Ah Ha!
I am very much enjoying Life on Mars.
It's not terribly surprising. I've always been prone to falling in love with series' that are impossible to explain. If it's possible to sum it up without concluding with "...but, you know, in a way that doesn't suck..." then it's probably not something that's going to hold my interest.
Now, part of this is due to my rambly tendency to sandwich every useful bit of synopsis with unrelated digression. I'm kind of like a magpie trying to explain an outdoor flea market. I just jump from shiny plot to sparkly context in a way that ignores wide stretches of necessary background. However, some of the blame does lie...lay...lies...sits with the premises themselves. Observe a quick run-down of some of my past favourite shows.
1) Profit: The Series: It's about a psychopath who manipulates, lies, and ruthlessly does everything in his power to take over a business that has some connection to his childhood. But here's the thing, you start to root for the evil suited sociopath almost from the start. Because although he has no morals, empathy or limits, he's really much nicer than 90% of the other bastards at the company (who are not only evil, but also petty!) Seriously, it's kind of like the opposite of 'Touched by an Angel' in that Profit continuously does the most heinous things...that always seem to work out best for (almost) everyone in the end.
It's kinda like Pollyanna...if the little blond kid just happened to be a plucky Anti-Christ...but, better than it sounds ;)
2) Dead Like Me: Okay, so a girl is vaporized by a Mir toilet seat. Upon this embarrassing entry into the afterworld, she learns that (due to various machinations) she is suddenly a reaper stuck with a 'quota' of souls to release. Which are dispensed by Rube (Hello, my name is Mandy Patinkin. You have high cholesterol. Prepare to die!) on lovely yellow post-its.
It's kind of like a Clerks/Six Feet Under lovechild...in generation X. But, in an amusing way...
3) NewsRadio: It's about a NewsRadio station. And unlike the majority of sitcoms with colourful characters and wacky hijinks, this show actually HAS colourful characters and wacky hijinks.
It's kind of like a fantabulous series that was canceled one bloody year too early you Nielson Dastards!!1!!11. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Cause it's really better than it sounds.
So you can see, a drama where a police officer gets into an accident and wakes up thirty years earlier would be a premise I could really get behind. He might be in a coma, he might have actually travelled back in time, or he might be originally from 1973, and just be mentally unbalanced.
So really, it's like The Odyssey. That's all.
Seriously, the more I think about it, the more this series is running right alongside the Canadian drama that occupied so many of my weekend hours. Sure, the kid show was much more definitive in what the heck was going on, but the travel to another 'world', the characters that are juuuuust close enough to archetypes that they could be subconscious representations. The clash between the 'real world' values (see: 2006 values) and the 'fantasy world' values (see: 1973). The kids have grown up...but comas are forever ;)
Although, the fact that the main guy is named Sam, AND a copper, is majorly giving me young Vimes from Night Watch vibes. But that's just because I'm entirely suggestible. It's just the cherry on a really interesting setup.
But, to channel my inner LeVar Burton, you don't have to take MY word on it...
Seeya, Space Cowboys!
It's not terribly surprising. I've always been prone to falling in love with series' that are impossible to explain. If it's possible to sum it up without concluding with "...but, you know, in a way that doesn't suck..." then it's probably not something that's going to hold my interest.
Now, part of this is due to my rambly tendency to sandwich every useful bit of synopsis with unrelated digression. I'm kind of like a magpie trying to explain an outdoor flea market. I just jump from shiny plot to sparkly context in a way that ignores wide stretches of necessary background. However, some of the blame does lie...lay...lies...sits with the premises themselves. Observe a quick run-down of some of my past favourite shows.
1) Profit: The Series: It's about a psychopath who manipulates, lies, and ruthlessly does everything in his power to take over a business that has some connection to his childhood. But here's the thing, you start to root for the evil suited sociopath almost from the start. Because although he has no morals, empathy or limits, he's really much nicer than 90% of the other bastards at the company (who are not only evil, but also petty!) Seriously, it's kind of like the opposite of 'Touched by an Angel' in that Profit continuously does the most heinous things...that always seem to work out best for (almost) everyone in the end.
It's kinda like Pollyanna...if the little blond kid just happened to be a plucky Anti-Christ...but, better than it sounds ;)
2) Dead Like Me: Okay, so a girl is vaporized by a Mir toilet seat. Upon this embarrassing entry into the afterworld, she learns that (due to various machinations) she is suddenly a reaper stuck with a 'quota' of souls to release. Which are dispensed by Rube (Hello, my name is Mandy Patinkin. You have high cholesterol. Prepare to die!) on lovely yellow post-its.
It's kind of like a Clerks/Six Feet Under lovechild...in generation X. But, in an amusing way...
3) NewsRadio: It's about a NewsRadio station. And unlike the majority of sitcoms with colourful characters and wacky hijinks, this show actually HAS colourful characters and wacky hijinks.
It's kind of like a fantabulous series that was canceled one bloody year too early you Nielson Dastards!!1!!11. Not that I'm bitter or anything. Cause it's really better than it sounds.
So you can see, a drama where a police officer gets into an accident and wakes up thirty years earlier would be a premise I could really get behind. He might be in a coma, he might have actually travelled back in time, or he might be originally from 1973, and just be mentally unbalanced.
So really, it's like The Odyssey. That's all.
Seriously, the more I think about it, the more this series is running right alongside the Canadian drama that occupied so many of my weekend hours. Sure, the kid show was much more definitive in what the heck was going on, but the travel to another 'world', the characters that are juuuuust close enough to archetypes that they could be subconscious representations. The clash between the 'real world' values (see: 2006 values) and the 'fantasy world' values (see: 1973). The kids have grown up...but comas are forever ;)
Although, the fact that the main guy is named Sam, AND a copper, is majorly giving me young Vimes from Night Watch vibes. But that's just because I'm entirely suggestible. It's just the cherry on a really interesting setup.
But, to channel my inner LeVar Burton, you don't have to take MY word on it...
Seeya, Space Cowboys!