The Remote Island

Browse by Tags

• Goodbye "Life on Mars"!

  What's weird is, even though Life on Mars has only been on the air for a hot second, it still seems as though it's died a slow, painful death.   ABC canceled its time-traveling cop show Life on Mars last night due to crappy ratings. The show will air through the end of its first season — apparently ABC doesn't have anything to replace it with right now. (New York Magazine) Let's take another look at the promo to determine cause of death... Read More... Posted Mar 03 2009, 12:00 PM by Lindy Parker with | with no comments Filed under: Life on Mars, Thirteen Going on Thirty

• Lisa Bonet Delivers Baby Boy, Gives Him A 1/9th Pronouncable Name

  Congrats, Denise Huxtable! You won't believe this kid's name. Mostly though, because we sometimes have certain inappropriate feelings, this reminded us of how hot Bonet was in that 1988 Rolling Stone... Read More... Posted Jan 12 2009, 11:33 AM by Jake Kalish with | with no comments Filed under: The Cosby Show, Life on Mars, Lisa Bonet, Stargate Atlantis, Rolling Stone, Jason Momoa, Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa

• Goodbye to All That

  A funny thing happened at The Remote Island today: Your pal Ben woke up from a coma, only to discover that he was trapped in the year 1962 and was working in the TV division of an ad agency. He tried to get back home -- for about five minutes, until he saw his big office and secretary and expense account for martini-soaked steak lunches. What are you gonna do? Read More... Posted Oct 24 2008, 05:10 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: The Remote Island, Life on Mars, Mad Men

• Wake Up And Smile: If The Ladies Of The View Smoked Meth, There’d Be Some Stabbing

  Member when Elisabeth Hasselbeck said she wasn’t leaving The View anytime soon? Well, if the rumors about backstage at today’s episode are any indication, you can file that under “Maybe” in the FiloFax of your mind. In the 1970’s desk of your soul. Plus: NBC's surprising plans for Thursday nights, Little Britain's gay divorce shocker, a show that combines the talents of both It's Always Sunny... and Arrested Development (in space!) and the happy ending to Billie Piper's day-long labour. (Notice how we used the 'u'? Classy, right?) Read More... Posted Oct 23 2008, 09:35 AM by Bryan Christian with | with no comments Filed under: The View, ER, Arrested Development, Life on Mars, Matt Lucas, Little Britain, Eleventh Hour, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, births, Billie Piper

• Wake Up And Smile: Obama's October Surprise Might Be A November "SNL" Cameo

  Time for another Halloween party at the Clinton's? Maybe... plus the latest on David Duchovny, Sarah Silverman, Terminator, Dollhouse, the Thursday ratings battle between Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour, plus -- does someone die on both Gossip Girl and Heroes this November? Read More... Posted Oct 21 2008, 09:26 AM by Bryan Christian with | with no comments Filed under: Gossip Girl, Dollhouse, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Life on Mars, Sarah Silverman, Heroes, David Duchovny, Eleventh Hour

