The sheer amount of hatred for the American Life on Mars remake startles me a little. My main concern is just that calling it Life on Mars will make the fandom confusing; I don't particularly want to specify 'the UK version' whenever I talk about the original. Honestly, America, why not name it after one of your own 1970s hits? Tsk. It seems that people are genuinely furious about a programme that hasn't even started airing yet, though.
I'm not angry about the remake, largely because it's easy to understand why they're remaking it. Life on Mars is full of cultural references; there are many things in it that will probably be understood only by the British, and it is, I imagine, a great source of nostalgia for people who grew up in the 1970s. The original can be exported to America, and many Americans I know have watched it and love it, but that aspect of it is lost. It annoys me immensely when things are remade for no good reason, but Life on Mars is such a British thing that I can forgive the decision to remake it for America.
I should mention that all the Life on Mars-watching Americans I know have had serious trouble understanding the characters. One frequent complaint I've seen about the remake is 'pfft, are the accents really that difficult for Americans to understand?' The answer, it seems, is 'yes'. Hell, I live in London and I am frequently mystified by the combination of Mancunian accents and 1970s slang. People who watch the American remake in America are going to be watching it on a television screen, not a computer; they're not going to be able to pause and look up the meaning of 'nonce'.
That said, the trailer does look a bit pants. But, hey, it's only a trailer. Maybe the real thing will be better than anyone expects. I'm not planning to watch it, but I'm not planning to boycott it either.
I'm not angry about the remake, largely because it's easy to understand why they're remaking it. Life on Mars is full of cultural references; there are many things in it that will probably be understood only by the British, and it is, I imagine, a great source of nostalgia for people who grew up in the 1970s. The original can be exported to America, and many Americans I know have watched it and love it, but that aspect of it is lost. It annoys me immensely when things are remade for no good reason, but Life on Mars is such a British thing that I can forgive the decision to remake it for America.
I should mention that all the Life on Mars-watching Americans I know have had serious trouble understanding the characters. One frequent complaint I've seen about the remake is 'pfft, are the accents really that difficult for Americans to understand?' The answer, it seems, is 'yes'. Hell, I live in London and I am frequently mystified by the combination of Mancunian accents and 1970s slang. People who watch the American remake in America are going to be watching it on a television screen, not a computer; they're not going to be able to pause and look up the meaning of 'nonce'.
That said, the trailer does look a bit pants. But, hey, it's only a trailer. Maybe the real thing will be better than anyone expects. I'm not planning to watch it, but I'm not planning to boycott it either.
