R.I.P Red Dwarf

DanielH · Sun 12/04/2009 22:38:21

Quote from: LimpingFish on Sun 12/04/2009 22:11:32
Um...wasn't Red Dwarf always crap?

I'm sorry limpingfish I can no longer respect you as a person.

Just watched part 3.

Part 3 was... bad. It didn't tie up any loose ends at all! (Although it does leave opportunity for a new series)

Stee · Sun 12/04/2009 23:36:43

I think that was the idea, as Doug Naylor has stated he would like to do a series 10 if the special goes down well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf#The_Future

LimpingFish · Mon 13/04/2009 00:07:38

Quote from: DanielH on Sun 12/04/2009 22:38:21
I'm sorry limpingfish I can no longer respect you as a person.

I honestly never saw the funny side of it. The jokes always seemed telegraphed and forced. Kryten was marginally funny, but the rest? Cat made me want to knee myself in the nuts. The less said about talent-vacuum Craig Charles, the better. And Rimmer had one joke, stretched over eight series.

It should have stayed dead.

Stee · Mon 13/04/2009 00:51:44

Millions of fans worldwide disagree with you.

I hope you get sucked out of an airlock

voh · Mon 13/04/2009 02:43:52

Thanks for reminding me that they've been released. Didn't have the time to watch them on the telly, so I'm downloading 'em now.

Also, I must be the most forgiving Red Dwarf fan ever, because while I thought the last 2 seasons were sub-par for Red Dwarf standards, I still thought (and think) that they were utterly brilliant.

So I'm sure the most negative I can feel about series 9 is "huh. meh."

I'll be fine

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Mon 13/04/2009 05:26:30

I agree with LimpingFish at least partially, though I've always found Rimmer's character (and Chris Barrie in general) to be funny in a sad, glad-I'm-not-him kind of way. I also think Craig Charles is a bit of a cardboard cut-out, and that much of the chemistry between his and Rimmer's characters seemed forced due to the lack of Charles' acting chops (he had no real experience prior to Dwarf). I don't really think it's his fault, and he definitely got better as the show went on, but for me Rimmer and Kryten were the show with Cat and Lister as characters that would not fundamentally harm the series if they simply disappeared. After seeing all three parts I think there were some obvious clues about the direction of the episode, and I don't really see where the ending left a cliffhanger or anything that some people are talking about, though it did seem to work as a good point to jumpstart the series from.

ManicMatt · Mon 13/04/2009 08:36:48

I enjoyed it. I found it funny.

Spoiler

The ending was a cop out, but I think I understand why they did that. How else could you continue a series when the characters think they're fictional? And the reason for going to our reality was because it's funny. And I did find it funny.

[close]

I wonder if the canned laughter had an unexpected effect on you guys?

Was it worth waiting ten years for? No..

Did I love it and will I buy the DVD when it comes out in June? Yes!

poc301 · Mon 13/04/2009 09:33:43

I had no idea it was still on. I used to watch it here in the states when I was a kid. I think we only got the first few series on television here. I used to LOVE IT. It would be on public television with Dr. Who, and I used to stay up late to watch it. The last season we got here was I think the one when Kreiton (sp?) came on-board. I remember the one about Toaster Heaven as being one of the last episodes we got.

Sorry to hear they crapped on it

-Bill

ManicMatt · Mon 13/04/2009 10:04:28

They didn't! These people just expect godlike results because they are elitist!

If a new Monkey Island came out, they'd call it shit becuase it doesn't meet their impossible expectations!

I think I just pissed a lot of people off just then. Oops.

Stupot · Mon 13/04/2009 12:25:29

Matt, as I said in my very first post I was not expecting god-like results. I was sort of expecting it to be kind of crap since I first heard that they would be going to coronation street to meet Craig Charles.

What I DID expect was comedy. Because that is what RD is supposed to be and that is why I always watched it. But I can sincerely say I only laughed out loud ONCE during all three episodes (Kryten's 'innocent whistling mode') and while their were 5 or 6 other moments that might have raised a smile, you surely have to admit, no matter how forgiving you are trying to be, that it just wasn't that funny.

Maybe you're right. Maybe if they had put a laughter track over it we might have been conned into thinking it was funny. Maybe if we went back and rewatched the original series without the laughter we might reaslise that it was never that funny to begin with.

ManicMatt · Mon 13/04/2009 15:46:50

Nope, the bit when Kryten spots the dvd, and picks up the Red Dwarf dvd and reads it, I was laughing my guts off.

