well, looks more or less like a carbon copy of the original. The choice of Colm Meany is pretty awesome but will never even touch the brilliance of the original DCI Gene Hunt. Also I'm a little worried/apprehensive about whether they are gonna tone down the mean badassiness of the British '70's cops. And David Kelly's involvement suggests that things could get awfully ally mcbeal dancing baby silly.

Get that female detective wardrobe, stat!

Poor Chief O'Brien. The guy never gets a break from temporal anomalies. Now he's been thrown back to 1970s United States and has to make a living as a cop.

David E. Kelly? Countdown to a pretty blonde with big eyes being sexually humiliated in 3...2...1...

Sigh. David Kelly? I can't wait for inevitable Barry White Dance sequence and cracks about "wattle."

@Stafford: what was the original like?? Was it good?

It just seems so...unnecessary.

I predict it will either die early, or last so long it stops being even remotely cool.

The original was amazing... this is going to suck so bad.

Dunno. Actually looks kind of interesting. I'll watch, only to see where it goes and how long it takes David Kelly to turn it into trash.

yes, I'm in concurrance with Jonathan there. The original was awesome. It was one of those shows that delicately balanced a multitude of genres at once. Generally that happens when a good group of people are all in the right place at the right time and it rarely can be replicated.

That voice over was several kinds of awful.

Caveat: I couldn't make it through the first season of the original, so I doubt I can make it through some Kelley-penned bastardized version.

You know what was cool about the british one was that they managed to take a concept that could've been a constant nudge nudge wink wink, hour long joke and make somethng real out of it.

yep. that was cool.

Tyler seems a bit more 'gritty' and 'hard edged' then he was before. Also Star Trek Guy in Hunt's role could be interesting. He'd probably have to play it a lot differently, but he'll be good. He was pretty cool in Layer Cake.

+ Watch video

But I'll watch and stay confident that although it'll probably be a lot different then the UK version, it'll still be good.

Jeez. That's not 'Life on Mars' that's 'Sam Tyler's Wacky Time Adventures'. I was expecting the voice over to mention 'Hilarious Consequences'.

I haven't seen the trailer yet.

But consider what they did with The Office. The US pilot was an almost word-for-word copy of the UK version, but after that they branched off into new [and very amusing] territory...

@Bob_of_Mars: Yes, the original was good. But I personally think they should have wrapped it up at the end of the first season.

If they are just going to remake the same show shot-for-shot with worse music, why not just show the original?

The only reason I can think of is that ABC wants the flexibility to extend it indefinitely in case it does really well. The problem is that mean they won't be allowed to move the show along to the conclusion/payoff which will rob it of most of the narrative power. After all, you can't have your highly rated show come to some sort on conclusion. That would be crazy talk.

Other than that the only reason I can think of is that they really don't think their audience would be able to follow the original just because it has British accents and slang instead of American. Personally, I think that's a little insulting to the audience. Still, they might be right for all I know.

my lord this looks terrible. couldn't they even get the rights to the song? will americans even get the bowie reference. parts of it looked like a scene for scene remake of the british pilot, but it felt like it was really lacking in the charm department. the chemistry between john simm and philip glenister is like capturing lighting in a bottle. i'll watch the pilot but i am not impressed. this trailer was typical american cheese, no but and no heart.

@Bob_of_Mars: The origional was awesome. Not just awesome, incredible. It's only 16 hour long (not 45 mins an honest to got 55-ish mins) episodes and worth every minute of your time.

The only reason the sequel Ashes To Ashes works in the slightest is because DCI Gene Hunt is one right bastard and full of win.

@Theoban: amen to that. i should have just quoted you instead of writing my own comment because you summed it up perfectly.

Look, you wanna just rip off the story and go your own way like we did with Coupling? Fine, go ahead.

But, to actually *buy* the rights for Life on Mars from BBC and Kudos and then to make THAT PIECE OF SHIT?

That....that....thats shocking. I mean, the US Remake of the Office at least shares the same camerawork, musical cues etc, but, but this? Might as well call it CSI:1972 and be done with it.

fucking hell.

Just bring back Journeyman...

The original Life On Mars was absolutely amazing - this looks completely horrible. I realize that about all the American entertainment industry has left creatively is doing remakes, but good lord. I'm so glad I've seen the original - John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White, Marshall Lancaster, and Dean Andrews can't be replaced by these tossers.

That's how a narrator would sound for a TV advert in the 70's! Brilliant!

Don't think Alley McBeal and dancing babies...think more like Boston Legal and mad cow. :)

Why did they even call it Life on Mars if they didn't use the song? Bonus points for Colm Meaney, but even the American Red Dwarf pilot had a Star Trek actor.

I second bringing back "Journeyman," but no chance there.

Like the others, I loved "Life on Mars." It had some really creepy hair standing on the back of the head moments- especially when Sam was watching TV or just trying to relax.

Did he ever get a good night's sleep for the entire run of the show?

Man, that looks utterly skippable. The original one on the BBC was fantastic. This? Watching that preview would make me avoid my TV for fear of fecal contamination.
That said, I actually thought of Colm Meany when I first watched Life on Mars.

@femto: Galactic Nerd Order 1743.b was mentioned previously today by Garrison Dean ([io9.com])
I believe it also applies to the American version on Red Dwarf.

I'd rather buy the original DVDs and send 'em around to everyone I know than recommend what will probably be another David E. Kelley sack of smug.