• The Weekly Rewind: Everyone's a Comedian

  The comedians made fun of the candidates, the candidates went on comedy shows, and everyone seemed to think that being serious was the same as raising taxes. Meanwhile, the new TV season was still going strong, except that maybe nobody was watching. We'll try to make sense of it all -- and be funny! -- as we bring you the highlights of the week. We decided that whoever wins the popular vote, comedy will take the election. We were hoping for a late-night foursome, but still enjoyed seeing John McCain finally make it to Dave Letterman's comedy hot seat. We enjoyed the debate, but were a little disappointed by the inevitable follow-up spoof on Saturday Night Live. We watched as Tina Fey tried to beg off impersonating Sarah Palin, but she couldn't help telling Dave how she does it. And it didn't matter, because Sarah Palin's coming to SNL herself -- and she'll probably take over 30 Rock next. We were surprised when Mark Wahlberg lost his sense of humor entirely. But we had to admit, that was kinda funny, too. We read all about Maureen McCormick's life of sex, drugs and Marcia Brady. Then we heard her talk about it, and, wow. Just wow. But while Marcia got Davy Jones to come to her prom, the High School Musical kids had to settle for Tom Cruise. Read More... Posted Oct 17 2008, 05:40 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: Barack Obama, Gossip Girl, The View, John McCain, Taylor Momsen, Miley Cyrus, Cinemax, Star Trek, David Letterman, Mark Wahlberg, Life on Mars, Mad Men, Saturday Night Live, American Idol, Tina Fey, The Brady Bunch, 30 Rock, Tom Cruise, High School Musical, Lisa Bonet, Weekend Update, Paris Hilton, Christina Hendricks, Late Show With David Letterman, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, Paris Hilton: My New BFF, The Profiler, Ally Walker, Blake Lewis, George Hamilton, Davy Jones, Mode Magazine, Maureen McCormick

• "Life on Mars": The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler

  Okay, so remember when we said there'd be a bunch of possible explanations for why Sam's become stuck in 1973? When this episode begins, he's writing them all down on a chalkboard. From what we can see, they are: coma, drug trip, time travel, different planet, extraterrestrials, mind experiment, heaven/hell/purgatory, insanity, brain tumor, virtual reality and multidimensional travel. We're guessing that in his own time, he was a really big Lost fan. There's also a question mark, which represents "the unknown." But coma and time travel, or some combination of the two, still seem like the best bets here. When all your ideas seem crazy, it's a good rule to go with the simplest ones. Annie comes along and erases the blackboard, before the other cops can see it. And Sam decides that until he can find a way back, he may as well spend his time "catching bad guys." Read More... Posted Oct 17 2008, 11:20 AM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: ABC, Jason O'Mara, Life on Mars, John Simms, Grease, Lee Tergesen, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Silvia Miles, Heather Matarazzo, Simon and Garfunkel

• Crush that Just Won’t Quit: Lisa Bonet

  Lisa Bonet, former Cosby kid and current Life on Mars love interest, is still ridiculously unequivocally gorgeous.  What is this woman using?  Oil of Olay?  Water from the well of time reversal?  The blood of three white doves and the soul of a handmaiden?  She looks exactly like the Denise Huxtable we knew and still love.  Homegirl is forty.  And pregnant.  Again.  Allow us a moment to reminisce: Remember A Different World, ya’ll?  (Denise + Duane Wayne = 4eva!).  Remember when she took those rebellious semi-naked but still artsy photos?  No? Well we do.  Click through just to remind yourself. . .   Read More... Posted Oct 16 2008, 01:18 PM by Olivia Purnell with | with no comments Filed under: Life on Mars, Lisa Bonet

• Wake Up And Smile: Palin Not A Lock For "SNL" (Says Someone We've Never Heard Of)

  Image via E! Online   Normally, we wouldn't print anything that had only one source, but considering supposedly adored hockey mom Sarah Palin got booed at a hockey game over the weekend, it's entirely possible that she's looking to get out of that rumored Saturday Night Live appearance. Not to worry, though: we've got much more thoroughly backed-up news on ER, Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour, South Park's Indiana Jones controversy, Star Trek, Star Wars, and the distinct possibility that a certain human-masked lizard alien miniseries is gonna get a remake.  Read More... Posted Oct 13 2008, 09:29 AM by Bryan Christian with | with no comments Filed under: South Park, ER, Star Trek, Life on Mars, Star Wars, V, Eleventh Hour, Indiana Jones

• "Life on Mars": "Out Here in the Fields" (Pilot Episode)

