TV Tidbits 54 - Life on Mars

Mars' series finale airs tonight (sniff!) and TVGuide.com has a (very) little sneak peek of tonight's episode:

In a rare instance of mutual forethought and cooperation between producers and a network, ABC's Life on Mars will wrap up its abbreviated freshman run this Wednesday at 10 pm/ET with a proper series finale, bringing to a close Detective Sam Tyler's time-tripping odyssey. Here, executive producers Scott Rosenberg and Josh Appelbaum reflect on their Mars journey, reveal the one song that done them wrong, preview the "straight-out scary" follow-up they have planned, and promise closure for fans of their previous project, October Road.

TVGuide.com: The episode airing this Wednesday, is it more or less what you had envisioned the series finale as being? Or is it slightly different, if only because you had less time to build up to it?
Josh Appelbaum: We always knew that the season finale was going to be this episode, and we always knew what our series finale would be. Basically we went to [ABC] and said, "Our ratings are grim. We want to shoot a series finale and a season finale; the only difference is Act 6." They thought about it for three minutes and came back to us with: "We've got good news and we've got bad news. The good news is we will let you shoot your series finale. But we will not let you shoot a season finale." So [you'll get] big reveals instead of a bunch of cliffhangers. And we had planned the best [Season 1] cliffhangers, too! [Laughs] But they will now never be seen.

TVGuide.com: Since the original BBC series itself had a short run, did Life on Mars lend itself to a sooner-rather-than-later wrap-up?
Appelbaum: They're doing versions of this [show] all around the world now, and there's a spin-off on the BBC, Ashes to Ashes. I think the concept has the potential for great longevity. The BBC wrapped theirs up for, like, contractual reasons. In our case, it was unfortunately about "Wrong time, wrong place."

TVGuide.com: What can you reveal about the "three tasks" Sam must complete to return to the present day?
Appelbaum: The jumping off point is that his mother and father come back into this episode in a big, big way. His mother comes to the station house and says that his father has reappeared and kidnapped a little boy. So, basically, Sam has to save himself, as it were. And it goes from there.

TVGuide.com: Did you come away from this experience with any new "cautionary tales" for writer-producers?
Appelbaum: Don't fall in love with your show, because it will leave you. Television shows, I find, are like women.

TVGuide.com: In today's day and age, it seems near-impossible to affect "course correction" once ratings start trending down.
Appelbaum: It's a great tragedy. There's definitely a bit of a 'box office mentality' to television now, where if it doesn’t 'happen' in the first couple of airings, you're doomed.
Scott Rosenberg: We keep saying that with this mentality, there wouldn't have been some of the great shows in television — Hill Street Blues, Seinfeld, on and on. A lot of those shows didn't come out of the gate strong, but people were able to stick with them longer and let the audience build. Unfortunately, we're not living in that climate anymore.

TVGuide.com: Was working in a guest role for Jason O'Mara's real-life wife, Paige Turco (playing a comely childhood neighbor of Sam's), always part of your Season 1 plan?
Appelbaum: She was always part of the plan. It's like, wow, what a great resource to have! You never know what kind of chemistry they're going to have when they're a real-life couple, but they were great together.

TVGuide.com: Turning to the music of Life on Mars, was there any one song you wanted to use but simply couldn't get cleared?
Appelbaum: We write every song into the script, not after the fact, because the music is so important. And only one person denied us.
Rosenberg: Because he thought the show sucked. [Laughs]
Appelbaum: It was Episode 6, and Sam describes when he met Maya (played by Lisa Bonet) for the first time. He flashes back to the scene and "Tom Traubert's Blues" is playing. It was so good. Tom Waits approves all of his licensing, and he sent an email saying he thought the show was [bad]. It was pretty funny.

UPDATE: EW.com's Ausiello has an interview with the exec producers, too, and his sheds a wee bit more light on the finale -

In the UK version, the fate of Sam was left very much up in the air. Please tell me your ending will be a little less ambiguous.
JOSH APPELBAUM: One hundred percent. There is a very clear and definitive answer as to what his journey has been about and how all the pieces over the past 17 hours play into that journey. At the same time, we hope, like all great finales, it still leaves things open to interpretation. But if there's one thing we feel pretty good about it's that in the afterlife of Life on Mars on DVD or wherever, it will exist as a cohesive, complete thought that will all make sense.

