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Why Eleventh Hour Is More Exciting Than Life On Mars…

By fred | October 29, 2008

Or why the former simply has a higher probability at success than the later.

Before going into this, let’s make sure to preface by saying that this will not be a post about the quality of shows, because quality is always spoiled with subjectivity and everyone has a different opinion on what shows are better than others. Besides, if we were to be honest, I think there’s no doubt that Life On Mars has a higher quality level than Eleventh Hour does.

But quality is one thing, and then there’s plenty more that will play a role to determine the fate of the show. Of course there are things like the slot it’s given, the lead-in, promotion, but let’s focus back on the actual show. Besides quality, there are other factors that will make a show more or less exciting and with a different amount of future possibilities and potential for success.

And on that particular area, I think it’s only fair to say that Eleventh Hour has ABC drama beaten by a very large margin. It’s all in the way each show is constructed. Both of them are procedurals - at least for the sake of this argument let’s go with Life On Mars being just a procedural, which it is for the most part anyways - and yet they have very different structures.

On Life On Mars, we have an ensemble cast, they’re all set be appear in every episode, which always take place in the same place, give or take a couple of scenes. And it’s not to say this is a bad thing, or that one cannot build a success from such a situation, but there is simply a sense of excitement that comes from with idea of only a couple of people alone, traveling the world and doing whatever it is they do.

The lonely knights saving the world in the shadow just is a lot more exciting than a group of people going by their daily routine, and Eleventh Hour does have a much smaller cast, only a couple of characters who are not restricted to any place. While when a new episode of Life On Mars begins, you know you’ll get to see all the same characters going through the same routine in the same places one more time, when a new episode of Eleventh Hour begins, you really don’t know nothing.

Two people, Hood and Young, are going to be investigating something, much like on ABC’s drama. But the show is a lot more open, because it can take place about anywhere in the world, it can be anything, and it can go in any possible direction. It’s something that instantly makes the show more exiting, because every new episode can look like no other before it, each week can be a brand new thing like you had never thought of before.

It’s nothing new, really, and not that this should be a good example, but that’s also one of the thing that played a role in the success of Knight Rider back in the days, because Michael was alone (with his talking car), unlike that new crap on NBC with a constant dozen of people around, where the new Mike can’t go on a mission without a girl in a bikini by his side, can’t make one decision, or I’m pretty sure doesn’t travel all that much. That’s obviously not the only reason why this show is pure crap, but it is one of the many.

Posted in News
Shows: Eleventh Hour, Heroes, Knight Rider, Life On Mars, Lost, Supernatural, The Mentalist