Philips introduced the first consumer-level cassette recorder in the UK in '72. There was also a cassete player/TV combo in the US, aimed at the rental market, but that company was out of buiness by July of '73.
Around the same time Philips was trying to get their VCR into British homes, Sony was aiming their Umatic system at North American businesses and schools.
I like how Sam did things like start to say VCRs and then cut himself off, or refer to “the African-American community” and then change that to “the blacks” after he got blank stares from everyone else. That cultural change is one of the interesting things about the series.
I count this the third supernatural dramatic series that ABC has tried and cancelled in the past couple of years (Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies in addition to this one).
I completely missed the last half hour; last I saw they had just found the gun on Sam and Wendy’s apartment was empty. Was this the last episode or is there still one left?
There’s going to be one more episode, which presumably will resolve the series. How well it will resolve the series may depend on jow much time they had to write and shoot it once ABC pulled the plug.
Nano-nitpick. Her name is Windy.
Yeah, and it’s also a five letter word for…
Everyone knows it’s Windy.
I suspected Windy was imaginary way back when she was in Sam’s apartment just as Annie came to his door. There was something about that scene that suggested to me Annie couldn’t see or hear Windy, and I realised then that nobody else had interacted with her at all. I don’t think Sam has even physically touched her.
But Sam made a point of physically touching her on the nose, in a sort of “Is this real” way, at the end of the last episode. She didn’t disappear, she just gave him her sweet hippie chick smile. I guess somewhere along the line there I’d just assumed that he’d already “hit that”.
Even if she’s not real Sam could still imagine he had touched her, so that doesn’t prove anything either way.
The end of the most recent episode may have been a nod to the first episode of “Ashes to Ashes”; DI Drake puts her hand on Gene’s chest.
This is a real shame. I agree with the comment that the actor who plays Sam is a bit woden. The UK version was much more, and satisyingly, ambiguous. But I was nonetheless enjoying this.
I daresay they got it right.
This the greatest April Fool’s joke I have ever experienced!
Taking into account the necessity to rush-write a final episode, I daresay I (pretty much) agree.
Stupid useless pointless nitpick:
There can be no real time communication between Earth and Mars!
Even from Earth to the Moon is something like (what was it?) five light seconds.
Also: “Genetic DNA”?
Tonight’s the first episode I watched – I refuse to get involved in shows with big underlying mysteries. But this thread made me curious and I wanted to see what you guys thought.
I kinda liked it, and it sounds like the finale was a surprise to anyone who didn’t see the UK version. It’s pretty cool that nobody was spoiled for the ending – assuming this was the way the UK version ended.
Has Dean Winters ever played a nice guy?
Great show. Sad to see it go. I have hate for ABC for killing this (I can understand because it seem expensive) and Pushing Daisies, but I appreciate them for giving Scrubs another season which has so far been great.
I’m definitely not downloading the UK version of Life On Mars, because that would totally be wrong.
-Joe
According to Wikipedia,
That’s not at all how it ended