Did you always plan to conclude your version differently?
SCOTT ROSENBERG: Right from the beginning. Anybody with access to Wikipedia can find out how the [UK version] ended. So we were certain we wanted to do it differently. And it was kind of in prep on the pilot that we stumbled upon what our ultimate ending was. We never did anything that wouldn't be explained by this ending. And we also left clues along the way, so people that go back and watch it a second time will go, "So that's why they did this." There were names, numbers, all kinds of things.

How will the finale be structured? Will there be the standard case to solve, or is it all about wrapping up Sam's story?
ROSENBERG: There's a standard case, but it's all a culmination episode. It was going to be the same if it was the season finale or a series finale. The only difference is if it was a season finale it would have ended with a very different Act Six, with cliffhangers and that sort of thing. [Sam's] mother and father play very heavily in it. Sam's emotional journey was really about his past and his family... And without saying too much, there's a major climax with Sam and Annie's journey together.

Will Lisa Bonet be in the episode?
ROSENBERG: She is not in it. She was for a half-second, and then we decided not to.

Is that a hint as to what decade he ultimately ends up in?
[Crickets]
APPELBAUM: [to Scott] Good job stumbling into that one, Rosenberg. [Laughs]

You like how I did that?
ROSENBERG: Nice!
APPELBAUM: Unbelievable!

This isn't my first time at the rodeo.
ROSENBERG: Let's start over: Lisa Bonet is in the episode. [Laughs]

Too late! Moving on, will the show definitely be on DVD?
ROSENBERG: Oh, yeah.

There weren't clearance issues with all the popular music you featured?
ROSENBERG: We only cleared songs if they allowed us to use it forever, and it wasn't that difficult. Music is so important to us, both in this and in October Road. Remember that one, Michael?

Hmm… it rings a bell.
ROSENBERG: [Laughs] You're like, "I tried not to."
APPELBAUM: [Laughs] He's like, "It was a bad case of indigestion."

Last question: What's the deal with the tiny robot?
ROSENBERG: The robot is totally explained away [in the finale]. By Wednesday night at 11 you will know what the robot is, and I'm sure you will be annoyed. [Laughs]

TV Tidbits 50 - Life on Mars Canceled

Well, for crap's sake!! Am I going to have any shows to watch next season?!!! Geez! Life on Mars isn't fantabulous but it is interesting from week to week. I mean, I still want to find out why Sam is in the '70s. I guess I'll just find out a lot sooner. Boo. I hope Jason O'Mara gets a new series - and soon.

ABC has canceled Life on Mars but will allow the cop drama to complete its full one-season run. The network has opted not to extend the series beyond 17 episodes, according to Variety.

It's not all bad news, though. Rather than wait until May when on-the-bubble shows are typically told whether or not they'll be renewed or canceled, ABC told the producers now, so that they can plan for a proper series finale — a courtesy not extended to the recently unplugged ABC shows Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone. "We felt it was the right thing to do for the producers and the fans and creatively," ABC Entertainment Group President Steve McPherson told TelevisionWeek. Calls to ABC were not yet returned.

This is particularly important for Mars, as its mysterious premise — an NYPD cop is hit by a car and spontaneously time-travels back to 1973 — requires some explaining. Is Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara) in a coma, at the mercy of supernatural forces or something else entirely?

For now, it seems, the fans will get that answer.

(Just as an aside - I don't know if any of you have seen the original BBC show on which LoM is based - I haven't - but the series' sequel Ashes to Ashes premieres on BBCAmerica this Satuday, the 7th. Just FYI.)

TV Tidbits 42 - The Office, Life on Mars, Medium...

Chuck, Pushing Daisies, The Mentalist and Monk!! That's right - it's time for some Wednesday scoopage. Here's what I've culled from TVGuide.com and EW.com this morning:

Question: I am absolutely in love with the Jim/Pam relationship on The Office! My body is just itching to see their wedding. Will it be this season, or are the writers going to make us wait?
Ausiello: I assumed it would take place this season... until, that is, I spoke to exec producer Greg Daniels. "If people assume it'll happen this season, then I don't want to do it," he countered with a laugh. "There are so many stories about a couple getting married that I want to explore." The post-Super Bowl episode on Feb. 1 will introduce one such story when Pam learns that her parents are having marital problems, causing her to wonder, "If they can't make it work, what chance do Jim and I have?"

