More "Life on Mars"
Just a brief post today as I am still celebrating the virtual death of cable company Adelphia, who have made my life here in Los Angeles a hellish oblivion over the last four years. So buh-bye Adelphia, and hullo Time Warner...Which brings me to a point about the joy of digital cable, specifically the pride and joy of my digital cable lineup: BBC America. If you are not watching Life on Mars, then you are officially dead to me at this point. (Well, you're getting there anyway.)
While I usually try to avoid discussing a series so soon again after it's just started to air, last night's deliciously brilliant episode of British import Life on Mars has compelled me to mention it yet again and to pose a delicate yet vexing question: if you're not watching this show, why the bloody hell not?
Last night's episode was another turn of the figurative screw, as poor, stranded Sam Tyler (John Simm) seemingly inches his way to madness... or self-realization, depending on whether you're a glass half-full or half-empty kind of person. First, that little girl from the television test pattern screen (you know the creepy one with the clown doll) emerged from the television to taunt Sam into submission and force him to remain in 1973 rather than return to the present day. But was it all a dream? Or is something more sinister at work here? Later, when he's visiting a wounded colleague at the hospital, Tyler experiences another aural and visual "hallucination," one that seems to clearly indicate that he's trapped in a comatose state in the present day. Or is he? One of the joys of this trippy series is that it keeps you guessing from one moment to the next about just what is happening to Sam Tyler.
Why 1973? Why now? Why not, as Tyler screams, 1988 and color television? Do any of us choose the times we live in? But that's an existential question for another day. In the meantime, you've been warned: avoid Life on Mars at your own peril. Like the series' hotheaded Gene (Philip Glenister), I really can't be held responsible for what I do in a moment of rage...
What's On Tonight
8 pm: Big Brother: All-Stars (CBS); Fear Factor (NBC); Gilmore Girls (WB); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); House (FOX); Veronica Mars (UPN)
9 pm: Rock Star: Supernova (CBS); Last Comic Standing (NBC); Gilmore Girls (WB); According to Jim/According to Jim (ABC); House (FOX); Veronica Mars (UPN)
10 pm: 48 Hours Mystery (CBS); Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC); Boston Legal (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
7 pm: Love Soup on BBC America. (10 pm ET)
In the premiere episode ("There Must Be Some Way Out of Here"), we are introduced to our series leads, two strangers who will eventually fall in love. Alice (Black Books' Tamsin Greig) is the manager of a department store perfume counter looking for Mr. Right. Gil (Lois & Clark's Michael Landes) is an American comedy writer who has moved to the English countryside to find true love. One thing stands in their way of making a perfect match with one another: they seem to be leading parallel lives.
9 pm: Eureka on Sci-Fi.
The whimsical new sci-fi drama that's more Northern Exposure than Stargate. On tonight's episode ("Before I Forget"), Carter accidentally shoots Henry but can't remember what happened. However, a visiting scientist may hold the key to Carter's blackouts. It's written by Kung Fu Monkey's John Rogers, so tune in and catch this quirky sci-fi lite series.