"Life On Mars" to be remade by David Kelley

It looks like Life On Mars will be remade for ABC by David Kelley as one of their two new shows in the fall (only two? yikes)!  For those of you who haven't seen the original show, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister, I recommend it. It's great goofy fun, cheesy in all the right ways, with some pretty crackerjack acting from the leads (the whole series is also a total of 16 one hour episodes long, shorter than one season of the US show will be). I doubt the US TV show will go for the same tonal balance as the BBC one, as many of the aspects of the BBC show are resolutely unfashionable, but I'd be interested in seeing what they do with it.

Comments

[Alison Croggon]

I just don't understand the American thing for remaking English tv hits. Life On Mars is hardly goofy - it's deeply intelligent popular television, quite brilliant at its best; a great spin on traditional cop shows, an exploration of the nature of consciousness, and a compelling drama, all at once. It reminds me of the brilliant British tv of the mid-80s, Edge of Darkness and The Singing Detective, in particular. And it's full of great performances. Why the hell would you want to remake it???