Daily News Turns '73 Stories Into Life on Mars Ad

You may have heard something about that TV show Life on Mars. Based on the BBC show, it tells the story of present-day NYPD Detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) who wakes up in 1973 after a car accident and has to adapt to 1970s policing techniques, as exemplified by Harvey Keitel. To promote tonight's premiere of the series, The Daily News has dug up a bunch of stories from 1973 is hosting them on a website mocked up to look like an old, faded copy of the paper.

Hey, a tabloid's gotta eat. And as far as shameless advertising gimmicks go, this one's not bad; there are fun features on the mob bosses of the day, and resurrected stories from sections ranging from Lifestyle to Sports. A city employee and three others busted with $100,000 in cocaine! A 17-year-old kid disarmed a gun-wielding man at a Queens playground! Half a million hippies rock out to the Dead upstate at Watkins Glen!

There's a lot of juicy stuff to sift through as you kill time before Life on Mars, and not to be outdone, the Post also gets into the TV premiere spirit by looking back at the most "sensational crimes" of the era, just before Rupert Murdoch bought the then-liberal tabloid. And note to Hollywood—Gothamist stories date all the way back to 2003!

Photo of Harvey Keitel on set of Life on Mars by Toby von Meistersinger.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in Arts and Events on October 9, 2008 5:26 PM

Comments [rss]

Spongeworthy

What's the deal with the green-and-black cop cars from "Car 54 Where Are You?" The cop car back then was a powder blue-and-white Plymouth Fury I or a Pontiac LeMans. The green-and-blacks were long gone.

kencam

Rolling Stone has an ad for the show as an outer wrapper on this week's issue. The cover is a copy of the RS issue from 1973 with Dr. Hook.

jaycjay

Shooting on my block on Friday. I don't watch much TV and will probably never see this, but it'll be interesting to see what it looks like outside my door tomorrow... how close they actually come to making it look like 1973.

"Were the Twin Towers completed by 1973?"

Yes. The north tower was first occupied in 1970 and the south tower in 1972.

Qraymond

It's funny, when I'm on the L train I feel like there are guys who have been transported FROM 1973.

Kevin Walsh

I don't think Harvey Keitel ever LEFT 1973.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Toby von Meistersinger

I am a little disappointed that they just adapted the UK scripts, but it is cheaper to do. It didn't suck, but as someone who watched the British original I was getting a bit of deja vu. Hopefully, if the show lasts, they'll get into some new scripts. The UK version had just 16 episodes over two seasons, which is shorter than the typical US series one season run.

Plus I watched the horrid first pilot which was set in LA and had Colm "Chief Miles O'Brien" Meany as Gene Hunt. Harvey Keitel works better in that role, but Jason O'Mara is a bit hard to think of as Sam Tyler.

Then again I am spoiled by watching the entire British version and its follow up series.

Still, it isn't bad for American TV and it is much better than CSI: LA, I mean CSI: NY.

If anything it is fun to see how they recreated the 1970s.

JacqueMehoff

I hope they cancel it. like we need another cop show based in NYC. oooooooo, now it's based in the seventies. like number 2 said, you want some good seventies cops, kojak, especially the marcus-nelson murders tv movie.

Maybrick2001

They focused on the WTC twice...that is enough for me to HATE this show!

Maybrick2001

BTW...The Twin Towers were completed in April, 1973.

Maybrick2001

The 70's just sucked in general...but NYC in the 70's truly sucked. It amazes me this show passed the pilot. I am watching it so I can have a hands on opinion and it really does suck!

Art Stewel

Watching the program now. This show truly sucks.

Were the Twin Towers completed by 1973?

Also, the SNL special was ok. Fred Armisen really sucks. So does Keenan. They are terrible in front of the camera.

pinkmink

Life on Mars is the only new show that I'm going to watching this season. Most of the new shows have been pretty bad. But Life on Mars has Keitel and Imperioli, plus it's filmed here.

galen408

I have read and seen all the hype about this new ABC show. If I want to see a good detective drama about NYC in bad ol' 70's, I'm watching KOJAK on DVD.

"Who loves ya' baby . . . "

greenpoint_grouch

I just saw no parking signs on a bunch of streets here in Greenpoint that this is filming tomorrow and now I know what the show is about.