I really liked the ambiguous ending to LOM. I found it satisfying while still leaving things open for the viewer to take it however they like. I've heard spoilers for AtA that seem like it spells out pretty definitively what is going on, I was hoping they'd still try to leave it at least a little mysterious.
Seems like we have too many decent sci-fi shows that try to explain all the weird things that happened in them (Lost and BSG, being two other recent examples) and ultimately it just takes away the magic and makes a definitive ending a lot of people aren't satisfied with. Lost could have benefited from leaving things a bit more ambiguous, and BSG really had no reason to sink into the supernatural realm at all (it was never that kind of show, the addition of it was not that intriguing, and it ended up really making it jump the shark that last season. If you're really that short on ideas, maybe it was time to end the show a season sooner).
Though I really don't think anything could be more rubbish than the ending to the American's LOM. Makes me shudder just thinking about it. Its ending was so bad, it made Lost's finale look perfect. The "Ah, phew, it was all just a bad dream" ending is about the cheapest cop out you can get. Then making him an astronaut on a flight to mars was even more lame and took away the meaning of the title by making it literal. Oops, I guess those were spoilers. If it stops just one person who reads this from suffering through the show, then I feel I have done a good deed.
Ziggy Stardust said:
It does!?!? I'll have to check this show out...
If you haven't seen the video for "Ashes to Ashes", here it is:
I've seen the video before. The clown from the video plays a major(ish) role in the TV show (though he's not played by Bowie, of course).
I kind of think you might like both shows, actually. Maybe you should check them out. Ashes to Ashes is the sequel to Life on Mars, so make sure you check out LOM first. And when looking for Life on Mars, be sure to keep a safe distance away from the American remake, it has been known to cause cancer in laboratory rats and could be hazardous to your health.