I hadn't read The Medium Is Not Enough for a while, and as I was having a gander at it this morning (through post-election torpor) I noticed interesting tidbit. Rob had embedded a YouTube clip of a trailer for the next episode of Life On Mars USA. It starred Whoopi Goldberg and looked as though it was to feature a bit of a turf war between the Puerto Rican immigrants and black gangs. This, obviously, sounds like an original script to me, and it looks amazing, I have to say. Some serious afros going on. Want to take a look? Go over the jump.

For all our Life On Mars news and reviews, both UK and USA, go here.

It's been a long a tortuous road, but Life On Mars USA finally got there last night. What I mean by 'there' is that it was finally broadcast and came out of the other end of the creative process. The first episode of the US remake of our beloved British original hit debuted on ABC last night, with people like Jason O'Mara, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli and Gretchen Mol all in full effect. What I've seen and read, it seems the show has been very faithful to the original, with familiar lines and scenarios popping up all over the shop. I like it. I want to see it. Please somebody buy it and play it out over here. Please. In the meantime, let's have a look at what the critics said...

For all our Life On Mars news, reviews and trailers, go here.

There has been more trailers for Life On Mars USA than any other show I can remember. The lead up to it has been tortuous, and it's probably because it had produced a pilot, then upped sticks and moved production, sacked the cast and hired a new one (a superior-looking one, to ABC's credit) that there has been so many clips and trailers. All good fun though. But, dare I say it, the wait for Life On Mars USA is almost over - it premieres on ABC in the US this Thursday (9 October). We're still waiting to see if anyone snaps it up for these shores (I hope so!), but in the meantime we can get excited from afar. The latest trailer I saw featured on here, and it's more of a starter pack. It's pretty good. Have a look after the jump.

For all our Life On Mars news and reviews, go here.

I'm enjoying the whole Life On Mars USA journey. Why? Not only does it actually look quite good, but there's news about the show every week. Without fail. It's been a couple of mad days for me, so I'm sort of catching up on a few things. Reading Rob's blog (here), I saw he was carrying the latest YouTube clip of the show and I wanted to share, Significantly, it's the first clip that features Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt (I still have to say that twice to myself to make sure that I'm not in dream land). So here he is. Forget Jason O'Mara shouting randomly and the fact the soundtrack is out of sync, just feel the Keitel. Clip is after the jump.

For all our Life On Mars news, whether it be UK or US stuff, go here.

Suddenly, from nowhere, Life On Mars USA is looking a bit ACE. I capitalise ace in order to convey my own excitement. We've already had one trailer for the show, and now (after I read it on TV Spy) here's a new trailer for the show. There isn't much there, but I'm loving the Police Squad-style narration and the juicy retro styling (and it has my favourite Dr John tune too!). You can have a shufty yourself over the jump and let us know what you think. Also, here's a link to the show's official site, where there's a video featuring a production designer showing us around Sam's apartment and some chats with Jason "He really is Irish" O'Mara and Michael Imperioli (click here for that). Like it, like it. Oh, and for all our Life On Mars stuff, go here.

We've been banging on about Life On Mars USA for a while now, charting its ups and almost catastrophic downs (for all our Life On Mars stuff go here). The full cast pictures have been released, and, by jimminy, I think that they (they being ABC) have got it just right. It looks really very cool indeed. If there's one immediate difference to the pics of the original cast (that was shelved) it's that everything looks a lot less brown. And you have to love Michael Imperioli's imperial 'tache. I love it. I really do. Click on the picture for a full cast gallery (thanks to The Medium Is Not Enough).

Yes, we all know it has had a trouble gestation, but it seems Life On Mars USA is really getting its act together. One of the main reasons is that Harvey Keitel and Christopher from The Sopranos has joined the cast. That's a pretty exciting combination in anyone's book. The good news is that the first pictures of Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt have been released, and there's one on over the jump. Have a look, it's exciting.

And so the long and tortuous journey of Life On Mars USA continues. It's been in all sorts, let's be honest, right from the word go. A pilot was produced, everyone though it was rubbish, Producer David E Kelly left, it was moved from LA to New York. Now I read that the entire cast has been ditched, apart from Jason O'Mara (Sam Tyler). No Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt. Furthermore, it sounds as though the story is being changed so it can be a longer running series. Find out what's the bally hell is going on after the jump.

The Sopranos was brilliant, no argument there, and I miss it. Whether the already troubled (and, bizarrely, maligned in some quarters) Life On Mars USA will turn out to be classed in the same heady environs as The Sopranos (or even as the British original) remains to be seen. But goodness me, the US people seem to be making hard work of adapting the thing. We've brought you details of the strife (read about that here) and even a trailer (which is here), but now, whisper it, now production has moved to Noo Yoik things seem to be simmering down. And, excitingly, there's been a heavyweight cast addition. Read on to find out who.

