Life on Mars Is Sort Of Awesome

ABC's new cop-drama Life on Mars is a BBC rip-off about a cop who gets hit by a car and wakes up in the thick of the 1970s. No cell phone. No DNA. No clue as to whether this is all a figment of his subconscious or whether he's some sort of time traveler.

I missed last Thursday's premiere but I caught up last night on ABC.com. After one viewing, I encourage all of you edubbers to do the same.

Like LOST, Life on Mars takes what might otherwise be a pretty ridiculous concept (man goes back in time) and does some really innovative things with it. They not only explore the challenges of learning how to adjust to life in the past, but the much more difficult aspect of living in a world where no one believes you and seemingly, no one can help you escape.

Unlike LOST, this show doesn't warrant a lot of clue tracking. No pause button required, no ridiculous mysteries, no wayward polar bears. It's a pretty groundbreaking show that doesn't require a PhD or a ridiculous amount of time to kill.

The cast is also a treat. Jason O'Mara plays our protagonist, Det. Sam Tyler, a brooding, silent type with a kind heart. Michael Imperioli (formerly of The Sopranos) returns to TV as one of Sam's 70's cop colleagues. He's joined by the legendary Harvey Keitel who plays Lietenant Gene Hunt, a take-no-prisoners, kick- him-in-the-face-ask-questions-later kind of guy. Judging by how many fistfights there were in the first episode, I'm guessing he's not alone.

The ladies of Life on Mars are also superb. Gretchen Mol and Lisa Bonet add some great balance to this testosterone heavy cast. We only see Bonet for the first few minutes of the pilot, so hopefully she makes a return in the second episode.

Life on Mars is already getting some very positive reviews and was just selected Number 1 on Metacritic's Top 10 new shows this fall.

Not too shabby for a BBC knock off.

Photo: http://seat42f.com/

Reminder: It's edubtv.com now. Adjust folks. Adjust.

Take A Look At The Emmy Finalists

For the first time, the folks over at The Emmys decided to let the fans in on the process and released the top 10 finalists in the Outstanding Comedy and Drama categories.

There's no voting or fan favorite or anything. They just want you to know who the heavy hitters were before the list gets narrowed down to five official nominees. It's kind of a neat idea.

Here are the lists. I took the liberty of highlighting my picks for you.

Outstanding Comedy Series Finalists

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
  
• Entourage
  
• Family Guy
• Flight of the Conchords
  
• The Office
• Pushing Daisies - Great new show but it's a little soon to compete with the big boys.
• 30 Rock
• Two And A Half Men - Why God Why?
  
• Ugly Betty
• Weeds
  

This drama list is loaded with good stuff. I don't envy the Academy at all.

Outstanding Drama Series Finalists

• Boston Legal
• Damages
  
• Dexter
  
• Friday Night Lights
  
• Grey's Anatomy
• House
• Lost
  
• Mad Men
• The Wire

Guess, wonder, hypothesize, etc. All of the nominees will be announced on July 17.


Photo: HeroesTheSeries.com

It's LOST Finale Night

I won't try to guess what's going to happen on tonight's 2-hour finale. The rest of the blogosphere, however, is a-buzz with conspiracy theories. Like the helpful sales associate at Target who tells you you can find that lotion at Wal-Mart, I've decided to send you somewhere else for all things Oceanic 6.

Three Important Questions Prior To Tonight's Lost Season Finale - TV Addict

Who's In The Coffin And Other Thoughts About Tonight's Season Finale of Lost - Televisionary

Hurley's Words And Other Lost Goodies - Pop Candy

Lost: Internet Obsessives Have One Last Chance To Speculate - Vulture

It's Lost Finale Crazy Prediction Time - Best Week Ever

If these spots aren't satiating your fix, bookmark TVaddict.com and follow along with his live-blog tonight.


PS: I hope Jin doesn't die.

Killing Time On The Interweb

I've come across some amazing links the past few days. Who would I be if I didn't share these nuggets with the edubTV public? A jerk that's who.

• Thank you PEOPLE Magazine.com for making this bad-ass Gossip Girl vs. Golden Girls quiz. Do I feel like an idiot for getting half of them wrong? Perhaps. But who knew Blanche never flashed a bartender to get free drinks? I bet I could find that in a deleted scene or two.
  

