what-the-hell-is-going-ON?” show.
Well, the network giveth, and the network taketh away. Just a few weeks ago, Tall Paul and I were dismayed to read that Life on Mars wasn’t getting renewed for a second season. However, the producers were given enough notice that they were able to make its last episode a proper finale – one that actually did address, and answer, the most important questions at the heart of the story.
We fell hard for this show (photo via Popdose). It had clever writing – although it was a drama, it was often very funny, and we frequently cracked up over some of the characters’ lines; we also loved the in-jokes when Sam would refer to some 21st-century concept only to meet with blank stares from his colleagues in New York City’s 125th Precinct in 1973. We liked seeing the way the relationships evolved among the characters, and we were caught up in Sam’s efforts to “work out the reason” that he “woke up in 1973,” which was like “being on another planet,” because if he did, he might be able to “get home” (all quotes are from the show’s opening-credits voice-over).
I was born in the Bronx and lived 50 or so miles from New York City in 1973. Since we had family and friends there, we went to “the city” often – and based on the memories of my then-9-year-old self, I felt like they really got the atmosphere and mood of the show’s setting right. The music selections helped with that, too – although sometimes they may have been a bit obvious, if you want to use music to evoke a connection to a time period for the widest possible audience, you probably need to chose songs that aren’t too obscure. The show’s soundtrack actually prompted me to download a few 1970’s glam-rock tracks from iTunes.
As I’ve mentioned, we are DVR-reliant and watch very little TV when it originally airs. Since we were away last weekend, we decided to save the second-to-last episode and watch it as part of a mini-marathon with the finale this Saturday night. The third-to-last episode had ended on a cliffhanger – detectives Ray and Chris were both shot at point-blank range by an Irish-American gangster – which picked right back up in the following episode. Ray proved too tough to kill easily, but things didn’t look quite so good for Chris. It didn’t take long after before someone tracked down and murdered the gangster, though…and signs pointed to Sam, who was now trying to clear himself on top of his ongoing efforts to figure out what he was doing in 1973 in the first place. The plot developments in this episode tied up some loose ends while opening up a few more questions, which we could only hope would be answered in the finale.
Our hopes were fulfilled. The essential mystery that fueled this show was answered very differently than it was in the original British series (thank goodness – Sam in a coma would have just felt like a cop-out, no pun intended) – and in a way we didn’t see coming at all, but which we felt made sense out of the entire thing and left us almost entirely satisfied. (The “almost” is because the show is over now.) When this show comes out on DVD, I hope you’ll consider discovering it then if you missed it during its run. (Meanwhile, you may still be able to watch it online.) We’ll be adding it to our library and eagerly picking it apart, trying to identify early clues to the way it would all turn out.
I am really going to miss Life on Mars. Among its other fine qualities, it helped me appreciate that there’s really been some progress in the last 35 years. For one thing, even if some of us women are still in male-dominated professions and workplaces, we’re not likely to have to tolerate being called “No-Nuts” by those co-workers, like policewoman Annie Norris did. Sam’s references to police procedures and inventions unimagined in 1973 were always another reminder of how much things have changed during my own lifetime. And if I interpreted things correctly in the last few scenes of the show, the astonishing mustache that Michael Imperioli sported as detective Ray Carling probably was fake, but the hair may have been real.
Thanks for the head trip, Life on Mars. See you on my DVD player one of these days!
Tell me this in the comments: Is there a TV show whose passing you’re still mourning? (Buffy? Freaks and Geeks? My So-Called Life? Seinfeld? Something else?) Were you satisfied with the way that show ended?
I still mourn the loss of Sports Night. It was probably over 10 years ago now, but that was a great show. (And I don’t even like sports, so go figure!)
I’m showing my age here, but I am still mourning the end of “St. Elsewhere.” As with so much of that show, the ending was among those aspects of the show that were ahead of its time. I’m also mourning (pun intended) “Six Feet Under.” LOVED that ending … that one was perfect, in my opinion. And of course, “The Sopranos.” That ending … I have mixed feelings on that one.