DanielH · Mon 13/04/2009 16:00:49

I like episode One:

Katerina: I am now superior officer, not Rimmer, who is...bit crap.

Rimmer: What!?

Kryten: It's confirmed sir, (points at Psy-Scan, which reads 'Bit Crap')

Dave Gilbert · Mon 13/04/2009 19:13:22

I just watched the episodes. In short...

ep 1: Brilliant. I laughed many times. The back-and-forth dialog between lister and rimmer at the start was every bit as good as the RD of old. Only downside? No Holly.

ep 2: As soon as it began and I saw where it was going, I groaned and it just went downhill from there. I only laughed once (when Rimmer pushes Katerina into the street). The fourth wall jokes were the worst form of cop out, and weren't even clever ones at that.

ep 3: Not much better, although the ending did redeem itself. A bit overdramatic, but I found it a tad moving nonetheless.

I thought it was clever that they pulled a "Larry 4" on the show - skipping a few seasons in order to get out of the hole they wrote themselves into at the end of season 8. I do wonder how they got hologram Rimmer back, though.

Anyway, not bad. Not great. It was nice to see the characters again, even if they aren't what they were.

SinSin · Mon 13/04/2009 19:32:25

I'm Pretty sure that this is not the end of Red Dwarf ... To much left undone ...

Galen · Mon 13/04/2009 19:54:54

Too many reused jokes and lag of continuity with the last season made it kind of "meh" to me.
I also didn't care for the meta-humour with them being fictional (again).

LimpingFish · Mon 13/04/2009 20:38:06

Quote from: ProgZmax on Mon 13/04/2009 05:26:30
...though I've always found Rimmer's character (and Chris Barrie in general) to be funny in a sad, glad-I'm-not-him kind of way.

Chris Barrie is a good comedic actor, but I always just felt that, beyond Rimmer's anal-retentiveness and the fact that he's the Felix Ungar to Lister's Oscar Madison, his character really hasn't got a lot to it. The all-Rimmer planet, for instance, and the Ace Rimmer storyline (along with the stories that dealt with Rimmer's psyche) seemed like an attempt to draw something else from such a one-note character because all the anal/prissy jokes had been repeated ad nauseum. His "Hard-Light" upgrade added scope for some physical gags too, I suppose.

Cat, on the other hand, has always been by far the weakest character. His schtick get's old almost as soon as he opens his mouth. Holly, male of female, doesn't fare much better.

Kryten is the best character, simply because Robert Llewellyn's delivery is so funny, and he seemed to give the character an edge that most of the cast lacked. The show definitely began to improve when he joined the regular cast, but the first three series are pretty weak overall.

I guess I'm not the best person to offer an opinion on the latest episodes, seeing as I never took to the regular series myself. But even trying to ignore that, these new episodes seemed superfluous. The Coronation Street sequence of part 3 and Charles's playing himself was especially embarrassing. Same goes for the fawning fan service.

Maybe Rob Grant was the talented one.

voh · Tue 14/04/2009 00:14:53

I loved it. It was as crappy as Red Dwarf always was - so crappy as to become brilliant again.

I watched the first two eps by myself, then watched those again and the third as well with friends. We all enjoyed it, so I don't get what the fuss is about.

It was, to me, more of the good stuff, characters I grew to love over years and years of mishaps. I regret nothying

Eggie · Tue 14/04/2009 02:12:07

I actually liked the first part a lot, after that... well...

It's likely Doug Naylor had the idea for a while but unfortunately The League of Gentlemen beat him to executing it and did it a hell of a lot better. It seems ironic that something that something so transparently intended as a tribute to the fans ended up as more self-indulgent than anything the show's ever done...

That said, not the worst episodes. Blade Runner references are a pretty safe bet.

EDIT: Oh, and I TOTALLY missed the studio audience. If they do another series they need to get that back.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 14/04/2009 03:45:47

I don't really get the whole 'it would be better with a studio audience' argument. If you need canned laughter to tell you something is funny then it's not, simple as that.

Stee · Tue 14/04/2009 07:00:26

Sorry progzmax i prefer the canned laughter,it doesnt make it funnier but makes it more lighthearted. You try watching virtually all the comedians out there without the laughter of the audience and i guarantee you wont be happy. To be honest half of them are painful to watch regardless. Besides its the whole ethos of Red Dwarf cheap laughs for a cheap show. Which brings me back on to the topic of using the old sets again....