# Life on Mars (2008)

> A modern police detective wakes up in 1973, still on the job, and must solve cases in a world run by a hard-edged boss.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/3545

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 17
- Episode runtime: 42 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, science fiction, drama
- Created by: Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan, Ashley Pharoah
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Jason O'Mara, Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol, Michael Imperioli, Odette Annable, Jonathan Murphy, Heather Matarazzo, Maggie Siff
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0787490/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, melancholic, wry, nostalgic, tense

## What critics say

Audiences rated the single season positively, praising its time-travel premise and the clash of eras between Sam Tyler and Gene Hunt.

## Synopsis

Life on Mars (2008-2009) is an American adaptation of a British series created by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah for ABC. Jason O'Mara plays Det. Sam Tyler, a modern-day New York detective who wakes up after a car crash to find himself back in 1973, still working the beat. He is pulled into a station run by the blunt, charismatic Lt. Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel), whose rough justice clashes with Sam's procedural instincts. Policewoman Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol) and Det. Ray Carling (Michael Imperioli) round out the squad as Sam works through a series of cases while trying to work out whether he is dreaming, mentally unwell, or truly displaced in time. Each episode pairs a self-contained crime with a larger mystery about the past and the present. The single season of seventeen episodes has a gritty, melancholic and occasionally wry tone, with a wistful, nostalgic look at the seventies. Fans of Ashes to Ashes, Quantum Leap and The Wire will find resonance in its blend of crime procedure, time displacement and character-driven mystery.

## Shows like Life on Mars

- [Unforgotten (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55562)
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- [SS-GB (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/59731)
- [Ashes to Ashes (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/1111)
- [Time Trax (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/4081)
- [Day Break (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/4396)
- [Life on Mars (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/68360)
- [Life on Mars (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/2827)
- [The Responder (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/117829)
- [Dark Side of the Moon (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/56321)

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