April – But Sports Night begat The West Wing, so there was a bright side to its demise :-). My son loved that show too – the first season. He loved seasons 1-3 of West Wing too. He’s tough on Aaron Sorkin.
B&B's Mommy – I didn’t have HBO any more by the time The Sopranos ended (or Six Feet Under for that matter), but I know a lot of people were ambivalent about how it wrapped up. And St. Elsewehere was just one of those shows I never got around to watching, partly due to its time slot, which is one of the reasons I LOVE my DVR.
I got to see the end of Life on Mars, but I have missed many episodes. It seemed like a good ending to me, though I wasn’t sure if it was the same as the BBC version.
I liked (and miss) “Freaks and Geeks”, “Wonderfalls”, and and older show called “Nowhere Man”. I do own the DVDs for the first two, so I can still watch them. I just wish there were more episodes.
I’m mourning Life On Mars too. I watched it faithfully each week. I was crazy about this show. I noticed the September release date for the DVD series and added it to my wishlist. 🙂 I’ll definitely be buying it when it’s out. And I liked the ending too. I mean I wish it had a season or two more…I’d love for it to not have been cancelled…(I’m boycotting “The Unusuals” I’m hoping it will meet a similar fate only much sooner)but I liked the resolution.
Mike – A friend of mine told me today that the ending of the British version was MUCH better, even if it did turn out that Sam was in a coma. I may have to check it out for myself. The British show had a spinoff/sequel called Ashes to Ashes that I think is running on BBC America right now. (See, it DOES all come back to David Bowie.)
I was one of those people who didn’t manage to catch Freaks and Geeks till it came out on DVD. LOVE it. It died too soon, definitely.
Becky – Thanks for the heads-up about the Life on Mars DVD release date; I’ll mark the calendar for that one! I was pleased with the resolution too, especially because it took me by surprise. I understand your feelings about The Unusuals – mine are pretty similar at this point :-).
That happened to me when I started watching Reunion on Fox a few years back. I don’t invest in shows any more. The networks are too trigger happy and they yank the shows and don’t give any closure.
My husband could go on and on about this subject. His favorite shows always get canceled too soon, and for the most part, I agree with him in most cases.
I was sad to see Firefly get the ax. It deserved a much longer life than it got. Veronica Mars is another one I really liked. Wonder Falls. And, of course, Buffy.
Wendy and I have the same answer. Wonderfalls is possibly the most tragic because it was only 13 episodes. (and only like 4 aired) But the writing, oh the writing! And the acting!
Veronica Mars ended horribly, but there’s supposed to be a movie to wrap things up. I really loved that show.
Recently, I’m bummed over Pushing Daisies. I know the show was highly stylized, but it was full of creativity and wit…I’ll miss it.
You might really enjoy Mad Men, Florinda! I thought the same thing about the progress we’ve made as women when I watched the first season!
Nicole – That’s all too true. Whenever we find a new show we really like – especially a smart or offbeat one – we’re just bracing ourselves for the ax. We did get some closure on this one, though, which was nice.
Wendy (Literary Feline) – A few of y’all have mentioned Wonderfalls. That’s one I never had the chance to sample – as Amy mentioned, it barely got a chance on TV – but I have heard such good things about it that I may need to try it out on DVD, like I did Freaks and Geeks.
Amy – I never got around to Veronica Mars either, but I think I would have liked it. My stepkids’ mom loved Pushing Daisies too.
And I really DO need to get around to Mad Men – you’re not the first to say so :-).
My all-time favorite cancelled show was DEADWOOD – and motherblugging HBO didn’t even have the decency to give it a real finale. Instead, because the network didn’t want to pay its actors what they deserved, fans were left with a flimsy “Maybe there will be a full-length movie down the line that will tie everything up, but for now, SO LONG SUCKAHS!” I tune into BIG LOVE with interest, but after getting screwed once by HBO, I vow never to LOVE them again.
Lucia – Deadwood came around after I no longer had HBO, but I think I remember reading that it didn’t end well. I can understand your caution after that experience :-).