The crimson short-one, series 8

Started by Simple, Tue 15/04/2003 17:27:33

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Simple

Well, over the past few nights I made my way through my Red Dwarf series VIII videos (the prison series, for anyone who doesn't go by roman numerals), and I'm confused.

I remember a while back in one of the Vales threads, somebody commented that it was "unfortunate" that I used the Rimmer from series VIII in LVII, because series VIII was junk...or some similar adjective.

The thing is, though, I watched the videos this time through TRYING not to like it...TRYING to see what was wrong with it...thinking maybe I only liked it because there was such a big gap since series VII...

But I really loved it!  I think it's pretty amazing, hilarious stuff with some of the best dialogue the show's ever produced...so why is the overall opinion negative?

I know series VII didn't go down very well, and I understand why.  A lot was missing.  Rimmer.  Holly.  An audience.  etc.  I enjoyed it, but can see why it would have turned people off.

But...what turned people against series VIII?
Larry Vales:  Reloaded production blog:
http://larryvales.wordpress.com

AGA

Glerk. Although I liked every series, it just wasn't as good after series 5 ended (I think that's when Rob Grant and Doug Naylor parted, which would explain the downfall...). Series 8 was alright, but Kochanski is a crappy character and the humour's all a bit... forced...

Adamski

The thing with series 8 was that... well... argh...
Yes, it was funny, considerably more funny than series 7... but it lacked that edge that made Red Dwarf so brilliant in it's previous series'
I agree with AGA (although to adjust things a little, series 6 was fugging brilliant!), Kochanski is a crappy character (not in the books though) and shouldn't have been brought back to 'replace' Rimmer as she did. And they've completely destroyed Kryten's character.
I guess the magic disappeared when Rob quit... oh well.
As i've said before, the Red Dwarf film will probably be buttocks-clenchingly bad.

Simple

I agree that Kochanski was no (repeat:  NO) replacement for Rimmer...and she was annoying in a lot of series VII...but I didn't mind her in series VIII at all.

Of course, I also didn't see a necessity for her to be there at all...and she didn't add much to the show for me...but she wasn't a hinderance so long as Rimmer was back.

And Kryten's character is back to normal...right?  "Krytie TV" was hilarious. =)

And I have to agree with Dark Stalkey that series VI was damn near perfect (if for Rimmerworld and Out of Time alone), but my picks for the best are series V, and then series II.
Larry Vales:  Reloaded production blog:
http://larryvales.wordpress.com

Ben

Is series 8 the one that started with the Kennedy episode? I always thought that was a different series than the prison one..

I definitely noticed a change in the later episodes.. It reminded me of American TV, maybe because of the style of humor, or the fact that Kochanski was added (in my opinion) simply because somebody wanted a female lead.. I'm not saying American TV is bad, but I don't think that style works in a show like Red Dwarf..

AGA

That was series 7, I think, Ben. Series 8 was mostly set on Red Dwarf itself

Las Naranjas

I think what was missing above all was Rob Grant.

Especially when they each wrote seperate sequels to Better Than Life, with Grant's "Backwards" and Naylor's "Last Human".

The former being far better than the original, especially since Naylor had no ability for subtlety or for bringing out the dark tone that characterised the whole concept for the first few series of the show.
"I'm a moron" - LGM
http://sylpher.com/novomestro
Your resident Novocastrian.

SSH

The show was best until the first Holly left... was that series 3? I loved Queeg, Backwards ("Nodnol, isn't that the capital of Poland?")

Was Mr Flibble in those series, I can't remember?
12

AGA

Bulgaria :)

Mr. Flibble was series 5, Queeg was 2 and Backwards was 3. Holly was female starting in series 3.

Ben

Was the first Polymorph series 3? That was one of my favorites.

And I liked the female Holly. Maybe that's because the first series I saw was 3.. Though I don't think the male and famale are any different in terms of personality.

MillsJROSS

Speaking of Red Dwarf, I got the first 2 series on DVD for my B-day a while back! Whoo!

I also think the eight one is funny, but I think I know why it got such a bad rep. In most of the show the characters are isolated and really free to do whatever they please. In eight they're freedom is revoked, and they now take orders. It kind of makes you feel that after all those episodes nothing has really happened. You want the characters to have advanced to some degree. But yes, the writing is quite clever, and I think it was very funny, it's just different.

The reason why Kochanski replaced Rimmer, isn't poor writing, it's more that the actor didn't want to do the rest of the seventh season. But he's back in eight, so all is good.

I, too, was kind of angry with the switching of Holly's. I liked the female Holly, but I loved the original Holly.

I can't wait for the movie to come out...and there is some rumor of maybe making a ninth season of the show, but I don't know if they'll be able to do it after a five year gap. Although, I'm sure BBC will buy it, anyway.

-MillsJROSS

Las Naranjas

It stalled [among other things] because of Craig Charle's conviction.
"I'm a moron" - LGM
http://sylpher.com/novomestro
Your resident Novocastrian.

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