[Image: Rex Features]

With all this news about Pushing Daisies (you know, a show that was hyped to the gills and actually wasn't good), it got me thinking (unusual, I know) about other shows that we're told to like by a blitzkrieg of marketing and advertisements and all that jazz. We're, of course, guilty of hyping things too, but we go on clips and press releases and get excited about things as much as the next person. But there is a trend developing - there are shows that are so hyped, expectations that are piqued and tweaked so much that almost always the shows in question fall some way short. In fact, some of these shows are just plain dreadful. So what does that say about modern TV? Yes, there are some very good things out there but sometimes, just sometimes, channels' marketing departments are becoming more important than the shows themselves. So here are five (recent) shows we have been told to like, told that they will break the mould and told that if we don't watch them our lives will be incomplete, but actually all they deserve is a big, fat swerve.

Naysayers will of course be scoffing: "I told you so" at the news that Life On Mars USA has hit trouble long before its broadcast date. We've seen pictures and seen trailer and, to be honest, thought it looked ok. I mean, there's absolutely no point in comparing it to the original because emotional responses would be made, and the American version - like all good remakes - take the original concept and feel and appropriate it to a new set of situations. So, even though I loved the original, I was pretty chilled about the US version. With so many brilliant and iconic American cop shows from the 1970s it could lampoon, heck I was even looking forward to it. Sadly, it seems it's not exactly in the rudest of health.

I posted up a picture of Life On Mars USA the other day, and it looked pretty good. And now, here's a trailer. The pro-Brit lot are already starting to carp, but c'mon... it's an American show and it has American things in it. I think it looks alright, to be honest. The only thing I have a slight problem with is how the muscly, tanned Sam Tyler can easily beat-up Gene Hunt. That wouldn't happen in the British version. Anyway, tell us what you think! I like the police cars in this very much.

When you find out that you've been given the go-ahead to interview one of your favourite actors from the past few years, strange things start to happen. You start to shake, you start to go to the toilet more often and, after a while, you feel your face aching because you've just been smiling so much. It was safe to say I was looking forward to chatting to Philip Glenister, the man who made Gene Hunt this year's funniest and most brilliant TV character.

And it's been quite a year for him too - not only did he cement his place in TV's Hall Of Fame, but he also landed a role in the terrific Cranford. We spoke to him on the set of Ashes To Ashes, the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to Life On Mars. He was modest, funny and very happy. If you were playing Gene Hunt, I think you would be too.

There were loose ends. We were promised they'd be tied up. There were mysteries. We were promised they'd be solved. There were interminable guesses as to what might happen and of course we knew that within the hour all the guessing would be over and we would know. So with breath so heavily bated we thought our lungs had set, 9pm rolled around and we were off...

To those of you who are sick and tired of this site mentioning Life On Mars, I have one message for you - I don't care. Today is officially Life On Mars day here at TV Scoop, at least in my stupid eyes. While we countdown to the series finale this evening (9pm, BBC1) I thought it was a good idea to keep the LOM madness going a little bit longer.

It's very rarely I laugh out loud at the telly these days, but this made me laugh like a window. The whole  Trumpton/Chigley/Camberwick Green triangle holds a special place in my heart (actually you can go here for access to the whole Trumptonshire universe), and when I saw that LOM had done a Camberwick Green parody I couldn't wait to see it. So here it is - surely the funniest 50 or so seconds of TV you'll see all year (unless you're neither a fan of Camberwick Green nor Life On Mars, in which case you won't know or care what I'm blathering on about).

So here we are. The final episode of Life On Mars (tonight, BBC1, 9pm) is upon us, and what an episode it is. The brilliantly original, brilliantly acted and brilliantly brilliant series has been a breath of fresh air during the two years it has been with us. Now it's all over.

Last week I was very lucky to be invited to the cast and crew wrap party, and while I was there I was even luckier to persuade Dean Andrews, who plays Gene Hunt's burly, no-nonsense sidekick Ray, to have a few words with me about the final episode. Here he is!

First things first. If you click here, you can view John Simm's Life On Mars video diary. With the finale of the show fast approaching (next Tuesday!), this will whet your appetite no end. Outside of his brilliant acting career, John is notoriously shy and hates talking to journalists and all that kind of thing. Who can blame him? So it's interesting to see and hear him talk about the series and, more importantly, the much-anticipated finale.

The next bit is a bit trickier. I was lucky enough to see the finale two weeks ago, and at the risk of sounding like a loathsome "did I tell you the time when I..." sort of bore, I joined around a dozen journalists (OK, so I've just done it), cast and crew on Wednesday night at the posh BAFTA building to view the final episode and celebrate the Life On Mars phenomenon. It was a good night, but it did feel as though I was gatecrashing on an emotional crew party. Read on for more...