Life on Mars: The Complete Series

Life on Mars: The Complete Series collects the 17 episodes aired in 2008-09 that made up the only season of this American remake of a British crime drama. When police detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) goes into a coma and wakes up in 1973, obvious questions arise: Did he really travel back in time? Is this a coma-induced hallucination or some kind of limbo between life and death? Or is it a karmic journey to the scene of his childhood and the father who abandoned him? The show offers dynamic set design and costuming, a rockin' soundtrack, and a stellar cast, including Harvey Keitel, back on the mean streets of New York in the early ‘70s, this time as tough, dedicated Lt. Gene Hunt, head of a Brooklyn homicide squad in a crime-riddled neighborhood. The cultural references are so abundant they border on parody, and Sam's constant editorializing about the “archaic” period views on race, sex, and civil rights grows tiresome. But Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos) is terrific as Detective Ray Carling, and Gretchen Mol underplays her role as the only female officer in the precinct, college-educated Annie Norris. Although the final episode brings closure, its literal interpretation of the series title had even fans of the show complaining. Overall, the American approach to the concept is never as interesting as the British original (which is available on DVD from Acorn Media). DVD extras include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers. Optional. (S. Axmaker)