US 'Life On Mars' "moving along fine"

The US version of Life On Mars is "moving along fine" despite losing its original producer and moving from Los Angeles to New York, according to ABC.

"We are actually ahead of schedule with new scripts in hand and production set to go," said ABC president Stephen McPherson.

Reports this week suggested the project was in trouble, with changes still to be made to the cast. They also raised the loss of David E Kelley, who was originally set to develop the series.

However, McPherson said: "David Kelley left the project because of disagreements we had over costs of production and reshooting of scenes back in mid-spring.

"And we since decided to move production to New York to give the show a better juxtaposition between the modern day and 1970s scenes. We thought New York would play better than LA.

"Usually new shows don't begin shooting until late July, so we are on track," McPherson told Media Week. ABC is already promoting the show's scheduled autumn debut.