MovieChat Forums > Life on Mars (2006) Discussion > What's the appeal?

What's the appeal?

posted 16 years ago by driscolldoll
5 replies | jump to latest

I'm not bashing this series at all but I just can't get into it, I've tried so many times. I thought it would be great because I love 'The Sweeney' and other 70s cop shows.

But how does this show appeal to you?

[–] tenonceb4 16 years ago

Because the show revisits a time that was unapologetically honest. You call a crook a crook and banged him up in jail with no plea deals.

We are so hamstrung these days on what we are allowed to say (thank goodness that no smacking law was not passed in the UK, the last thing you need is the government telling you how to raise your child--will the government take the kid off your hands when he's an uncontrollable teenager?).

People were more responsible for their actions and could be taken at their word back in the 1970s

Wars are won or lost, wars cannot be ended.
If you end a war you lose it.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] badgerking10 16 years ago

In some ways, policing was better back then; in some ways, it's better now... Personally, I love the show because it's well-written, well-acted, quirky, has fab characters, etc... One of the most inventive and entertaining shows we've had on British tele for a long time.

[–] grendelkhan 15 years ago

I disagree that the show depicts a more honest straight-forward period. Nostalgia always lends a gloss to the past; that it was simpler and better. It usually ignores evidence that brings this into dispute. One of the great aspects of the series is that it brings up that things weren't necessarily better in "the good ol' days," just different. People still have the same psychological make-up and the same failings. In some areas, things improve due to education, like race relations, though progress is often revealed to be not as great as imagined.

For me the appeal is the combination of characters, the mystery of Sam's experience (coma, insanity, or time travel), the period, and the writing and performances. I am a child of the 70's (in the US) so there is a nostalgia aspect. I enjoy police procedurals with great characters and plots, though I am not a fan of the forensic-oriented shows, like CSI. I prefer good coppers doing their jobs, often in bizarre circumstances. I'm a sci-fi fan, so the time travel possibility is fun to explore. The actors are all first rate and the writing is there for them to develop their characters. The music is fantastic, both for nostalgia and in support of the emotion and story.

The show wears its influnces on its sleeve (The Sweeney, Get Carter, Quantum Leap, Twin Peaks) so it's not hard to jump on board and work things out.

Mostly, it's just good television, which is pretty rare these days.