  If you've been reading The Remote Island for a while, you know we're fans of the original British version of Life on Mars -- and we've been tracking the American series through all kinds of changes, from new producers to a new cast to a move in setting from L.A. to New York City. So how did the show turn out after all that? Pretty well -- though with all the introductory material in the pilot episode, we don't get to see this fantastic group of actors really show their stuff quite yet. And the story is virtually identical to the BBC's version -- which means if you've seen it, you already know what to expect. If not, you're lucky, because it's a unique and original concept. But let's start from the beginning: Read More... Posted Oct 10 2008, 11:20 AM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: ABC, The Cosby Show, BBC, David E. Kelley, Jason O'Mara, Life on Mars, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Lisa Bonet, Gretchen Mol

• Top Ten New Shows: #4 - "Life On Mars"

  The new fall season is almost here. Starting next week, the cable and broadcast networks will begin rolling out their new shows to see if they take off like castaways on an island or singing casino managers. Here, then, are the top ten new shows we're most looking forward to seeing. There are lots of reasons to be nervous about Life on Mars. Read More... Posted Aug 28 2008, 01:30 PM by Bryan Christian with | with no comments Filed under: ABC, Colm Meaney, Jason O'Mara, Life on Mars, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Lisa Bonet, Gretchen Mol, Top Ten New Shows Fall 2008, remakes

• This Sounds Cool: AMC To Remake "The Conversation"

  Those nostalgia nuts at American Movie Classics are at it again, diving back into the past to turn Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 thriller The Conversation into a TV series. The Oscar-nominated film, which starred Gene Hackman as an amoral surveillance expert, was seen as a perfect reflection of the paranoid and privacy-challenged early '70s. And while the show will also take place in that period, it'll offer a mirror on our own time as well. "It gives us an opportunity to look back at the 1970s through the filter of 2009," producer Tony Krantz tells The Hollywood Reporter. "The issues of privacy and individuality, and issues of spying and listening, are as relevant now as they've ever been." Read More... Posted Aug 07 2008, 04:23 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: Swingtown, the hollywood reporter, Life on Mars, Mad Men, Gene Hackman, Tony Krantz, Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation

• The Weekly Rewind: Baby, We Love Your Way

  In the warmth of midsummer, here at The Remote Island our thoughts turned to the celebrities we love. We heard that beautiful, sensible young Topanga is all grown up and ready to steal our jobs. And so, apparently, is A.C. Slater. We learned that Lisa Bonet and Gretchen Mol will be joining the cast of Life on Mars -- a show that had better be good, or the sheer wastefulness of it all will make us sad. We watched the appealing, flawed, doomed people of Mad Men celebrate Valentine's Day in 1961, then attempt to pick up new fans in Grand Central Station. We learned that someone on Ugly Betty is going to start dating Kelly Ripa's handsome husband -- and we don't mean Regis. We listened as lovely Lindsay Lohan got a special shout-out from the chief of police. We got jealous when we saw Dave Letterman and Agent Scully making out. But we thought those kids from Gossip Girl should get a room. We watched 10,000 beautiful and graceful Chinese performers at the Olympics, even though we weren't supposed to. We watched Dr. Horrible for the 20th time, and put it on the site so you could, too. Then we watched Felicia Day's new project -- or maybe we were just watching Felicia Day. Read More... Posted Aug 01 2008, 05:29 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: Lindsay Lohan, Gossip Girl, Torchwood, David Letterman, Mario Lopez, Life on Mars, Mad Men, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Ozzy Osbourne, Sharon Osbourne, Big Brother, Summer Olympics, Brooke Hogan, Judge Judy, Felicia Day, Gillian Anderson, Captain America, John Barrowman, Danielle Fishel, Mark Consuelos, Ugly Betty, Lisa Bonet, Gretchen Mol, High Fidelity, The Weekly Rewind, J.Lo, Kelly Ripa, Ashley Alexandra Dupré

