Posts with tag LifeOnMars
Posted Jul 3rd 2008 11:39AM by Erin Martell
Filed under: Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
Former
Sopranos mobster Michael Imperioli is returning to television as a police detective.
The actor has been cast in ABC's Life on Mars, an American adaptation of the BBC series. Imperioli landed the role of Detective Ray Carling, one of the lead character's colleagues. Ray is described as "a rough, tough sexist who has never heard of the phrase 'politically correct'."
This cast addition is the latest of many changes made to the drama.
David E. Kelley is out as the Life on Mars showrunner, and
October Road's Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec, and Scott Rosenberg have replaced him. Producers also decided to
move the show's production and fictional setting from Los Angeles to New York City.
Continue reading Michael Imperioli joins Life on Mars cast
Posted Jun 12th 2008 4:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Daytime, Reality-Free
I don't know about you, but I was kind of ticked off that
General Hospital decided that 45 years on the air wasn't a good enough reason for a special episode. They had a cake -- good for them -- but generally speaking, the media celebrated the
GH anniversary more than the show did. Well, ABC and
One Life to Live are doing just the opposite for four decades of broadcasting.
One Life to Live will celebrate its 40th anniversary -- officially July 15th -- with three special, out of this world storylines. It all starts on July 21. How out of this world? Well, it will be celestial.
Headwriter Ron Carlivati told
TV Guide that his plans, which are extensive, include sending Viki back to Heaven. Longtime fans will recall that in 1987, Viki "died" and went to Heaven, which was inspired by
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and looked very sci-fi.
Continue reading One Life to Live plans amazing 40th anniversary shows
Posted May 13th 2008 9:07AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
ABC released its 2008-09 prime-time schedule this morning during a press conference call conducted by Steve McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. I listened in and got the rundown:
Returning: Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Grey's Anatomy, Lost (Midseason)
, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Ugly Betty, According to Jim (Midseason)
, Samantha Who?, America's Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor (Midseason)
, Dancing With The Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny, Wife Swap, Saturday Night College Football, Primetime: What Would You Do? Out: October Road, Notes from the Underbelly, Men in Trees, Big Shots, Carpoolers, Cashmere Mafia, Cavemen, Miss/Guided, Women's Murder Club, Oprah's Big Give
New: Life on Mars, The Goode Family (Midseason)
, Scrubs (Midseason)
, Opportunity Knocks, Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Project (Midseason)
Continue reading The Upfronts: ABC
Posted May 12th 2008 11:21PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cancellations, Reality-Free
Last week, it was
Men in Trees. Now the end has officially come for another ABC drama series.
ABC has confirmed that October Road is over. The long and winding road is no more, so to speak. ABC has no room in the fall lineup, apparently, and
a plan to move October Road and Men in Trees to Lifetime never panned out. So all the die-hard fans who've been writing the network and crafting petitions can give it up. No amount of peanuts or blood drives -- oh, wait, that was
Jericho and
Moonlight. The Roadies had a different tack; buy the DVD, donate it to a library to get more people watching and writing to ABC. Despite the sincere efforts, the network still chose to end the road and move on to a newer, different show.
Continue reading October Road hits its end
Posted May 12th 2008 11:03AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Boston Legal, Scrubs, Smallville, Supernatural, Pickups and Renewals, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, New Amsterdam, Reality-Free
Ok, it is after midnight here in the Jet City, and as I sit down to bang this post out on my beloved Model M it would appear that my tasty glass of juice is half empty. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind to spin this news in a positive direction that will lead to a 2009 full of Dollhouse win.
Tucked away in a report on various network goings on over at Hollywood Reporter is a little line that says "Dollhouse is expected to launch mid-season." This is me shaking my fist in the general direction of Fox and screaming "Khaaaaan!" Just, because. Doesn't this seem like a road that has been traveled before? It's one that usually leads to a pretty disappointing destination. We haven't seen the finished fall schedule yet, but I would wager that most of us could easily find three or four hours where the network would be better served by inserting Dollhouse. Highlights of what the networks have planned are available after the jump.
Continue reading Dollhouse to midseason... and other network news
Posted May 7th 2008 9:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, Reality-Free
I don't know if this is good news or bad...
David E. Kelley may be checking out of Life on Mars, the ABC pilot based on the hit BBC crime/time travel drama. According to
Variety, the prolific Mr. Kelley --
Boston Legal, L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Ally MacBeal, The Practice,
Chicago Hope, etc. -- is unhappy with the financial arrangements and if things aren't worked out, he's going to move on.
Life on Mars was a terrific show. The UK version has played on BBC America, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister. Following the British model, the series lasted just two years -- 16 episodes total. In the ABC pilot, which Thomas Schlamme directed, Jason O'Mara (
Men in Trees) is playing Simm's role, Sam; Colm Meaney (
Star Trek: The Next Generation) is Gene. Kelley wrote the American variation on the story of Sam Tyler, a police detective in present day who awakens from a car crash to find he's living in 1973. Has he really gone back in time or is it all in his head?
Continue reading David Kelley may bail on Life on Mars
Posted Mar 12th 2008 11:01AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Pickups and Renewals, Casting, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money, WGA Strike
Autumn may not look the same way it usually does on ABC in 2008. The network is seriously considering opening the new season sans new drama series. There will still be returning shows, including the dramas from 2007 which have been deemed successes by the ABC brass, including
Pushing Daisies, Private Practice and
Dirty Sexy Money -- but no new pilots.
