This episode 1 from season 4 of "The Ray Bradbury Theater" called "Mars Is Heaven" is one that's interesting and entertaining as it blends real earth, different life and the past. It involves a space crew lead by Captain Black(Hal Linden) who land on Mars, or is it really as soon they discover people from their past and small towns from their childhoods are present! Is it real, a cover up or just imagination overall good episode that twist really it lives true to the science fiction genre, one of the series better ones.
6 Reviews
Astronauts Land in Norman Rockwell's Back Yard
Hitchcoc31 March 2015
A group of Earthmen are the first arrivals on the planet Mars. When they get there they find a place that looks just like their home planet. But the kicker is that it is populated by people that they loved and lost during their lifetimes. Houses that burned down are there again. An idyllic setting that throbs at their sentiments. The love of a mother and a lost brother. Fireworks and picnics (Bradbury's view of heaven though some would find it really over the top). The whole crew is happy. The captain, played by Hal Linden, becomes suspicious because this is just too easy, too perfect. A story full of threat that reminds one of several Twilight Zone episodes (man put into surroundings he has to interpret but put emotion aside).
A Sci-Fi Story Classic
rigovega9 September 2019
One of the many great short stories of the masterful Ray Bradbury is brought to life in this episode. Being a fan of the original stories and seeing the adaptation to television is fascinating. Mars Is Heaven is one of my favorites because he combines the familiar with the unknown in a way that becomes something unique and wondrous. The acting is great in this one and the atmosphere is surreal.
Impossible but it works
tmw-5942224 November 2023
I did like this episode but it has issues. Like all of the episodes involving Mars the atmosphere and gravity just don't fit. You simply could not have an earth like town on Mars.
Second and most important - these are allegedly highly trained top of the ladder astronauts and they're completely taken in by what is obviously impossible.
In reality none of them would have bought the idea that this was home and these were their long lost relatives.
Sorry, but on those issues it misfires.
But all in all Bradbury made his entire series The Martian Chronicles and these spin-offs work. And the bottom line is that that is all that counts.
Second and most important - these are allegedly highly trained top of the ladder astronauts and they're completely taken in by what is obviously impossible.
In reality none of them would have bought the idea that this was home and these were their long lost relatives.
Sorry, but on those issues it misfires.
But all in all Bradbury made his entire series The Martian Chronicles and these spin-offs work. And the bottom line is that that is all that counts.
Radio Show
apexpropainting12 December 2021
"It's a place where we get a second chance."
classicsoncall21 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A team of astronauts led by Captain Black (Hal Linden) lands on Mars, but to their astonishment, it's like they never left home. Each member of Black's party connects with people and surroundings from their past, including relatives who had long since passed away. Following an event filled day with family and friends, Black begins to consider what may be going on, and his suspicions run to some sort of ruse the 'Martians' must be participating in to imitate people from his past. His instincts were correct, but the episode ended so abruptly that it leaves an unsatisfying feeling for the viewer. A better story with a similar premise occurred during the first season of Star Trek titled 'Shore Leave' in which the Enterprise crew sought rest and relaxation on a Class M planet that produced the wildest dreams from their imagination. What made that episode so entertaining was the way it took what could be considered quite ordinary and turned it into the whimsical.
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