THE SOPRANOS star Michael Imperlioli has joined the cast of ABC's re-do of the British TV show LIFE ON MARS, so says The Hollywood Reporter.

The trade says that "Life" centers on Sam Tyler (Jason O'Mara), a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, finds himself mysteriously transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective.

Imperioli will play Detective Ray Carling, a colleague of Sam's in 1972. He is a rough, tough sexist who has never heard the phrase "politically correct." The role was made famous by Phillip Glenister in the BBC original, where he played the character named Gene Hunt, now a huge cult figure in the UK.

LIFE ON MARS spawned a second series this year, ASHES TO ASHES, focusing on Hunt working in the 1980s.