Big Screen Little Screen

Tonight will make for an interesting, if not mixed bag of television viewing, with the first, election-centric SNL Weekend Update special airing after The Office, and the debuts of three Americanized adaptations - Australian import Kath & Kim (NBC), and two reworked UK series - Life on Mars (ABC) Eleventh Hour (CBS). The New York Times reviews the three, giving the retro-time-traveling-sci-fi slash gritty cop drama Life on Mars the highest marks and chances for survival:

“Set in 1973 [Life on Mars] exhumes a raunchier, dirtier, more dangerous New York City, the one depicted in “Serpico,” “Mean Streets” and, most recently, “American Gangster.” And it’s the show’s back-to-the-future feel, underscored by Harvey Keitel as a tyrannical police lieutenant and Michael Imperioli as a shaggy-haired, smart-mouthed detective, that lifts it above the ordinary and adds Scorsesian pizazz.

And did I mention that Mars cast includes not only Gretchen Mol, but heralds the return of Lisa Bonet? Sold.

Related, from Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

- Life on Mars: “surprisingly great, its pilot living up to the lofty expectations of the original… a reason to set your DVR on Thursday nights beyond NBC’s comedy lineup.”
- Kath & Kim: ” For every miraculous victory - say, “The Office” or, to a lesser extent, “Ugly Betty” - there are hordes of failures. This time it’s… a fantastically funny Australian comedy that goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever.”