Wow. This looks very bad. Cheesey is the right word.

But what bothers me most is that this looks like a "Be Kind Rewind" version of the original.
It's like that episode of Seinfeld when they meet their TV show dopplegangers.
Creepy.
And I didn't hear "Life on Mars", so is this going to be a show that uses a song as a central theme, but not have that actual song in the show?

@Numerous: I thought it was Garrison Dean who linked a video of it yesterday. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

Poor Colm, sort of typecast in something SF'ish. Will Isaac Hayes do the music? He's got a wa wa pedal and everything. Personally I think I'll skip this one because I saw too many Manix episodes.

Why on earth do a remake? As someone above pointed out, sure they then have the option of continuing it if it did well, whereas the "proper" version finished after 2 short series.

But there was a reason for that. It just *worked*. We didn't beat the idea to death. I'm not even a huge fan of Ashes to Ashes. It's OK, but not a patch on it's parent show.

What would have been a better idea would have been to take the premise and "Americanise" it. If such events could happen in the UK, why not to a *completely different character with a different name* in the US? But, no. Far too short of ideas.

The US TV execs managed to do one thing before that I never thought possible - make The Office even worse than the heap of unfunny tripe it was originally. I shudder to think what they're going to do to something *good*.

Oh god.This just makes me cry.
First Spaced, then 'Fringe', now this.
Has anybody, got, any, I mean any,ORIGINAL creative impetus left in them in L.A?

@femto: Oops, you're right.

No! No! NO! NO! NO! NO!

A thousand times 'no' on this toxic mess!

They can't even put a hint of the Bowie song in there? The flashy graphic transition back to the 70's with the disco track made me want to hurl. Let's just start with the music choices -- DISCO LIKE THAT DIDN'T PLAY IN 1972!

Plus, there's nothing 'disco' about the show! Or the concept! Even accounting for how they dumb these presentations down for the advertisers, if this is the show ABC is delivering, it's dead in the water!

I'm so angry right now I can't even come up with clever, in-character wisecracks.

About the only thing I can approve of is Colm Meany. But I'm angry. This is about as awful as I'd expect.

@DCI Gene Hunt: Well of course YOU weren't gonna like it. haha

@Numerous: @femto: I checked and poor American remakes of foreign sci-fi falls under Three Subsections of Galactic Nerd Order 1701.
a. Pertains to Television Productions (Red Dwarf, Dr. Who)
b. Feature films
c. Direct to video

Order 1702 pertains strictly to clever albeit shitty remakes of anything in a Sci-Fi style, the most glaring example being the "Casablanca" remake "Barb Wire"

Chief Justicinator Zarbrogble had a very interesting and famous quote from his majority opinion on that film:
"I can't define crap or soft core porn, but I know it when I see it. Now can everyone leave my chambers I need to study the bubble bath scene a couple more times to fully flesh out my opinion."

@Calraigh:
You can stop crying.

SPACED wasn't picked up for the States.

Ugh! Is everything a remake now?? I feel like half the tv shows and movies made in America now are just crappy versions of things made (better) in other countries. I keep seeing ads for Strangers which is based on French movie I've already seen (it wasn't that great). This remake of Life on Mars is completely insane. The original was wonderful and remaking it and stretching it out for 10 seasons will not make it better. Why can't people in this country just watch the originals?

@artistentropy: Because, and I quote several people on this one.

"I don't want to read a movie."

You seem to forget that a large portion of America are for lack of a better word... Idiots, who need to be spoon fed their entertainment.

How they don't watch shows from England where they speak english though is beyond me, especially when they love Simon Cowell.

I think I'm going to cry now. This is so wrong on a number of levels. I think the casting directors must have only heard about Life on Mars in passing. Their Sam Tyler - ugh. Just, no. The original Sam Tyler wasn't a beefcake, and he still kicked ass; it packed a punch whenever he used physical force. Beefcake-Sam Tyler beating up Gene Hunt is sadly one-sided and not awesome :(

I don't trust David E. Kelley's writing to pull of Life on Mars.

I'm just going to go out on a limb and suggest a solution to all of this. How about we all don't watch it. Problem solved.

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: You, sir, are indeed full of awesome.

@Numerous: ahem... why thank you sir.

That does not look good. I don't like the casting for Sam Tyler either.

Sounds like ABC give them a music budget of $5

"Maybe you're here to make a difference".

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGH!!!!

Dear god no! I watched the original, and this made me queasy. Up here in Canada we get a steady mix of Canadian, British, and American TV... I know which one I usually don't like... "Blarg!"

We will know this 'Sweding' of British series by American studios has hit rock bottom when they do a remake of Doctor Who. You know it will happen. Heard it here first folks.

I shudder to think of who gets cast as the Doctor. How does David Hasselhoff sound?

This is more proof that ABC and Disney can ruin anything if they try hard enough.

The original series was amazing, and it;s going to be really hard to give this a fighting chance against it.

Does anyone know if this is a planned finite series like the original, or is it open ended? Knowing american TV, it will outlast it's ability to entertain.

Spoiler alert: The ending of the original was awesome.

Of all the things going against this series, the worst has to be David E. Kelley's involvement. His shows usually start out strong, but devolve rapidly into parodies of themselves. He has no follow-through. Why do they keep giving this guy new shows?

Even if the first couple episodes were good (which seems unlikely) I don't hold out much hope.