Hunky Dory: The Life on Mars Series Finale

As it turns out Life on Mars wasn't "a god-awful small affair", but it clearly wasn't a "best selling show" either. ABC finally dropped the axe on the lowly rated time traveling cop show last night, and, as a fan, I couldn't be more excited.

Let me explain: I do sincerely like the show, warts and all--though even the most ardent fan would have to admit that it's a happy mess. It's just that never for one second did I have any delusions about Life on Mars' staying power. Not only did the ever-declining ratings portend to doom, but there was simply no way it could have held up creatively beyond one season. This certainly has to do with the fact that the British original only lasted for 16-episodes itself. Fact is, there is no way a premise like Life on Mars could sustain creatively for the long run. Now fans like us will be treated to an almost isolated phenomenon: the show will end and give closure (thankfully, ABC has stated they'll allow all 17-episodes to air), while at the same time, never getting to that point when it would so badly need to get taken out back and put down, Old Yeller-style.

I'm happy to see that Life on Mars didn't fall into this trap, even if its cancellation is, in effect, a condemnation. And while some fans gnash their teeth over ABC's decision, I'll instead concentrate on the good times: the amazingly charming star turn from Jason O'Mara (expect to see him fronting an array of pilots for the next five years) and the Emmy-quality work from both Harvey Keitel and Michael Imperioli. (Oh, how I'll miss Mr. Imperioli--so gruff, so misogynistic, so hilariously over-the-top.)

The thing of it is, most shows have a shelf life of two or three seasons; after that, they inevitably start to decline into self-parody or worse. Whether it's Weeds, 24, Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy or The Office, it's hard to find a long running non-procedural show that has been able to sustain the creative fire. (Here's hoping that Mad Men and 30 Rock buck this trend.) Only Lost, and, formerly, The Sopranos, have succeeded at keeping things on a steady path, and even they would have benefited from a slightly lower episode count.

As always, it's a case of killing the Golden Goose; when faced with declining ratings and a bad economy, networks turn to the only things that have worked and then milk them for everything then can. So we end up with 28-episode seasons of Grey's Anatomy and The Office and multiple versions of CSI. And while in the short-term, that certainly works, the strategy has the long-term effect of napalm. Everyone ends up losing.

Thankfully, nobody has to worry about all that with Life on Mars.