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Modern Cop Ends Up In '70s On ABC's 'Life On Mars'

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Published: October 9, 2008

"Life on Mars" may sound like a sci-fi thriller or even a comedy:

A New York cop from 2008 is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973, when the culture and police methods are so foreign that he might as well be on Mars. But it's actually a gritty crime procedural drama with quirky touches.

Debuting at 10 tonight, it is ABC's only new scripted series this fall. Hampered by the writers strike last season, the network has been relaunching last season's newcomers such as "Pushing Daisies" and "Dirty Sexy Money."

"Mars" stars Irish-born hunk Jason O'Mara as Sam Tyler, a decent sort who is baffled by this sudden twist of fate, or whatever.

Although 1973 may not seem that long ago, the pop culture and crime-fighting methods throw Tyler at first. There are no cell phones and no laptops. There's no DNA, and the New York cops are not politically correct.

Also, the clothes, hair, music and social attitudes are all different.

O'Mara says it would be strange to him because he was born in 1972.

It's based on a popular short-run British series during which the time-traveling cop appeared to be in a coma. I won't give it away in case you want to check it out on DVD.

O'Mara and the show's producers say that other than the premise and the title, the American version will go in a different direction.

In a recent interview, O'Mara said the British version offered viewers three possible reasons for the time shift: He went back in time. He was dreaming it all while in a coma. Or he simply went mad.

"We've opened that up to more than a dozen possibilities for why he's in 1973," O'Mara says. "The British version concluded after 16 episodes, and we want to go several seasons."

The reasons for the character's time shift are the backdrop for what will be a crime of the week that needs to be solved. The fantasy element of the series is thankfully downplayed.

Set and filmed in New York, "Mars" has some impressive co-stars, including Gretchen Mol, as Annie Norris, a smart, tough woman who is struggling for recognition in the old boys club of cops.

Former "Sopranos" bad boy Michael Imperioli plays mustachioed tough guy Detective Ray Carling. Film veteran Harvey Keitel plays a bend-the-rules kind of cop. His Lt. Gene Hunt will clash often with Tyler.

Also in the cast is former "Cosby Show" kid Lisa Bonet as Maya Daniels, Tyler's fellow cop and sweetheart left behind in 2008.

EXILED IN TOWN: MTV officials confirm that a crew from "Exiled" has been in the Tampa Bay area this week filming 16-year-old Cher Hubsher, a Palm Harbor teen who was featured earlier this year on the network's "My Super Sweet 16" series.

"My Sweet 16" focuses on pampered girls whose parents throw lavish Sweet 16 parties. Viewers saw Hubsher celebrate with her pals at a Mardi Gras-themed party at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater. Cher rode in on a float and was presented with a $96,000 red Jaguar.

Her father, Mason Hubsher, runs a health care facility in Port Richey.

It appears that Cher will be returning to MTV on "Exiled," a series on which the girls from "Sweet 16" are dispatched to various locales to live with the less fortunate. Reportedly, Peru is where she gets a life lesson. The episode will air this season.

"RICHES" BANKRUPT: The official announcement may be anticlimactic, but FX finally has said that "The Riches" has been canceled. The drama starred Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as a married couple who were members of a gypsylike tribe of con artists in the Deep South. Posing as a well-heeled suburban family, they were trying to cheat their way into the American dream.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 9 p.m., CBS: A new season begins, but it is the last for William Petersen, who plays forensics chief Gil Grissom. Tonight, he and his crew investigate CSI Warrick Brown's shooting.

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