Life on Mars Debuts on ABC

The American version of the British TV series Life on Mars premiered recently on ABC. The premise for the American Life On Mars, as with the British version, is that a 21^st Century police detective finds himself mysteriously in 1973.

The police detective is Sam Tyler, played in the American Life on Mars by Jason O'Mara. After suffering a horrible accident in 2008, Tyler wakes up in 1973 New York. And, as it is often said, the past is another country. For some reason Sam Tyler is perceived by the 1973 members of the homicide squad he works for as a newly transferred cop from an upstate New York department.

The question for Sam Tyler is whether he is in a coma, insane, or actually back in 1973. Whatever the answer, he also has to find a way to get back to his own time.

Setting the tone for the 1973 version of the homicide squad is Lt. Gene Hunt, played in the American version of Life on Mars by Harvey Keitel. Lt. Hunt is a violent, foul mouthed, sexist, racist, homophobic bigot who is very often over the top in his rhetoric. Lt. Hunt is not above beating confessions out of suspects or even falsifying evidence in order to close difficult cases. TV dramas like The Shield to the contrary, most modern police departments would never tolerate a Lt. Gene Hunt.

All of this sets up a culture clash with Sam Tyler, who has the 21^st Century sensibilities of respecting the rights of accused suspects and preserving forensic evidence at all costs. Sam Tyler is also forced to fall back on basic police detective skills, lacking as he does in 1973 such modern tools as computerized files and modern forensic tools, such as DNA analysis.

Even more interesting, Life on Mars sets up a window to the past, much like the series Mad Men does. 1973 is within the living memory of many people. But, at least as depicted in Life on Mars, 1973 is another country entirely. Attitudes are very different thirty five years ago, sometimes disturbingly so.