• Yet Another "Life on Mars" Hiring Update

  And it gets even better: According to Entertainment Weekly, former Cosby kid Lisa Bonet will join Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol and Michael Imperioli in the cast of Life on Mars, playing stuck-in-the-past detective Jason O'Mara's present-day girlfriend.  Forget the show -- we just want to be invited to the cast party.    Photo: Entertainment Weekly  Previously: Life on Mars Casting Update: Gretchen Mol  Life on Mars Just Keeps Getting Better  Today in Mulligans: Life on Mars Hits the Reset Button    Posted Aug 01 2008, 04:05 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: Entertainment Weekly, Life on Mars, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Lisa Bonet, Gretchen Mol

• "Life on Mars" Casting Update: Gretchen Mol

  We've been keeping you informed on the many changes Life on Mars has undergone since dropping producer David E. Kelley and most of the cast earlier this year. The fantasy cop drama, based on the British show about a modern detective who mysteriously finds himself in 1973, has already pulled in some pretty big guns: The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli as a tough cop, and the great Harvey Keitel as the detective squad's violent boss.   Read More... Posted Jul 29 2008, 05:23 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: David E. Kelley, Rachelle Lefevre, Life on Mars, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli

• "Life on Mars" Just Keeps Getting Better

  Okay, so who is going to play punch-happy early-'70s detective-squad leader Gene Hunt on the American version of Life on Mars, whose near-complete recasting we discussed here?  Friggin' Harvey Keitel, that's who! Gentlemen, you officially have our attention.    Photo: VH1 Previously: Today in Mulligans: Life on Mars Hits the Reset Button Life on Mars: Can This Show Be Saved?    Posted Jul 25 2008, 02:27 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: Life on Mars, Harvey Keitel

• Today in Mulligans: "Life on Mars" Hits the Reset Button

  A while back we told you about the troubled history of Life on Mars, ABC's remake of the brief but terrific British series about a modern detective who suddenly finds himself trapped in the year 1973. Headed by writer-producer David E. Kelley, the show was going to be set in Los Angeles and contain many elements of the original. Well, problems ensued, as they say. One critic who saw an early pilot said that it was okay but that casting was uneven, despite the presence of the terrific Irish actor Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt, the violent, unevolved leader of the '70s detective squad. Kelley turned the show over to the creators of the recently canceled drama October Road, who moved  the setting to New York City, and it was placed on ABC's schedule for next season. Well, now it turns out that the new producers are changing more than anyone had imagined.   Read More... Posted Jul 17 2008, 12:24 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: ABC, BBC America, David E. Kelley, Colm Meaney, Jason O'Mara, Life on Mars, Josh Appelbaum, Mulligans

• "Life on Mars" -- Can This Show Be Saved?

  When ABC announced it was planning an American remake of Life on Mars, fans were intrigued. The two-season BBC show, about a modern detective who has a car accident and wakes up in 1973, was a fantastic combination of fantasy and police drama. As Sam Tyler battled crime in the '70s, he also had to deal with that era's lower-technology, higher-violence, civil rights-ignoring attitudes toward police work. At the same time, he tried to solve the overlying mystery: Had he actually gone back in time, or was this insanity or some kind of dream... and if so, how could he wake up? But along with the intriguing concept and some great characterizations, the show's actual police-work plots were often simplistic. So it seemed natural that ABC would hire David E. Kelley, the prolific writer-producer of such shows as Boston Legal, who's known for complex storylines and a fondness for weird situations. But something went wrong along the way, and after several delays, Kelley turned the show over to the producers of October Road. Soon after, even the setting of the show had been changed from Los Angeles to New York City. At this point, no one actually knows what Life on Mars will eventually look like. But the original pilot, made before all the changes went into effect, recently leaked onto the Web. And according to a writer for Britain's The Guardian who watched it, there's reason to worry. Read More... Posted Jun 20 2008, 02:30 PM by Ben Kallen with | with no comments Filed under: BBC America, BBC, David E. Kelley, Colm Meaney, Rachelle Lefevre, Jason O'Mara, Ashes to Ashes, October Road, Life on Mars, John Simms