French Connection

Last night's second episode of ABC's new drama Life on Mars, the American version of the British hit, took a precipitous drop in the ratings. This is really bad news because Life on Mars may be the best new show of the season, unless you're in love with The Mentalist, which I am not, or maybe The Eleventh Hour or My Own Worst Enemy has tickled your fancy.

What's clear is that ABC is trying to build a solid Thursday with Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Life on Mars, but Ugly Betty is off to a rocky start, Grey's isn't the powerhouse it once was, and the pressure is on Mars to keep Grey's lead and improve on it.

The show got off to a good start in the premiere, but last night was off 25%. That's not good.

Sonny Grosso, the detective who was involved in the French Connection case whichwas chronicled inthe hit 1971 film starring Gene Hackman, is making plans to return to the case with a new limited series for AMC. Grosso claims there's a lot more to be told about the experiences he and detective Eddie Egan had leading up to the 1961 drug bust in Harlem. The development deal has been signed, but there is no name for the project just yet.