Continue reading Untraditional autumn set for ABC
Posted Jun 18th 2007 2:01PM by Paul Goebel
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd
(S01E01) Showtime has decided to air the English drama Meadowlands starring David Morrissey (Viva Blackpool) as the head of a family who must enter the witness relocation program. Now that description may seem simple and if this were an American drama on network TV, that's all it would be.
The show opens with the newly renamed Brogan family wearing blindfolds while being delivered to their new home in the community known as Meadowlands. As the show unfolds the meet their new neighbor, the local handyman, the town cop as well as a host of other interesting characters.
Continue reading Meadowlands: Episode 1 (series premiere)
Posted Jun 4th 2007 4:02PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, TV on DVD, OpEd, TV Squad Lists
Summer is my least favorite season, by far. And not just because most TV shows are in reruns 'til the fall, though that's part of it. But nowadays the networks and cable are giving us more new stuff during June, July, and August, and it's also a good time to get caught up on shows you missed and those DVDs on your coffee table. Here's what I'm looking forward to this summer.
1. Mad Men (AMC): This is an original drama series for AMC, and it centers on the men (and women) who work for a big Madison Avenue ad agency in 1960. Advertising! 1960! Cool clothes! Cool music! Smoking! Drinking! I can't wait for this show to start. Premieres in July.
Continue reading What I'm watching this summer - Bob's list
Posted Apr 11th 2007 12:14PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: News, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Standout Episodes, Episode Reviews
(S02E08) "My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident, and I woke up in 1973.
"Am I mad, in a coma, or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet."Now, maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home."Well, did Sam Tyler get back home?
Warning: spoilers after the jump. Continue reading Life on Mars: Episode 8 (series finale)
Posted Apr 6th 2007 10:22AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Dexter
Azureus has renamed its Zudeo BitTorrent client
Vuze. Along with the name change comes a few new features like an improved search engine and a new navigation system. And more importantly, there's new high definition content from networks including Showtime and the BBC. Limited content was already available form A&E Networks, G4 TV, National Geographic, and Starz Media.
While most users probably think of BitTorrent clients as software for downloading TV shows and movies illegally, Vuze is all about partnering with networks and independent video producers to sell content.
And while there's not much premium content available right now, Azureus has snagged the right to distribute some interesting programming, including Showtime's
Weeds,
Dexter, and
The L Word. Vuze will also distribute the BBC series
Sorted, which is otherwise unavailable in the United States. This should come as good news to anyone hoping that other BBC content such as
Life on Mars, or the original version of
The IT Crowd might one day be distributed via Vuze or BBC's own online video service.
[via
Ars Technica]
Posted Apr 3rd 2007 9:41PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, Episode Reviews
(S02E07) In this week's
Life on Mars, the hunter became the hunted.
Or, rather Gene Hunt became the hunted.
In a classic did-he-or-didn't-he cop-on-the-run scenario, the big figure in this top-notch cop show became a fugitive after being found at the scene of a murder with the finger of blame pointing only at him -- and no memory as to how he got there.
Continue reading Life on Mars: Episode 7
Posted Apr 2nd 2007 7:01AM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Episode Reviews
(S02E06) One of the reasons why Sam Tyler finds himself stuck in 1973 goes back all the way to episode one of series one of
Life on Mars.
When Sam's girlfriend in 2006 was kidnapped by a serial killer, Sam set out to try and find her, only to suffer the accident which catapulted him into the past.
I honestly don't recall the plot element of Sam's kidnapped partner being resolved in series one, but I could be wrong.
Either way, it was resolved in this week's episode -- which centered around racism once again -- mostly to help push forward the romance between Sam and Annie Cartwright, but also to cement Sam's existence in the past as a reality, not a hallucination.
Continue reading Life on Mars: Episode 6
Posted Mar 23rd 2007 12:21PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, BBC, Awards
As it it needed validation, the brilliant BBC sci-fi/cop time-travelling drama
Life on Mars has
picked up two awards at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards here in the UK.
It was named Best Drama Series and also won the Writer's Award.
The first series of the show already picked up the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series in November 2006, and back in January it won the Best New Programme category at the Broadcast Magazine awards.
However, just like
The Office, and now
Extras, this is one BBC show we're not going to be force-fed until we choke, since it ends when the current series finishes up in three week's time.
Posted Mar 22nd 2007 7:27PM by Martin Conaghan
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, News, Programming, BBC, Sci Fi
(S02E05) In much the same way as series one of
Life on Mars dragged out the is-he-or-isn't-he-in-the-past component of the over-arching storyline, series two continues to keep the mystery of Sam Tyler's presence in 1973 a bit of a mystery, teasing us with glimpses of the future -- and the past.
When this week's episode started, it was as surreal as you could get, with Sam on sick leave in his bedsit, hallucinating images of his fellow-police officers on his television, and generally seeing things on his way in to the police station where a kidnapping crisis had developed.
It turned out Sam had been overdosed in the future (or was it the present?), and the doctors were desperately trying to restore his brain activity to normal.
Continue reading Life on Mars: Episode 5
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