• NERD ALERT: Someone took the time to put every LOST flash-forward in chronological order. I watch this show every week and I cannot wait until it makes sense.
  

• Like a compass pointing towards magnetic north I was pulled towards YouTube today and my fingers crisscrossed the keys as if guided by the hand of a higher power. Where did I land? Pepper Ann. I used to love this oft-forgotten Saturday morning ABC cartoon and today I realized just how similar I was to this mop-topped, spectacled awkward teen...still. I might make the theme song my ringtone. Too much?
  

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 1972!

ABC is putting its chips in the BBC basket and making a re-make of a popular British drama for the fall season. Life on Mars follows a police officer in the prime of his career. Too bad he gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1972. Is he dreaming? Is he in a coma? Or could this really be happening?

It's a little less "out there" than Pushing Daisies and more creative than Eli Stone. My concern is that people are little worn out on the whole "time-traveling" thing. Journeyman didn't do so well and it's one of the most troubling aspects of LOST.

But check out the trailer and see for yourself. Do you think it can survive? One thing helping it out? It's got the post-Grey's Anatomy time slot. If you can't make it there, you can't make it anywhere.

Welcome Back Everybody!

Tonight was my first busy night of television since before the Strike. ABC's Thursday night line-up (Ugly Betty, Grey's, Lost) premiered tonight and NBC tried out a new time-slot for 30 Rock. Both of these tidbits were great news for me, especially on the same night. The time slot switch made it possible for me to watch all of my shows in one sitting. It was like a new lane opening up on a busy highway.

Anyone else settle in for a night of superb comedies topped off by perplexing drama (thanks LOST)? It was really nice to have so many options again. Not only that, but the episodes were really well done. I'm officially back in the swing of things...

just in time for things with SAG to heat up. I won't be able to take another strike. Hopefully it won't come to that.

I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Losing Out On Viewers: Or Why I Hate TV Online

Last night I discovered that I hadn't made quite as large a dent into Lost as I previously thought. I assumed I had about six episodes left but in reality it's closer to 16. With less than a month until the premiere, I decided to watch one online last night.

To my surprise, ABC.com has the entire third season available on their site and with " imited commercial interruption" no less. What a nice gesture right? Too bad I can't make it through 45 seconds of the show without it skipping and getting blurry, or the color going out, or the picture not matching up with the voices. The commercials seem to come in okay (shocking!) but I have to suffer in silence over the poor quality of the episode.

I thought it was an ABC problem, but I tried to watch an episode of 30 Rock online as a test and I had an even harder time. I had a frozen picture of Liz Lemon on my screen for about 6 minutes before I gave up.

It doesn't make sense. I have a pretty new computer and I'm using a fast internet connection. Can't a girl just watch pretty people whine about the elements in peace? Or do they intentionally fuck with me so I give up and get the DVD?

Now they've really lost me.

Hump Day Updates

So much to talk about. Let's get right to it.

• Kid Nation ended tonight. It was kind of a sad episode. I am ashamed to admit it, but I shed a few tears. Not only when the kids saw their parents for the first time in 40 days, but at the end when I realized the show may not come back for a second season. So upsetting. We'll always have Jared.
  

• Though I am sad to leave Bonanza City, I already have a reality show replacement: Crowned. So awesomely bad. The show is about mother/daughter pairs competing for a pageant title and $100,000. I could've written 1000 words on tonight's pilot episode alone. This episode, each pair had to make up a team name. One team called themselves the Blonde Bombshells, others the Diamond Dolls. But one team decided to go with Silent But Deadly. Supposedly they didn't know that is also a laugh-inducing euphemism. Carson Kressley of Queer Eye fame is one of the judges and he provides some comic relief. It's like watching Cirque De Soleil; I am mesmerized by how awful it is.
  

• TV shows have trailers now. I don't like this trend, but that's a whole 'nother story. The trailer for season 4 of Lost made its way around the blogosphere today. Since I have until February, I might try to catch up on the second half of season 3 and give the show another chance. With the writer's strike going strong, I won't have much else to watch anyway.
  

• Regis Philbin is set to host a re-make of the series Password. Because 25 versions of the show just aren't enough.

• Chris March is back on Project Runway. All is right with the world.