Ahhh, screeners. I don't usually download them. I guess because usually I don't care too much about the upcoming shows specifically. Gotten burned too many times with shows being cancelled in the first season (or sooner).

Soooo... Life on Mars. I'm afraid I have to complain. I'm not just gonna go "it sucked!" and immediately write it off, but... at the moment I can't say I'm looking forward to it. And I've been "looking forward to it" since I finished the original... a year ago?

Wait! [...]since they ordered the series to be overhauled after seeing the pilot - which is not likely ever to be aired in its original form.

So maybe it'll be better.

But back to the complaining. Except now with the knowledge that I should definitely check it out again when it actually starts.

1. He's in 2007. It's not going to air until 2009. That's kind of a problem. Well, annoying anyway.

2. He's going back to 1972 instead of 73. I think they chose 1973 for a reason. Lame.

3. There was no slang whatsoever. The dialogue (where not directly stolen from the original) was pretty dull...

4. Gene's a wuss. I'm sorry, Colm Meaney. I love you on Deep Space Nine. You're full of awesome and whatnot. But your character did not seem up to being a police chief. Aside from looking mean at suspects.

5. They chopped up scenes and gave parts to different characters. Annie had no role in figuring out the killer's motivation. I guess it was supposed to be all "oooh, Sam/Annie" but it wasn't. :P And then Annie did the "why would your mind put in that detail?" at the end.

6. Chris and Ray have been combined into... whatever. :P

7. I would have to watch it again, which I won't, but I have seen the original three times so... I would swear that they said the killer hadn't killed before. Except Sam went down to the morgue and pulled the soundproofing junk out from under someone's nails... someone of the dead variety. So that was randomly bizarre.

8. Sam tells everyone that he's a time traveller! Yeah, that's great. >.>

9. The pilot was approx 50 minutes long, which is almost as long as the UK episodes. And yet they still cut out a lot of stuff.

10. Gene is not only a wuss, he has no use. I don't think he contributed anything at all really. Other than apparently looking up the name Raimes on his own... without being asked.

11. The "special effects" seemed kind of crappy. It's possible that part of that has to do with it being a screener and whatnot. At the end you can see a wire holding Sam to the building he's about to jump off of. O:) And when he first wakes up and looks around him... I dunno, it just looked crappy. Also the outside of his... house? (or I guess an apartment that opens out to the street directly rather than a hallway or whatever) looked technicolor. Very bright greens and things. Strange.

12. I wouldn't have noticed, but someone apparently looked up some of the music used in the episode... from '75. That's a no-no. But again, I suppose it could have been temporary and they would have fixed it before airing.

Okay, I feel better now. It'd be better if they didn't use the same names. >.> And the same dialogue. And the same background music. <.< If they're going to make it the same it should be the same! If they're going to make it different it should be different!

Useless US version of Life on Mars complaining above. --^

Edit: Seeing Eddie tomorrow, back on Wednesday.

Edit edit: Ha, I think I have a dangling adjective there. I meant useless complaining, not that the show is useless. >.>

Edit edit edit: I love edits. In my search to accurately quote the "awash with ambiguity" line, Google linked me to another livejournal review of the episode. Which is full of "OMG WHY DO THEY REMAKE THINGS. OMG WHY DO AMERICANS STEAL OTHER COUNTRIES' SHOWS AND RUIN THEM. OMG WHY CAN'T I TURN OFF MY CAPSLOCK KEY." etc. I hate people like that. Just screw them all. The "nothing should ever be remade!" attitude is old and boring.