Life on Mars: When police brutality was fun

The fall TV season finally has a good new show. Life on Mars might be the first show since The Office that Hollywood has successfully adapted from British TV. Like the original, it has a good sense of humor mixed in with the action and mystery. Life on Mars was almost entirely recast late in the development process, and it's paid off. Jason O'Mara, who plays Sam, the time-traveling cop, has traces of a young Mel Gibson. Minus the right-wing craziness. Michael Imperioli is spot-on as a jaded, fu manchu-ed detective, and Harvey Keitel (and how'd they get Harvey Keitel?!?) is outstanding as the ends-justify-the-means captain. Even Gretchen Mol is good, and I finally might be able to forgive her for being such an unsupportive girlfriend to Mike McD in Rounders.

It's weird watching all the casual police violence though. Yeah, things were done differently in 1973, and yeah, there probably were more suspects getting roughed up. But really, the Miranda ruling came down in 1966, and it's hard to believe New York police officers were that oblivious to basic rights when it came to arrests and interrogations. It's a bit cringe-worthy, like watching Mel Gibson beating down a pedestrian in Lethal Weapon III, not long after the Rodney King riots, or watching Heathers in the post-Columbine world. Just something that makes you go, "Hmmm, that actually isn't so funny these days." Still, Life on Mars isn't meant to be a realistic procedural, it's a fantasy. Some of the punches are for comedy's sake, others are symbolic to show how much times have changed. And I can deal with that as long as they maintain that sense of fantasy.

It's got a great soundtrack too. I can forgive the iPod blasting in the squad car in the premiere when it's balanced later by David Bowie on 8-track. It's refreshing how much of the music is a little more obscure and appropriate, and not the typical '70s pop you'd expect on network TV.

It'll be interesting to see where this show goes. The original lasted only two seasons and 16 episodes on the BBC, which is only about two-thirds of a typical American TV season. The show's creators have already said they won't resolve their version in the same way the British verson did. So is Sam in a coma? Is he dreaming? In an alternate reality? God forbid, has he been abducted by aliens? Here's hoping ABC continues on the high road and maintains a rare quality show.