Damn, I hate investing all that time in a TV show only for it to be cancelled. The greatest show on TV (in my humble opinon) came to a screeching halt last night after only one season. A knock-off of a British series, ABC's Life On Mars was nevertheless an excellent show with an exceptional cast. The premise involved a cop hit by a car in 2008 who wakes up in 1973. So he felt like he was living on Mars. Indeed he met himself, as a kid, and both his parents. Last night in the season/series finale we learned he really was living on Mars - he , and the cast of characters, were astronauts waking up from a deep space sleep and about to touch down on the red planet. That's right, it was all a dream!
The show was a mix of police drama meets science-fiction. It was quirky enough to draw me in week after week. It had a great soundtrack - from the 70s, natch - and the main character's awareness of the future led to some comical plot developments.
And now it's gone. And without it, I truly know what it is to live a Life on Mars...
For old time's sake here's a great cover version of David Bowie's Life on Mars by a great group - the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain...
I never watched this show, but I can definitely relate to where you're coming from. There's been many shows that I was really interested in over the years that just suddenly got cancelled. It seems like the network execs wouldn't know a good TV show if it came up and bit them on the ass. The good shows always seem to get cancelled.
Add me to the list. Add to the list that it was really funny and always willing to take a poke at itself, that it was fun to look for the Wizard of Oz references, and that it was the #1 facial hair show on TV since Magnum PI.
I haven't watched them yet, but I'm recording the sequel on BBC America Ashes to Ashes (another Bowie song.) New characters flashing back to the early 80s.
Well, folks, I read seven (count 'em) seven books in October. One I didn't finish but even at that I hit the magic number 50 I estimated for myself by the end of the year. The six books I successfully waded through were, firstly, What Happened, Hillary Clinton's book on her bid for the Presidency. I''m a bit of a political junkie so I get off on this stuff but still it kinda struck me as one long whine over losing. Next up was the excellent Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon. Laurel Canyon was the fabled area outside of Los Angeles where many musicians and artists lived. Known as a 60s enclave, the book takes a look at just who lived there over the last 80 years. A fascinating read. Next up was Lightfoot, a biography of Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. He may have been responsible for some iconic folk songs but he was also quite the womanizer and boozer. Enough said. Then I read Dan Brown's new tome Origin, the fifth ...
A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...
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Pretty soon the oxygen will be gone and you'll be really really cold.
Just like if you were on mars!
Paint it red first, eh?
David: I'm with you, yeah, next they'll tell me "Fringe" isn't coming back!
Only a network dickwad with his head so far up his ass he'll never see the light of day would cancel such a great show.
I haven't watched them yet, but I'm recording the sequel on BBC America Ashes to Ashes (another Bowie song.) New characters flashing back to the early 80s.
Dalton: Yeah who knows how their minds work. Jericho's another mystery - twice!
MDL: Good thinking...I've gotta hunt that down along with the original BBC series. I'm going into serious withdrawal. (Hey, btw, welcome to HBDC!)