Question: The Office? Pretty please.
Ausiello: BJ Novak confirms to me that Ryan will make a "dramatic" return later this season as part of a top-secret storyline. Theories? Post 'em in the comments!

Question: Chuck. Any scoops on upcoming episodes?
Ausiello: Exec producer Josh Schwartz is hesitant to use the words "game changing" to describe this season's final batch of episodes -- even though it's wholly appropriate. "Everyone uses that term," he harrumphs. "Let's call it show changing. Or Chuck changing...Let's just say someone is going to start figuring out the truth in Chuck's world." Schwartz adds that he's cramming "three seasons worth of stories into the next 10 episodes," in part because there's no guarantee the show will see a third season. (Note to NBC: The forecast calls for a s--tstorm in the event Chuck is axed.) "We're leaving nothing on the table," he says. "We're taking nothing for granted. We're going for it." To wit, did you see who they got to play Chuck's dad?!

Question: Anything new on Chuck?
Ausiello: This just in: Jordana Brewster's returning as Chuck's ex Jill in the season finale!

Question: How about you give us a, ahem, large scoop on Medium? (See what I did there?!)
Ausiello: Hey, no fair -- that's my shtick! Eh, I suppose I have a big enough, ahem, shtick to go around. (See what I did there?!) Anyway, to answer your question, yes, I have some, ahem, large Medium scoop for you: Upcoming Private Practice guest star Amanda Detmer has been cast as Joe's sister! "She comes to visit at a time when her marriage is falling apart," previews exec producer Glenn Gordon Caron. "And it's awkward for Joe, because he genuinely likes his brother-in-law. But his sister is convinced he's been unfaithful." Further complicating matters, "Allison starts to get impressions about what might have happened." And here's another Medium tidbit, and this one is size XL: James Van Der Beek has signed on to guest star later this season. His character seeks Allison's help when his mother goes missing.

Question: When is ABC going to air the last episodes of Pushing Daisies?
Ausiello: Based on Steve McPherson's remarks at press tour last week, I'm guessing sometime between never and when hell freezes over. Something tells me those final three eps won't see the light of day until Daisies' season 2 DVD drops -- assuming it does drop. In far happier news, Warner Bros. has give Bryan Fuller the okay to keep Daisies alive in comic book form. Now it's just a matter of Fuller ironing out all the details with DC Comics. I suspect there will be something official to report by month's end. [Lauren's note: WTF?!!! This is ridiculous!!!!!!!!! I still have the last 3 episodes on my TiVo because I didn't want to watch them too far in advance of whenever the final episodes air. And now I find out that's going to be, uh, NEVER?!!!! That sucks!! The episodes are already done - you're telling me ABC can't sacrifice a crap hour or two on a Saturday night (when no one's watching TV anyway) just to make fans happy? Really? Ugh. I'm disgusted. Some of us don't want to read a friggin' comic book!! Some of us just want to watch TV shows the way they were intended... on TV!]

Will they ever catch Red John on The Mentalist? And will Lisbon and Jane ever hook up?
MICKEY: Ever watch Moonlighting after David and Maddie did the deed? (Less sexual chemistry than the Clintons.) According to series creator Bruno Heller, the answer to both of those questions is no, at least not for a very long time.

If what's coming up this summer is Monk's last season, will we find out what really happened to his late wife, Trudy?
TIM: Yes, Lesa, a show rep confirms that "we'll definitely find out who killed Trudy."

Is there any word on the rest of Life on Mars' first season? I want to know if it really ends differently than the British original.
MICKEY: You can wait and find out when Mars returns on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 10 pm/ET (following Lost), but all signs point to a very different reason behind Sam Tyler's time-tripping. "In this next installment [of episodes], you'll see that the mythology is not as per the British version," ABC prez Steve McPherson said at the TCA winter press tour.

TV Tidbits 38 - Wednesday Scoopage

It's that time of week again - spoilers!! Now, I chatted with Christina a bit over the holiday weekend and she mentioned that I never really post anything about shows that she watches. (Because she only watches 2 shows - Grey's and Desperate Housewives - and they both suck. But whatever.) So, I looked for some scoops about Grey's for this week's post... but found none. Still, if there are any shows I'm missing, please feel free to ask me and I'll toss scoops in for those shows, too. Right now, I pretty much only post on:

• Amazing Race
• Medium
• Chuck
• NCIS
• Pushing Daisies
• L&O: SVU
• American Idol
• SYTYCD
• Top Chef
• Project Runway
• Numb3rs
• Life on Mars
• HIMYM
• Ghost Whisperer (for my mom)
• Bones (for my parents)

Though I do throw in a couple other shows here and there if it strikes my fancy. My point is this: if you have any requests, I'm open. :o) Now! On to the scoops.

