Blogger Jamie Starbuck discusses the hilarious conclusion to the US version of Life On Mars. Some mild spoilers follow:

The Life On Mars USA Finale

Take an infinite universe. Allow for infinite variables. Allow each variable to have it's own universe. Chuck it on the television for an hour and you may get the perfect programme. More likely, you'll get something a little bit average and possibly a lot of naffness. But the potential is there for the best TV show ever conceived, crafted and created.

Lots of shows have a pilot, some pilots aren't even made, a few make it to the screen and even less actually make it a full season. Syndication is the holy grail. All of them, without exception, have potential but with potential also comes the prospect of failure, a damp spot on the sheet of life.

The worst kind of failure is when a series starts with such promise and in the final minutes gives a quick jab to the kidney that ruins everything that went before. Ever seen The Prestige? Loved that film. I thought it superb as I was sat watching it in the cinema. But then... then you get the reveal, the prestige if you will, and I came out of that darkened room in a purple fit of pique. Of course, I came straight home and vented on the internet. I felt better after that.

As anyone who's seen the US remake of Life On Mars can attest it's been shedding all memories of it's British cousin. After an undeniably poor pilot, the gods looked down and granted it another chance, and from that point on it soared. Again, the potential was there. It delivered some quality TV; it was never going to be Best! Ever! but it was certainly very, very good. The news that this would be the one and only season came awhile ago which left me wondering how they'd finish it. Surely they couldn't tie up all the loose ends and have it make sense?

Well the good news is that they did. Amazingly, the ending works. Everything seems to be tied off very neatly. The bad news is that it's so bloody stupid. This was no mere punch to the kidneys; this was down a dark alley and rip it out to be sold to a dodgy geezer in the body parts trade. Was it meant to be tongue in cheek? Was it meant to be so cheesy? I can smell the gorgonzola from here. And Major Tom? Major flaming Tom? The biggest indignity is that it'll now be talked of in the same sentences as Dallas!

Those final few minutes detract from what was a great series. It came from being dross in the pilot to something I looked forward to every week. Even Jason O'Mara won me round with his depiction of Sam Tyler. But it's now been tainted in my memory. Oh well. It's something I get used to watching television. Television: where potential goes to die. It makes me glad Carnivale got canned before it's time.

This is a personal article by Jamie Starbuck, blogger extraordinaire - read more about our contributors on this dedicated page. Meanwhile, if you want to read what happens in the bonkers, literal-wordplay-filled end to Life On Mars, you'll find it on the web including here at the New York Times website (spoilerphobes avoid). Did you see it? Were you satisfied? Or are you still laughing into your coffee like us on SFX. Your thoughts welcome as always, in the comment thread below or on our forum.