TVSquad

It helps when the series you create (or at least adapt for American audiences) becomes successful right from the start. Now the creators of the American version of Life on Mars, Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg, are creating a new series for ABC called Happy Town in the vein of ABC's cult drama Twin Peaks.

While I'm sure Mrssrs. Appelbaum, Nemec and Rosenberg are very good at what they do, I don't think they have the mind-set to emulate the strange workings of that of David Lynch. It's likely that there will be superficial similarities but I don't think the comparison to Twin Peaks will work. However, I could be wrong.

I've enjoyed Life on Mars since its inception and will give the trio the benefit of the doubt, particularly since their previous original series October Road lasted two seasons when it's tough to last past one. Hopefully they will show as interesting a story with their original creation as they did with their adaptation.

(Check out part one of this four-part report)

Friday

Morning was weird, as I was still on east-coast time. My alarm was set for 7 AM, but I was wide-awake by 5:30. I was scheduled to go to an X-Box breakfast that morning, but I was getting freaked out that I'd miss getting in to wait for the Stargate panels, most of which I was saving for Rich but I knew would be incredibly popular and busy. Thankfully I made the right decision -- the line for Ballroom 20 was already insane by the time I arrived.

As I waited for Ballroom 20, I saw another line creeping up the patio outside. I learned that this was just a glimpse of what to expect with waiting for panels in the enormous Hall H, as the line I saw was for the popular Watchmen panel. Trust me, part of me was jealous I wasn't in that line to see the new footage.

For some reason, reporters were kicked out of the ballroom so ABC could set up for this press conference. But all I saw when I walked in an hour later was palm trees and 1973-era ABC signs (like in the picture above). Wonder why I had to abandon my laptop for that?

Anyway, because many of the critics were fans of the BBC original, the gathered throng of testy TV watchers were eager to question the panel for ABC's version of Life on Mars. It was a relatively small panel, with executive producers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, and stars Jason O'Mara and Michael Imperioli. You have to realize that having no pilot to base questions on makes us critics a cranky bunch, and the fact that the show is undergoing a show-runner change (from David E. Kelley to the Applebaum and Nemec), a massive recasting (all of the original pilot's cast, except for O'Mara, is being recast as we speak) and location change (LA to New York) only fuels more questions.

All things considered, the critics took it relatively easy on the panel.

Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, the creators of the ABC drama October Road, which was recently renewed for a second season, have singed an overall development deal with ABC, according to Variety.

The article doesn't go into much detail about the deal, except that ABC had essentially negotiated with Appelbaum and Nemec about developing new shows before October Road's renewal was set in stone.