Life on Mars in America .....

"Life on Mars," the latest in a line of Brit hits to jump the pond in an Americanized version, has me tuning-in and turning-on to a blast-from-the-past that takes your average crime drama up a step ... and back in time.

The story line is an intriguing one ... in 2008, NYPD Detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), is struck by a car. Getting up from the asphalt, he realizes that something's not right ... the sight of the World Trade Center on the skyline, maybe? Somehow, his clothes, his car, even his identity places him in 1970s New York City, in the tumultuous times of the Vietnam War, Watergate, women's lib and the civil rights movements - without a cell phone, computer, PDA or MP3 player, or the modern-day police procedures in which he was trained. While solving crimes, he's also trying to solve his own personal dilemna, to understand what has just happened to him, and how he can get back home.

If you're a fan of the original British series, as I am, then this all seems very familiar. But if you're new to LOM, think about the possibilities of someone from today suddenly finding himself in the right place, but the wrong time, with sensibilities and values that must seem almost alien.

As was the case for so many other American adaptation of British programs, these initial episodes appear to be the British series with an American accent ... but the new product is already starting to set itself apart, establish it's own place and set its own course. Really, comparisons are hard to make so early in the series ... maybe I should wait till later on that.

But for now, see it for yourself, and decide for yourself. It airs Thursday nights at nine o'clock (central) on ABC (KMID-TV in the Permian Basin). It is well worth your giving it a look.