'Life on Mars,' 'Eleventh Hour' take aim at crime

Contra Costa Times (MCT) - It's easy to mock CBS' relentless obsession with murder procedurals. Judging from all the homicidal mayhem occurring nightly on the network's airwaves, you might think its call letters stand for Corpses, Bodybags and Stiffs.

But can you really fault CBS for a lack of creative ambition? Cops and killers, after all, tend to generate robust Nielsen numbers. Conversely, it seems as if anytime the network tries to color outside the lines with something such as, say, vampires ("Moonlight"), sex-addicted suburbanites ("Swingtown") or nuclear calamity ("Jericho"), it crashes and burns.

And so CBS reverts to play-it-safe mode by calling upon Jerry Bruckheimer, the grand pooh-bah of procedurals (he swiped the crown from "Law & Order" man Dick Wolf). In turn, Bruckheimer bestows upon the network another compelling _ if largely generic _ crime show, and everyone's happy except for maybe a few bitter TV critics.

This time around that show is "Eleventh Hour," starring Rufus Sewell as Dr. Jacob Hood, a brilliant biophysicist who helps the FBI solve cases involving creepy scientific phenomena such as a cloning experiment gone awry, or 11-year-olds dropping dead from heart attacks.

It sounds a lot like "The X-Files" or a tamer version of Fox's "Fringe." But "Eleventh Hour" is actually based on a short-lived 2006 British series that starred Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek" fame.

Younger, hunkier and hairier than Stewart, Sewell makes for an engaging lead. His Dr. Hood is a passionate, contemplative man, who one moment can get lost in his thoughts, and the next unleash his fiery wrath upon a sleazy suspect. Better keep an eye on this guy.

Unfortunately, "Eleventh Hour" paints by the TV numbers a little too much and teams Hood with his own Scully in no-nonsense special agent Rachel Young (Marley Shelton). Perhaps some chemistry will develop between the two, but for now, there isn't an ounce of it, and Shelton's character has all the personality of a dishrag.

"Eleventh Hour" does, indeed, present interesting cases, but it wraps them up in typical march-time, procedural fashion and bogs things down with plenty of starchy dialogue. In other words, it has all the ingredients of another hit for Bruckheimer and company.

Like CBS, ABC went across the pond to find a cop show. But unlike its rival, ABC found one that gleefully deviates from the norm. It's "Life on Mars," a drama about NYPD detective Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), who gets hit by a car in 2008 and inexplicably wakes up stranded in 1973.

Preposterous? Of course. But give the show some slack. It was a big hit in Britain, after all, and, fortunately, this looks to be one of those rare cases where the Americans didn't bungle the hand-off.

Anyway, Sam is stunned to find himself in the land of 8-track tapes, clunky phones, feathered hair and flared pants. It could be a dream, a coma or something else. All Sam knows is that he desperately wants to get back home to his girlfriend (Lisa Bonet), but can't figure out how.

In the meantime, this mind-blowing adventure in time travel forces him to deal with a gruff old-school boss (Harvey Keitel) and a bushy-haired, potty-mouthed detective (Michael Imperioli) _ two guys who are totally clueless when it comes to "CSI"-like forensics and other high-tech crime-solving techniques.

"Life on Mars," much like the Emmy-winning "Mad Men," offers a fascinating examination of period social mores. Sam, for example, finds a department ally in a female cop played by Gretchen Mol, but amid an office teeming with sexism, she's tagged with a foul nickname and relegated to tending to "lost kitties and hysterical girlfriends." As for the workplace banter, it's about as politically incorrect as you can get.

On the plus side, the Oakland A's and Raiders were actually winning in '73.

There's no telling if "Mars" will be embraced by the masses, but I loved this pilot, and that's a surprise considering how the show underwent late alterations among the cast and producers _ usually a sign of big trouble. What we're left with is a handsomely crafted, stylishly performed and artfully photographed hour that has me craving more.

Much of the credit for that goes to the show's impressive cast, led by O'Mara, who, as the befuddled Sam, presents an engaging package of ardent determination and helpless yearning. His charismatic turn compels you to join him on this wild journey to another "planet" _ even if it means leaving our cell phones and iPods behind.

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SEASON PREMIERES

What: "Eleventh Hour"

When: 10 p.m. EDT Thursday

Where: CBS

Grade: B-minus

What: "Life on Mars"

When: 10 p.m. EDT Thursday

Where: ABC

Grade: A-minus

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Chuck Barney: cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com

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© 2008, Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.).