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Life on Mars (US) (view source)

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~~[[Dramatic Hour Long]], [[Cop Show]], [[Magic Realism]], [[Period Piece]]~~
 
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.
 
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=== Tropes carried over from [[Life Onon Mars 2006 (TV)|the British version]]- ===
* [[Cool Car]]: The Chevelle SS.
* [[Fish Out of Temporal Water]]
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** [[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.
* [[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 (Filmfilm)|"I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow."]]}}
* [[Arc Words]]: Reoccurring references to Bowie songs.
** Rose saying, "Look at those cavemen go."
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* [[Gainax Ending]]
* [[Gene Hunting]] - [[Just for Pun]] {{spoiler|This brings up some interesting questions about Sam and his relationship with Gene Hunt's daughter in the simulation}}
* [[Help Your Self in Thethe Future|Help Yourself In The Past]] - Sam saves himself a few times, in a few different ways.
* [[Hollywood Atheist]] - established in "Things To Do In New York When You Think You're Dead".
* [[How's Your British Accent?]] - Sam fakes an Irish accent for "All The Young Dudes"; naturally, he gets compliments on its realism. (Actor Jason O'Mara is Irish.)
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** Subverted in the series finale {{spoiler|when we learn his father isn't really his father.}}
* [[It Will Never Catch On]] - Ray Carling derides a man who lost all his money on a portable phone company. As he said, "Who wants to carry around a phone?"
* [[A Little Something We Call "Rock and Roll"]]: in "Things To Do In New York When You Think You're Dead", except by rapping [[Vanilla Ice (Music)|Ice Ice Baby]]. It works.
* [[Locked in Aa Room]] - more than once.
* [[Made of Iron]] - it's one thing when Sam left the hospital AMA to investigate leads on his personal situation. At least he waited. But Ray Carling is so eager to get revenge on the Irish Mafia for shooting him and Chris Skelton that he leaves immediately after his wounds are sewn up! {{spoiler|Though he's in a VR simulation, so this may be part of the program.}}
* [[Mind Screw]] - {{spoiler|So Sam is supposed to be from the future. But the last shot is of Gene Hunt's normal, white slipper hitting the surface of Mars.}} Is this in Sam's head? Is the whole thing in Sam's head? What's real or not? The ambiguity leaves a lot of people still guessing.
* [[Modesty Bedsheet]] - A few instances, but the most baffling by far happens when a [[Hooker Withwith a Heart of Gold]] seduces the protagonist by taking her bra off in front of him ([[Toplessness From the Back|with her back to the camera]]) and jumping into his bed. In the following sex scene she's enthusiastically bouncing away on top of him... with her bra put back on.
* [[Motifs]]: Many, most notably the little robots that see into your soul and the various rockets/spaceships seen in every single episode. Makes sense in the [[Grand Finale]].
* [[Name's the Same]]: As another connection between ''[[Doctor Who]]'' and ''Life on Mars'' franchise, Sam Tyler's mom is called Rose.
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* [[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/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.}}
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