NCIS

Is Ziva's father going to make a return on NCIS this season?
Matt: My moles at the CBS hit may be tight-lipped about the Ziva-Tony romance (a very popular topic in the Buzz box), but on this matter they did let slip some intel: Eli David, played by Michael "What a Feeling" Nouri, will be seen again, and possibly before the end of this season.

Got any more spoilers for NCIS?
Ausiello: ... here's your NCIS scoop: In an upcoming episode, McGee finds himself trapped with dozens of women. Baw chika bow wow, right? Wrong. The women are in prison and they're holding him hostage. "It's a tense, exciting episode," reveals executive producer Shane Brennan. "Sean Murray puts in a fabulous performance. The story also reveals a little about McGee's romantic past."

GHOST WHISPERER

On Ghost Whisperer, how is it that the people of Grandview aren't a bit curious about Madly-in-Love-with-Jim Melinda becoming Wildly-in-Love-with-Sam Melinda just weeks after Jim's funeral? Those close to her get it, OK, but surely the neighbors are talking. Are we going to get an episode addressing the human tendency to gossip?
Matt: "It's a good question," GW exec producers P.K. Simonds, Ian Sander and Kim Moses say in an email to the Buzz, "but we've tried to be clear that at least to the outside world, Melinda is not 'wildly in love' with Sam (Jim). At least not yet. Though there is plenty of aching and longing, the two of them are scrupulously respectful of each other's boundaries — he because she is grieving her husband, and she because he is grappling with memory loss. We're planning to address what friends and neighbors think, in a big way, as we move forward in Season 4."

PUSHING DAISIES

When will the last episode of Pushing Daisies air? Will it seem like a "final episode" or will we be left hanging?
Mickey: The facts are these: ABC isn't talking, and Daisies doesn't appear on the network's midseason schedule at all, but if it does return in January, I'd ballpark the last episode to fall somewhere around the end of February. I'm hearing that by then at least one of the show's big mysteries will be solved, which will be a big relief for one Mr. Emerson Cod. In the meantime, look for Olive Snook to sing a Bangles song I embarrassingly once used as the seductive soundtrack to a fumbling, though ultimately successful high school assignation. Don't tell anyone though, OK?

I know it's probably way too early to be asking this, but what are the chances, if ABC does further irreparable damage to Pushing Daisies fans by not airing the remaining episodes, the second season will be released on DVD?
Ausiello: Considering the season 1 DVD sold well, I'd say the chances are very good.

CHUCK

As an avid Chuck fan, I have to ask: Where the heck is Anna? We haven't seen her in weeks, and there was only a passing mention that she was at her parents' for Thanksgiving. Is Julia Ling okay? The Buy More plots aren't the same without her.
Ausiello: Fear not, Ling remains a part of the cast, albeit not as big a part as, say, Zach Levi. Like many of Chuck's supporting players, her contract isn't for all shows produced (or ASP). The good news: She's back in a huge way next week.

Is the Dark Intersect from "Chuck vs The Suburbs" (episode 14) going to form the basis for a Feb/March sweeps trilogy? And how will the Dark Intersect affect Chuck?
Ausiello: I'm going to throw this one to Josh Schwartz. "The Dark Intersect is the first sign that the bad guys (read: FULCRUM) are figuring out that if they can't find the Intersect, why not rebuild it -- which makes Chuck even more valuable. And yes, it is a trilogy."

L&O: SVU

Will B.D. Wong ever return?
Mickey: How can we miss B.D. when he didn't go away? My SVU moles tell me that Dr. Huang is still very much a member of the cast; he just hasn't appeared frequently as of late. That will change with the Dec. 9 episode, charmingly titled "Smut," in which he'll head-shrink guest star Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica), who employs the "porn-made-me-do-it" defense, as sound a legal strategy as any I've ever heard. (What?)

