Posts

Here’s the newest promo for the American version of Life on Mars. Notice that any footage featuring Colm Meaney or Rachelle Lefèvre has been cut, and only Jason O’Mara appears. The year has also been changed to ‘1973’, matching the original’s setting.

I thought this was awesome news in that the photographer, Giuliano Bekor, shot regularly for Lucire. From the Lucire ‘Insider’ section.

Giuliano Bekor, whose credits include numerous Lucire shoots, photographed Hayden Panettiere for her 2008 Candie’s print campaign.

Hayden Panettiere will star in Candie’s back to school 2008 television, print and online advertising campaign, according to the company. Hayden, who is known as an award-winning actress, activist and star of NBC’s hit television series Heroes can now add recording artist to her résumé.
   Following last year’s marketing campaign with Grammy-award winning artist Fergie, the new fall TV commercial will be a direct lift from Panettiere’s first music video, ‘Wake Up Call’, which was styled using Candie’s apparel, footwear and accessories.
   This is Panettiere’s second season with the brand.
   To coincide with TV, a print campaign will feature Panettiere in a variety of sexy and sweet vignettes as she playfully poses with a piano, behind a beaded curtain and in a club-like setting among others. The ‘Wake Up Call’ video and the Candie’s commercial were shot in Los Angeles by famed music video director Chris Applebaum and the print campaign was shot by fashion photographer Giuliano Bekor, whose credits include Lucire, and created by the Iconix in-house marketing team.
   Fans can listen to ‘Wake Up Call’ exclusively at www.candies.com and www.kohls.com/inspire (streaming only) beginning today. The single will be available for download on iTunes beginning August 5. The single is being released by Hollywood Records.

The youngsters at work hadn’t seen this 1979 TVC for Kentucky Fried Chicken before.

   However, the following TVC for Cadbury’s Crunchie is even older (1975) and they remembered it, due to its long run, even after the packaging changed. (There was a CGI version that updated the packaging—which is not worth talking about.)

For a moment I thought this was a real billboard saying someone was missing (see the bad typography), since it was the only one I saw. Turns out now it’s for a TV show.

   OK, this was clever (and we do have a lot of clever ads) and I am very glad TVNZ is at least promoting one of its own shows strongly—but is it also irresponsible? By the way, I do not recall what the show is named.

This is looking very, very good. Then again, fast editing made the Pierce Brosnan Bonds look good, too. But I think Daniel Craig will pull this off very well.

Here’s the full publicity picture from US Life on Mars, including the American Gene Hunt himself (Colm Meaney), Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara) and Annie Cartwright (Rachelle Lefèvre).

   What is American for ‘You great, soft, sissy, girly, nancy, French, bender, Man. United-supporting poof!’?
   Here’s another pic from the network:. Question: who’s the old dude on the left? Is this the American Ray?    And, finally, the trailer, which is of great interest to me. Fans of the original, you’ll notice many things are repeated from the first episode in the UK, except the Americans drive on the wrong side of the road—so Sam stops his Jeep on the right side. (He is, interestingly, struck from left to right, too.) The suspect’s name, Colin Raimes, is the same, Sam’s girlfriend in the present is called Maya, and even the Life on Mars title card looks very much like the original with a few changes for US tastes. IMDB says Edmund Butt, who scored the original, has the same job this time around.
   Gene seems less tough in this incarnation though. Maybe Philip Glenister desensitized us?
   I was laughing through most of it (note the American VO with ‘Back in the nick of time’, used in the second series) but unlike most Brit fans, I am looking forward to this.     Un pub pour la nouvelle série américaine Life on Mars, avec les photographies de publicité. Il y a beaucoup de similitudes avec la série originale britannique du BBC.

I hope Kiwi Lifers seeing the ninth episode of Life on Mars tonight for the first time enjoyed it. I did watch it again—yes, with the ads—and I didn’t mind the repeat, even if I could have chucked on the DVD. The acting was superb on every count, including that of guest star Marc Warren. Simm and Glenister were brilliant was always. Most of my commentary on the show was on IMDB, so it looks like I didn’t blog as much about the second series as I thought. Those messages, dating back to March 2007, have all disappeared, but I do remember being spooked out by the telephone call at the end from Hyde 2612.
   As to the image at the left, wait till episode five of this series.
   Strangely, the first promo I ever saw for the second series of Life on Mars was around 6.30 p.m.—two hours before the broadcast. If I hadn’t bought the DVD I would have been furious for the late under-promotion. I understand from the VO at the end of the episode that it replaced Without a Trace, and the American show was even advertised in some publications. The decision to air Life on Mars seems to have been a very late one, which explains why there was so little by way of promos.
   If only TV One promoted this prime-time show with the fervour that the BBC had—I even suggested a year ago that the old 1973 NZBC logo should come on before the programme, just as BBC One put on the early-1970s blue globe before its second-series Life on Mars episodes:

   If anyone caught the promo for next week’s episode, Emmy is misspelt by TV One staff as Emme. Let’s hope they catch it before more of this typo airs.