Ok, I'm going to take a sort of break from Stargate Atlantis.  I'm not leaving, just easing up.  There is something else that is currently eating up all of my energy and that is Life on Mars.

A year ago I started seeing ads and articles in the genre magazines for a show called Life on Mars.  Like every BBC show I see advertised, I thought it looked interesting, but I had no hope in seeing it.  As luck turned out, BBC American ran the first season last year.  The moment I saw it, I was blown away.  The premise is odd enough, a cop in 2006 gets hit by a car putting him in a coma but he wakes up in 1973.  It is a cop adventure show set in 1973 with a little modern policing thrown in.  On top of that you have the surreal aspect of wondering if Sam is really in a coma in 2006, or if he belongs in 1973 and is just going crazy.

The atmosphere of the show is fascinating, but the characters Gene Hunt and Sam Tyler are what totally sell the show.  They are totally opposite from each other all the way from size to demeanor.  They are always at odds as to how to be good policemen, but they begin to have respect for the opposite point of view.

Reading this you probably are just nodding and thinking, "yeah, sounds interesting," like I did.  But, you won't understand how fascinating this show is until you watch it.  I hope the original BBC version will be released on dvd here in the states, because it would most definitely go into my collection.