ABC’s Life on Mars didn’t catch on with enough viewers and was unfortunately cancelled after one brief season. Sadly, tonight we had to say goodnight to the outstanding cast of Jason O’Mara, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol, Harvey Keitel, and Jonathan Murphy.
Thankfully, the show’s creators were given enough time to craft a true series finale. Executive producer Scott Rosenberg told Scifiwire, “Basically, this episode was always going to be the season finale, so we just switched things up towards the end. But we always wanted it to culminate with him and his parents… Amongst our favorite things that we did was always with his father and his mother. Every time we went to that well, it really worked for us. You’ll realize when you see it Wednesday night at 11:00, you’ll see that the whole theme of the entire 17 hours was all leading up to this. It was all about what we deal with in episode 17.”
Fellow executive producer Josh Appelbaum told Variety, “When you see you see the ending. as much as I think it’ll be wildly unexpected, it’s also sort of the inevitable. Even in the pilot there’s a lot of things that are leaning toward what the ending tells you. There were a million ideas thrown out early in the writers room, but when this one landed we all knew that was the one it should be.”
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Rosenberg concluded, “We’re not only answering the why of 1973 but more importantly, it’s what this whole journey was about for Sam — why it was these particular characters and this emotional landscape. It’s his emotional heroes journey that is answered by the end.”
So, what do you think of the series ending? It was a shocker to say the least. Are you happy to leave Sam and friends on the Martian surface?
Or, would you prefer to think that the Mars landing is actually a hallucination or another piece of Sam’s time travel mystery?
Image courtesy ABC.
I was extremely dissapointed with the series finale. The whole show was centered around David Bowie….some of the episodes were titled with Bowie lyrics, and from what I can tell, they snuck at least one line from a song into each episode. While, the Elton John song they played is probably my favorite song of his, what a blown opportunity to use Moonage Daydream, Ziggy Stardust, anything, even Space Oddity as corny as it would have been would have been more appropriate. The ending also made the relationships built during the whole series (which I found suprisingly touching) petty and… Read more »
That ending came way out of left field for me. I was a little dissatisfied with it at first, but after a while, I realized it was an effective finale for me.
Final episode hasn’t shown in Australia yet (we are still half way of the series), but from what i read i prefer the British version because of its ambiguity (just my cup of tea).
I guess this ending suited more to the American viewers.
I thought it was a much better ending than the british version. it did make everything make sense although it is a shame for the series to end.
Sooo lemme get this straight.. this was Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Yet for some unknown reason, instead of playing Moonage Daydream or Starman, they played Elton John?? How can you pull everything together into one finale, base it on David Bowie’s breakout album and not play the album? I was left kind of pissed. It made no sense whatsoever. I wouldn’t have minded dream sequences from all members in stasis based on different albums of the time, or even ZS&TSFM, but where did EJ fit into this? It sucked, it was a complete waste.
I loved the show and really hated to see it leave after 1 year. It would be great to keep it going. Lots of options.
The networks seem to have a problem with good drama series but I prefer a good short series to going too long with quality slipping.
Overall, I enjoyed LoM like a good novel – good stories; seventies cloths cars and music and great characters & cast.
The ending was a complete surprise but wrapped everything up – maybe a little too neatly but that could be because I did not want it to end.
Loved the show! I never missed an episode and it was one of the shows I looked forward to most every week. The finale was a bittersweet for me, but not a bad choice. I would have been satisfied with the finale ending with the ultimatum Det. Tyler gives about staying in 1973, but the Mars astronaut thing was alright too. Wish the show was going to be continuing. I loved the characters and their interaction. I’m sad to see it go.
ABC- Please reconcider and bring” Life on Mars” back!
I knew it would be short lived,especially in last weeks episode when the month was refered as October 1973. I actually thought Sam was going to jump to stay true to the UK version.
I prefer to think it was a hallucination, and that just like he did with the phone call, he simply decided to stay in 73. That would have been a simple, effective and amazing finale, but instead they stuck that crapload on the end like A dissconnected afterthought.
I was a big fan of the UK series Red Dwarf. One of my favorite Red Dwarf episodes was when the crew was revealed to have been in Virtual Reality since the series began, and the whole series premise was a computer game. So, the ending of this series was disappointing because it was in essence a copy of the Red Dwarf episode. I hope that was because one of the writers on LoM was originally one of the writers of the RD script. Otherwise, I’d seriously be looking to sue. Yes, it did seem rushed, but rather than no… Read more »
I loved the ending, especially in lingth of the constraints the writers were under. It was enough of a twist that I didn’t expect it. And I thought it was sort of cool how the dates counted up at the end…
My wife and I enjoyed every episode of this show. The cast was terrific as were the plots. And the show finale was one of the best I have ever seen. I am still hoping some network sees the value in this show and brings it back. I am sure the writers can start the show on Mars and work their way back to 1973! Kudos to the writers, producers, actors, etc. on a job well done.
Loved the series and am sorry it ended. A nice entertaining crime drama. I think the ending was the best I have ever seen on any series. I don’t know why they cancelled it. Goodbye to all the stars. They were the best!! I never missed a program.
Good luck and blessings.
I just finished rewatching the last 3 episodes on my PC, trying to tie up all the clues. The one thing I cannot disagree with is how the “wrap-up” ending felt rushed, and a little too neat. However, I think part of that was the limited run of the show. IMO, if the show had run another season, or at least a “full” run of 22 shows or so, Sam and Annie’s kiss would have been the break-off point, where Sam decided to spend an extended period of time in 1973. [He had already told off the mysterious man on… Read more »