Thursday, October 09, 2008

The Fall of TV: Kath & Kim and Life On Mars

It's been a while since my last look at a new Fall TV premiere, but that's because there hasn't been anything the least bit interesting to mention, really. But tonight we've got two shows with a bit of buzz.

First up is "Kath & Kim," a remake of an Australian sitcom of the same name. It stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair as a dysfunctional mother and daughter who are living together after the daughter leaves her husband. Now, I had hopes for this show, but I watched the pilot and I was sorely disappointed. Despite the presence of both Molly Shannon and John Michael Higgins, it managed to be almost completely devoid of laughs. I think I muttered a few "hehs," but that was about it. Some sitcoms get off to rocky starts and pick up in later episodes (some felt "30 Rock"'s weakest episode of its first season was its pilot--though I don't agree with that) but I don't think that's the case here. Judge for yourself. It's on at 8:30 on NBC.



The second premiere is "Life on Mars," another remake, this time out of Britain. I watched the original series on BBC America, and liked the first couple of episodes a lot. For those who don't know, the premise is a police detective gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973 where he's a still a police detective, but without any of the modern day conveniences, including basic civility, he was used to in the present day. Whether he's traveled through time, or is in a coma, or it's all something else, is the central mystery of the show. But in the meantime, he still has to solve crimes, some of which prove to involve people from his "real" life.

The show eventually lost me because I didn't really care about the day-to-day crimes--in that sense, it was just another damned police procedural--and seeing British life circa 1973 didn't bring up any kind of nostalgia factor for me. That's where I hope this version will fare better. I really liked this summer's "Swingtown," and a lot of that had to do with its suburban 1970s America setting. In this new "Life on Mars," the setting is 1970s New York, and 1970s thespian Harvey Keitel plays a central role. Right there it's got two things going for it. If it can just manage to not seem like another damned police procedural, then it could be a must see for the rest of the season...

It premieres at 10PM on ABC.

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