LIFE SUPPORT ON MARS

I do believe there was a ball that was dropped with regards to the return of Life on Mars to ABC following a two-month hiatus. Okay, maybe not dropped. How about swung at and missed? And somehow, that ball got two strikes on one throw. One strike with the viewers (like me) who were already on board with the show and another with those viewers who might have been coming to it for the first time, especially on its new night.

The show was moved to Wednesdays were it seems to be a better thematic pairing with Lost. However, it actually slipped a little from where it was when paired with Grey's.

I thought it would be a good move. It was heavily promoted during Lost. The thing is, I don't think that was enough. Well, obviously it wasn't. But I don't think it was the right move to just ad blitz it and then stick it on at nine. And the episode that they did stick on...well, I have issues with it.

Firstly, there should have been more of an event built around it. Two options come to mind. Instead of the recap and two back-to-back Losts last week, maybe Life on Mars should have come back with Lost. I'm not sure results would have been much different. What I wanted to see...what I would have done is [armchair network exec] skip the repeat of the previous week's lost at 8/7c and air the previous episode ("The Man Who Sold The World") of Life on Mars in that slot. [/armchair network exec] It was a solid episode that really made of a meal out of Sam's time displaced situation, meeting his absentee father and learning some hard truths about him. It also started to get some cool mythos going on as Sam found himself in some creepy little house where the phone rang and a mysterious voice tells him to go the basement. It was a cliffhanger.

[armchair network exec]Then at 9/8c we get outthe new Lost. Hopefully the Losties were hanging out waiting for their show and caught the Life on Mars replay rather than having dinner with their families or some useless shit like that. Then at 10/9c, brand new Life on Mars. And not the crap one they aired last night ("Take A Look At The Lawmen").[/armchair network exec]

First problem, the teaser. The teaser sucked. While it set up the contentious relationship between Gene and his rival, it didn't really do what teasers do. It didn't tease shit. It didn't draw the viewer in to see how some crime is solved or anything. It played like a lame little vignette. An amusingly gruesome one, but still lame.

Secondly, remember how I said the last episode was a cliffhanger? And a cool one?

Yeah, completely unaddressed. No mention whatsofuckingever. And the crime story left something to be desired as well. Basically, the show didn't come back with it's A-game. Any of the previous eight aired episodes was better than this one.

I like this show. I like it a lot. I was really disappointed. I can forgive an off episode, but this was an important slot. It could set the tone for the rest of the season. Will it gain or slide?

Just my nine cents (two 1973 cents adjusted for inflation).