The 'October Road' to Mars
October Road may have been cancelled last spring, but the ABC series appears to be enjoying something of a second life…on Mars.
Despite a promising midseason start in 2007, the primetime soap didn’t make it to a third season, and its creators went on to become the showrunners on ABC’s Life on Mars. But the producers have been sprinkling the cop drama with sly call-backs to their dearly departed show.
In the Life on Mars pilot, moments before a car accident mysteriously catapults the main character, a modern-day police detective, back to 1973, a sign on a row of tenement houses is clearly visible through his window: "Welcome to Cataldo Houses."
October Road fans no doubt caught the reference: Ray "Big Cat" Cataldo was the name of October Road’s arch villain, who owns a successful construction business.
"We had to come up with a name for these tenements," executive producer Josh Appelbaum told B&C last month, "Why not use the name of our favorite evil contractor?"
"In our minds, we are living in one creative universe where Knights Bridge, Mass., does live in the same workd as Life On Mars," he added. "The Cataldo thing is a perfect example."
Appelbaum also mentioned plans to reincarnate several denizens of October’s fictional Knights Ridge, Mass., in Mars, albeit as the names of crime suspects or victims.
"Somehow in 1973 New York, the members of 2008 Knights Ridge are dying in bulk," he joked. "We’re doing a loving burial for October Road by killing off some of these people in Life on Mars."
Appelbaum said the call-backs have been therapeutic for him and his partners, who are "still mourning October Road." They even worked one into Samurai Girl, a summer show they produced for ABC Family in which a character is shown in a T-shirt that reads "I’m Sam’s Father," a reference to a key October plot point. (The team decided against putting the T-shirt in Mars, since the lead character’s name is Sam.)
Of course, Appelbaum said, there’s a limit to the grieving: "The generosity of ABC in letting us do [Life on Mars] wasn’t so we could purge all our demons from October Road."
Plus, he added, "Life On Mars does deserve its own reality. We would never do something that is too overt, that would jump out as a fan of Life On Mars. But it is always fun to put in stuff that fans of October Road could notice and say, ‘That’s cool.’"
So are these references akin to Alfred Hitchcock making cameos in his own movies?
"Unfortunately, nothing that we have done this far, or at least October Road doesn’t have the iconic status of Alfred Hitchcock," Appelbaum said. "So for us at the moment it is more like an Easter egg. Down the road, if October Road takes on a huge afterlife on the Interent and DVD, maybe it will seem more like Alfred Hitchcock."
bella commented:
Some of my post was cut off. I especially do not want them to touch Janet and Eddie. I am still hoping somehow, somewhere those two will reunite. I watched an episode of "The Game" because Rebecca Field was on it and I watched "King's Highway" because Geoff Stults was in it so I will follow the cast to their new projects. But please don't ruin our OR hopes and memories.
bella commented:
I agree with Autumn Street. I love the little references, Cataldo Builders etc. but I don't want to see my favorite characters from the Ridge killed off in LOM.
I will admit I watched Samarai Girl just for the October Road references, it wasn't a great show but it was watchable. The OR references were subtle and funny. I enjoyed it. I also watched an episode of "
AutumnStreet commented:
"October Road" was my favorite television show of all time. I started watching "Life on Mars" because I believe in the talents of Scott Rosenberg, Josh Appelbaum, and Andre Nemec (and actor Jonathan Murphy). I have not been disappointed. "Life on Mars" is the current best show on T.V. However, although the occasional O-Road reference might make me smile, I have to disagree with a lot of the Roadies who say they look forward to OR references when they watch LOM. Honestly, I think it dilutes the integrity of both awesome shows. I think the actors from October Road, as much as I love to see them in any role, are being sold short by being dragged in as the gratuitous victim and/or perp of the week. Their appearances are a turn off to me- and this comes from some one who is a true fan of each and every one of them. This takes the cake for me though: I HATE the idea of my beloved characters from Knight's Ridge having their names tarnished as perps, or meeting gruesome ends. As you say, this show exists in the same world as "October Road." I loved that no matter what bad things went down in Knight's Ridge, there was always hope for a better tomorrow. Please don't take that away! I don't want to bury them! I want to imagine them out there in the fictional ether, making fun of each other lovingly some day when their arthritis inhibits them from playing in the air band :-) It's 1973, couldn't you just mention something like a delivery truck driver named Bob Garrett reported a crime? Maybe one of detectives mentions visiting family in Knight's Ridge for Christmas. Just please, please, let the denizens of the Ridge stay real to us, as they are/were, flawed but lovable folk who live ordinary lives. I may sound overdramatic, but it would rip my heart out to hear Nick was pulled out of a river, or Philip Farmer had a psychotic break and killed his unidentified girlfriend, or Ikey was a common pick pocket. Scott Rosenberg wrote to the fans on the message board and told us not to mourn, as that would minimize the experience that "October Road" had been for us. He wrote us such a beautiful note of closure, and left it that the denizens of Knight's ridge would miss us. That thought, believe it or not, brought tears to my eyes, and I love to imagine them that way, going about their fictional lives, sadly/secretly smiling to themselves about the brief time that our window into their world made us happy. To Josh Appelbaum, Scott, Rosenberg, and Andre Nemec: thank you for the two best television shows I have seen. Just please, don't let your closure ruin mine.
Tina M commented:
Not only are they paying tribute to 'O.R' with all of the references,they have had many of the actors from the show on as well; which I think rocks. I LOVED 'O.R.' and don't think it got the chance it deserved.