US Life On Mars question

[Mikey]

I finally got a chance to watch an episode of the US version of Life On Mars last night.
The little girl falling from the building episode.
It was pretty good .... but i'm left with a question.

I did not recognize one background song in the entire episode (except the Three Dog Night one on the end).

The British version, I recognized at least 80% of the songs in the show.

Question:
Is the US version using a lot of faux 70's music thinking it would be much easier and CHEAPER when the show is released on DVD in the future ?

[monkey tennis]

Oh no...that just sounds Bad.

Think I'll just stick with the English version.

Are there any plans to remake the Ashes to Ashes series ?

It wasn't as good as Life on Mars.

[jds1911a1]

I finally got a chance to watch an episode of the US version of Life On Mars last night.
The little girl falling from the building episode.
It was pretty good .... but i'm left with a question.

I did not recognize one background song in the entire episode (except the Three Dog Night one on the end).

The British version, I recognized at least 80% of the songs in the show.

Question:
Is the US version using a lot of faux 70's music thinking it would be much easier and CHEAPER when the show is released on DVD in the future ?

That would be my answer too.
I can't beleive the execs are "clever" enough to say "back in the 70's we couldn't use radio versions of songs and had to record our own so lets do that it'll be retro"

But it might not even be concern for future dvd release rights (like BBC is experincing with old WHO episodes set in what was modern day) I think they are too cheap to pay the royalty for broadcast now since they are spending a good budget on set dressing and extra costuming

[palitoy]

The show seems to use a lot of late sixties rock in the mix, which makes sense as it was only 1973. I recognized some of it but last night's show was also pretty funk orientated.

I think the show is coming into it's own, the odd clunky moment with the references but the british series had that too, we just don't know what a "watney's party seven" is.

The ending gave me kind of a Prisoner feeling, I just wish the US network wasn't so wussy about smoking, all of those characters should be.

[jds1911a1]

I stand corrected in last night's episode they played Bread so at least for some songs they are willing to pay a fee to run in the show

[Mikey]

Yea, I noticed that too.
I caught it last night as well.

[palitoy]

I loved the Big Jim reference last night.

[Mikey]

That Big Jim gift looked a little too big ...
But, that could be explained by saying it was double boxed

[palitoy]

That Big Jim gift looked a little too big ...
But, that could be explained by saying it was double boxed

Yeah, I thought along the same lines could have been a sports set though:

[Hulk]

You just know this show is going to make us geek out with a serious Mego moment (however obscure it ends up being).

As for the music, considering they paid for the Bowie Life on Mars song, I was psyched to see the title of the episode was The Man Who Sold The World (The original B side of Life on Mars, and on of my favorite Bowie songs), and was waiting to hear it all episode. Reeling in the Years is fine, but not when you tease such an obvious and appropriate song.

Looks like they are paying for 1 - 2 A list songs and 2 - 3 B listers per episode.

Life On Mars - Music Guide - ABC.com

I'm just waiting for Brick Mantooth to make an appearance.

I really like the show and ABC just ordered 4 more episodes. Not quite a complete season, but enough to give me hope. I need to see if BBCA is planning on rerunning the original given the hype. It will definitely make my TIVO list if they do.

[starsky]

I loved the Big Jim reference last night.

i wished they actually showed big jim being gift wrapped by the mom. that wouldve beeen cool.

[JDeRouen]

I love the original British show so much, I haven't been willing to watch this one. But... maybe I will give it a chance.

[Mikey]

For me, the only problem with the British verson is parts of it is very hard to understand... Their accent, that is.

BBC-America must have noticed this too because the last time they showed Life On Mars they put limited subtitles on the regular non CC broadcast.
For me, it helped big time.

I'm usually pretty good at understanding British speach, but Life On Mars is different.
They either talk too fast or use a strange accent.
I haven't figured out why yet.

[ThatBatmanGuy]

i wished they actually showed big jim being gift wrapped by the mom. that wouldve beeen cool.

Or at least little Sammy tearing it open.

Yeah, since I'm a Big Jim collector and repro decal/parts/box seller, I geeked alittle when the BJ reference came up. Just ask my wife. The present was a little big, but not really. The '73 stuff was bigger than the later issue items. The sports set is a prime example. But it's larger than the present on the show last night. It could have been Big Jim and another set wrapped up.

Either way I'm really into this show. You could say "I'm diggin' it, Man!" I loved the Big Jim reference and can't wait for the Mego reference to show up.

Bob

[palitoy]

Someone at Life on mars asked both Scott and myself a lot questions about Mego figures and really wanted to feature the Star Trek figures at one point (i didn't bother mentioning that they didn't exist in 1973).

I know they faced some weird legal problems regarding the figures (if you show a doll of William Shatner, you apparently have to pay him) and I suggested the aliens but never got much response from that. They also mentioned they liked PlaidStallions.