BONES

I'm so sick of seeing the words "Grey's Anatomy" in your column every week! How about you dig up some dirt on Bones for a change?
Ausiello: Bones... Dig... Dirt... That's the kind of genius play on words that inspires big-time scoopage. It was a year ago that Bones planted a wet one on Booth, so the time seems right to grill exec producer Hart Hanson about the eagerly awaited follow-up smooch. When is it happening? And will this one be real -- as in, not part of some bet? "I think we'll do a little better this season than just an actual, real kiss," Hanson teases. "But you tell me in about three months whether we've succeeded or not. There are a couple of things I've already said they'll do: I've said they'll be naked in bed, and I've said she will ask him to father her child. So, I think we're moving toward something bigger than just a kiss." What could possibly be bigger that sucking face? Yep, sex was my first guess, too. "The truth is," Hanson counters, "if [two people] share a kiss and they're in their mid-'30s, how long is it going to be before they consummate? My intention is to keep [the audience] very frustrated." Getting back to the how long before they consummate question, I'm thinking May sweeps. Why? Keep reading...

I'm skeptical about Bones and Booth being in bed together naked. Is this a big fake-out?
Ausiello: Depends what you're definition of the word "fake-out" is. While Hart Hanson confirms that the pair will definitely end up in bed together naked (most likely during May sweeps), he refuses to disclose the context, except to say, "It's not free of encumbrance. It's not free and clear. Nothing is easy on Bones."

I've heard more Bones scoop from my dog than you, Ausiello. Please give me something!
Ausiello: Oh, yeah, well... did your dog tell you that Papa Booth's coming to town! 'Cause he just might be some day maybe! Explains Hart Hanson: "Booth has some issues with his dad, so we may bring in his father this season. We also talked about having his grandfather show up, but I'm not sure that will happen."

LIFE ON MARS

Fred Thompson is making good on his threat promise to return to acting. The former U.S. senator, whose presidential dreams went up in smoke earlier this year, has landed a guest stint on ABC's out-of-this-world drama Life on Mars, sources confirm to me exclusively. He'll play the NYPD's chief of detectives in a February episode.

In other Mars news, producers are currently casting the never-before-seen daughter of Harvey Keitel's character. Interested actresses should be in their mid-30s, beautiful, confident, and be willing to work long hours alongside Harvey Keitel.

TV Tidbits 35 - I hate ABC!!!!!

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!!!!! Ugh.

First, ABC pissed me off last night when I saw the end of Life on Mars was a cliffhanger. Not so bad, right? Yeah, well, that's not what pissed me off. What really frosted my cookies was that new episodes won't starting airing again until January 28th! That's more than 2 months away!! Do you think I'll remember what the heck was going on when the show comes back? Will anyone?!! Way to keep viewers there, ABC. You suck. Had I known it was going to take so long I would've just stockpiled my episodes and watched them closer to January 28th!! Jerks.

(A small consolation is that ABC did pick up 4 more episodes of Mars, bringing its 1st season total to 17. Oh, and it's moving to Wednesdays @ 10 [after Lost] when it comes back.)

Then, this morning, I saw that what I feared had truly transpired: ABC has canceled Pushing Daisies.

Quality television took a serious hit on Thursday with news that ABC has opted not to order additional episodes of Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money for this season. The network isn't commenting, but multiple sources confirm that all three shows have effectively been canceled.

The one bright spot: The ratings-challenged trio will complete production on their 13-episode orders (Daisies already has, while Eli and DSM have an episode or two to go). Of course, completing the episodes and actually airing them are two totally different things.

"It's all true," Daisies creator Bryan Fuller tells me. "I'm so very proud of this show and grateful for everyone's hard work in bringing it to life.

"We would love to continue telling this season's arcs in a comic book format, just to tie up all the loose strings -- and believe me, there are plenty," he continues. "That way we can tell a stand alone movie story that doesn't have all the baggage from the second season stories -- and those bags are packed!"

That account comes courtesy of EW.com's Ausiello, but TVGuide.com has the exact same information so I think it's safe to assume it's true. Crap. And what are the odds that I'm going to pick-up and read a comic book to find out what happens with Emerson's daughter, Ned's dad and Chuck's mom???!!! NOT GOOD! Dang. Daisies took a bit to grow on me but now I quite enjoy it. It's not quite my Journeyman - that's Chuck - but my weeks will be that much more drab now that Daisies is gone. Mew.