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{{work|wppage=Life on Mars (American TV series)}}
[[File:lifeonmars2.jpg|frame|Look at those cavemen go.]]
The American version of ''[[
▲The American version of ''[[Life On Mars 2006 (TV)|Life on Mars]]'', set in [[New York City]]. The plots in the early series were close remakes of the BBC original, only localized in: Sam Tyler of the NYPD is hunting a serial killer, listens to David Bowie, gets hit by a car, wakes up in 1973, becomes a [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]] who is dealing with the different standards of the time and hears voices in his head and on TV that suggest he may just be in a coma. As the show progressed, it introduced the reoccurring [[Motifs]] of tiny robots (which may or may not be released into people to prove the existence of a human soul), toy rocket ships, and a mysterious group called the Aries Toy Company (more sinister than it sounds). Even the mentions of Luke Skywalker count. There were also hints of a government conspiracy and even the introduction of another character who said he had been abducted from the future as well. The whole thing was a [[Mind Screw|head scratcher]] for sure.
{{tropelist}}
* [[Cool Car]]: The Chevelle SS.
* [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]]
* [[The Seventies]]: And boy can you tell. Ray, in particular, looks straight out of the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" video.
* [[Time Travel]]:
* [[All Just a Dream]]:
▲=== New tropes unique to the American version ===
** [[Or Was It a Dream?]]
▲* [[All Just a Dream]] -{{spoiler|The finale establishes that the entire experience was a "neural-sim" while Sam and his crew were on a mission to Mars. Sam had requested to live through the 2 year journey as a cop in 2008, but a meteor-storm mid-flight caused a glitch in his programming. The setting reverted back to 1973, but he kept his 2008 memories.}}
* [[And You Were There]]
▲** [[Or Was It a Dream?]] - {{spoiler|The final image of "Gene Hunt"'s loafer and slacks hitting the Mars ground. This may be just for the visual. It may be Sam's mind calling back the simulation he just lived through. Or it may imply that Sam is still hallucinating somehow.}} What's real? Do we really even know? Some have wondered if this was deliberately done to provide the possibility in case of a super-last-second renewal.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] as well. {{spoiler|The last thing Gene says to Sam in the simulation is [[The Wizard of Oz (
▲* [[And You Were There]] - In the finale, everyone from the police force {{spoiler|is a part of the crew on the ship to Mars. Sam also slept in pod 2B. They crew is on a "gene hunt" for life on Mars (presumably bacterial), and the Gene Hunt of 1973 is Sam's father.}}
▲** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] as well. {{spoiler|The last thing Gene says to Sam in the simulation is [[The Wizard of Oz (Film)|"I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow."]]}}
* [[Arc Words]]: Reoccurring references to Bowie songs.
** Rose saying, "Look at those cavemen go."
* [[Big Applesauce]]
* [[By-The-Book Cop]]: Sam, Annie, and Chris.
* [[Call Forward]]:
* [[Calling the Old Man Out]]
* [[Celebrity Star]]: See above.
* [[Clear My Name]]
* [[Cowboy Cop]]: Hunt and Ray. Funnily enough, Sam becomes one in his pursuit of a man he recognizes as a serial killer he busted in the future - and because of media scrutiny, the rest of the department is trying to follow procedure to the letter.
* [[Cryptic Conversation]]:
** And again with the angel/homeless guy in "Things
* [[Cultural Translation]]:
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Sam's confrontation with his father is much darker than in the British version. In addition to remembering that he saw his father kicking a policewoman to death, as in the British version, Sam discovers that his father was a [[Diabolical Mastermind]] who shoots him (twice) and leaves him for dead.
* [[The Ditz]]: Windy, Sam's hippie (and possibly nonexistent) neighbor.
* [[Egopolis]]: Gene Hunt likes to think of the area policed by the 125 as "Huntlandia, home of the blueberry crepe."
* [[Gainax Ending]]
* [[Gene Hunting]]
* [[Help Your Self in
* [[Hollywood Atheist]]:
* [[
* [[I'm Mr. Future Pop Culture Reference]]
** When he has to cover as a pilot, he uses the name Tom Cruise. He uses Bono when he fakes being Irish as well.
* [[In the Blood]]
** Subverted in the series finale {{spoiler|when we learn his father isn't really his father
* [[It Will Never Catch On]]
* [[A Little Something We Call "Rock and Roll"]]: in "Things
* [[Locked in
* [[Made of Iron]]:
* [[Mind Screw]]
* [[Modesty Bedsheet]]
* [[
* [[Not Named in Opening Credits]]
* [[Prophecy Twist]]:
▲* [[Not Named in Opening Credits]] - Inverted, {{spoiler|with Lisa Bonet named in the finale despite not appearing in that episode...probably so as not to give away the show's ending}}.
* [[The Reveal]]
▲* [[Prophecy Twist]] - that coma Sam got visions of throughout the first half of the season is not necessarily ''his''.
▲* [[The Reveal]] - Say what you want about the American version, but {{spoiler|the shot of the World Trade Center in the pilot episode}} is pretty shocking.
▲* [[Shout Out to Shakespeare]]: Sam lives in apartment 2B.
▲* [[There Are No Therapists]] - Subverted, sort of. Annie has a psychology degree.
▲* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]] - {{spoiler|Where Sam is from.}}
* [[Twist Ending]]
* [[Western Terrorists]]
* [[Worthless Foreign Degree]]
* [[Wrap It Up]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000s]]
[[Category:The Seventies]]
[[Category:Buddy Cop Show]]
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[[Category:Cop Show]]
[[Category:Crime and Punishment Series]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Noughties Drama Series]]
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