First of all-if I understand correctly they're setting it in LA. Oh. Dear. God. Sounds like the American producers completely missed the point. There were four major characters in LoM: Sam, Gene, Annie, and Manchester. The city matters, Dammnit! And Gene was ugly yet sexy, offensive yet loveable. I haven't seen the cast, but I'm guessing that whoever plays Gene Hunt is prettier than Glenister. Also noticing the lack of Simm.

Actually, he said something about people thinking he was a nutter who belonged in an insane asylum, but that's probably what he was thinking. That's our Simm! Plus, I have never had the opportunity to see very much of the BBC version, although I'm assuming if this thing takes off, they'll release the DVDs in the States. See, I'm assuming this is the reason they haven't released it. I'm cautiously optimistic-- everyone made a huge fuss about The Office, but as someone pointed out, the producers and writers took a British idea and turned it into something American. It took the original premise and ran with it. If LoM does the same and it's not just a bunch of people regurgitating the same lines, it could probably work. I agree. The original, which is one of my favorite shows of all time, has some very British ideas in it - which can work, but it would have to be translated. Such as on episode that features around the death of a football fan - while we have the other kind of football here, our leagues don't often have two professional teams in the same city, and two sets of fans duking it out on a regular basis (hence the football murder idea). Second-the woman they've cast to play Annie is too Hollywood pretty. Annie was (to me) a real woman. Annie to me is what Cameron-13 should be on House. Even though she could be a Mary Sue, there's a whole element to her portrayal by the actress that prevents it from being that way. And LA - yes, it's the beautiful people, but here's still hoping it's not. I haven't seen the cast, but I'm guessing that whoever plays Gene Hunt is prettier than Glenister. Colm Meany. Lt. O'Brien from DS9/TNG. And it looks like they've cast Maya (Sam's girlfriend in 2007 - it took me a moment), so it looks like they're Americanizing the scripts. ETA - I had to change my icon back due to you lot. I can't go Simm-less this long. And I love Gene Hunt's quotes: "Now is not the time to have a one night stand with your conscience." among many other rich and lewd selections.

Colm Meany, eh? I guess I can see that. Still not gonna watch it though. How can they improve upon perfection?

If there are any Steve McQueen fans out there, or anyone who needs to buy a holiday gift for a Steve McQueen fan, I have to recommend a new book called "McQueen's Machines," by Matt Stone with a forward and tons of cooperation from Chad McQueen. (Caveat: Matt is a really good friend of mine, one of my favorite people in the world.) As well as being an actor, McQueen was a serious car and motorcycle racer as well as a guy with great taste in vehicles (sound like HL?). Matt managed to track down and document every single vehicle McQueen ever owned, raced or drove in a film, and Matt tells the story of McQueen's involvement with each one of them. It's a really cool take on an interesting Hollywood story -- and it just caused me to while away the last hour and a half of my "work day" in utter absorption with the text and photos. Highly recommended, assuming you like cars, bikes and Steve McQueen... motorbooks.com

Thanks for the tip, jj. I know someone who would eat that book up with a spoon! And on a shallower note: I think Ugly Betty needs to have a spin off show where all Christopher Gorham (Henry) does is run around in tight t-shirts or shirtless. Having loved him since Popular, I have to say the man has grown up, filled out and gotten even more yummilicious over the years. Total DILF, y'all. See? Shallow. We're talking a 1/4 teaspoon here.

Um. I think I'm going to go marry Life On Mars. And not just because it's John Simm. Also because everything is bloody amazing, that's why. The directing, editing? GUH. /being a film geek. My marriage list now includes: --kutatsu --ice cocoa --grill-your-own-meat places --Life On Mars I need to move to Massachussetts.

Oh, A&E, have you no pride? PARKING WARS - A&E NEW REAL-LIFE SERIES FOLLOWS THE MEN AND WOMEN ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE PHILADELPHIA PARKING AUTHORITY What next? BATHROOM ATTENDANTS - A NEW SERIES FOLLOWING THE ATTENDANTS IN SWANKY HOTEL & RESTAURANT BATHROOMS?

Life on Mars, Blackpool, ... how many other shows have I been missing without BBC America? I'll finally get it when I get the new UVerse installed in the next week or so. Can't wait. (I refused to pay Comcast an extra $20 a month for one more channel, dangit. I shouldn't have to pay nearly $60 for "basic" able as it is.) At least I've been able to watch "Torchwood," thanks to having CBC in the local channel mix. One advantage of living near the Canadian border.

PARKING WARS - A&E NEW REAL-LIFE SERIES FOLLOWS THE MEN AND WOMEN ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE PHILADELPHIA PARKING AUTHORITY The real question is, did they actually film them taking bribes?

Sorry to change the subject a bit... Does anyone have recommendations for any good mystery series? You know, with the murders, and the detectives, and the suspense, etc? Preferably with a smart, eccentric, flawed detective - sound like anyone we know? There are so many series out there and they all have pretty generic-sounding names. It's hard to just pick something up and start reading. So, read anything good lately?

Blue, have you ever read The Alienist by Caleb Carr? That's my favorite mystery novel.

sautomne, I have. I quite liked it :) Contemporary or historical? either Set in US, UK, or other? US, Canada, or UK preferred. Male or female detective? I prefer male, but I'll read either. Yay! Thanks!

Off the top of my head, in no particular order... <*>Charles Todd - Inspector Rutledge series. Set in England following WWI. Rutledge suffers from shell shock. <*>Martha Grimes - Richard Jury series. Set in England, more or less contemporary. Jury is smart; his friends are eccentric. This is a long series, and the quality varies. I like the earlier books better. <*>Peter Robinson - Alan Banks series. Also set in England, contemporary. Banks is smart, has relationship issues, and loves music. Another long series of varying quality, but generally speaking Robinson gets better as the series goes on. <*>Anne Perry - William Monk series. Set in Victorian England. In the first book, Monk is suffering from amnesia and his attempts to find out about his past are a continuing theme of the series. In the early books Monk works for the police, later on he is a private investigator. <*>David Dickinson - Lord Powerscourt series. Set in late Victorian England. Powerscourt is one of those independent guys who keeps getting called on by the government to fix 'problems.' It's easy to imagine a young Hugh Laurie in the role of Powerscourt. <*>Paul Doherty - Brother Athelstan series. Set in medieval England (London). Athelstan is a priest who gets sucked into murder investigations. His congregation is colorful and he himself has a 'past.' This may be hard to find, as I think most of the books have only been published in the UK. <*>Susanna Gregory - Matthew Bartholomew series. Also set medieval England (mostly Cambridge). Bartholomew is a master of medicine with questionable beliefs - he's studied with an Arab doctor. He and his best friend Brother Michael solve murders and cope with town vs. gown trouble. I love this series. It's one of the few (along with Inspector Rutledge and Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse series) that I sit down and read straight through the day my pre-order arrives from Amazon. <*>Kate Ross - Julian Kestrel series. Set in regency England. Kestrel is a dandy who solves crimes. These are just excellently written novels, never mind mystery books. Unfortunately, there are only 4 books as Ross passed away several years ago at a young age. Check your library or look for used copies.