Man, this is weird. I was just thinking about Red Dwarf the other day, which lead to me trawling IMDB to see how the ratings of the new stuff stacked up against the "originals". I basically checked out after "Back to Earth" but it turns out that was kind of a low-point and the new episodes are, if not always great, at least not terrible. This is a list someone else compiled of every episode, by default ranked by "LastCaress138"'s personal preference, but you can sort by IMDB rating to get a more objective look at how they stack up against each other... I wasn't able to find a better way to do this on IMDB by default:
Notably, Back to Earth parts 1, 2 and 3 are all in the bottom four "episodes". And then I found out Red Dwarf is available on Stan (Aussie Netflix), so I'm definitely going to have to do a binge at some point. And probably watch the new stuff too.
Back to Earth is a weird one because it kinda goes all in on the existentialism rather than the comedy. It relies on nostalgia a lot and just the enjoyment of seeing these characters interact again. It's enjoyable enough but I can see why it wouldn't necessarily score high on the laugh meter.
The show was never the same after Rob Grant left the writing team. Doug Naylor absolutely has his moments, but that was the turning point.
Yeah, I think you could probably ignore everything after season 6 and you wouldn't really miss much of interest. The early seasons were definitely the peak.
They pretty much threw away Season 6's cliffhanger. Blowing up time drive somehow resolved things and altered the ship.
But then, Lister trying to explain what happened and constantly blowing up video cameras is great.
Back to Earth did that weird thing where they took out the laugh track but kept the same pacing, so it all ends up really awkward and none of the punchlines land.
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Dark Raven XLaugh hard, run fast,be kindRegistered Userregular
The lack of laugh track in Back To Earth made it land so fuckin' sad. I remember that first segment having a whole long section dedicated to Lister's tomato prank, and something about the new wide open empty sets, the focus on this being the last tomato and the lack of a laugh track just made it... devastating.
I saw a version of it where someone had dubbed on a laugh track. Except it was the same laughs repeated and it's amazing how quickly you notice distinct sounds in there, and that they keep repeating. It just made it weirder to the point of being unlistenable inside of a few minutes.
I want more but they need to consider wrapping it up soon. Without any of the 4 principals it'd probably suck, and the longer it goes on the more likely it is that life just happens.
Wrap it up? I don’t think it needs an official ending as such. As far as the ‘plot’ of RD goes it’s very much about the journey rather than the destination.
I got into it based on the recommendation of an uncle, and ended up watching much of the early series on old/poor stored VHS tapes like 25+ years ago.
The fact it even shows up to this day is kind of a sign that most of the cast, writers, and crew will need to have shuffled off from this mortal coil to consider it truly gone, and even then I would give fairly balanced odds on someone daring to take up the mantle all the same.
I mean, I'm pretty old, and the series is only 8 years younger than I am. Literally around a third of a century from when it first started off.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
If they could commit to just doing one xmas special a year that would do. It can be frustrating because it's 12 years since Back to Earth, it was 3 years after that we got a 6 episode season, 4 years after that we got another season and then another season the next year and then another 3 years until The Promised Land. Eighteen eps and 2 specials in 12 years isn't a lot, but that's British TV. Father Ted was amazing and we only got 3 seasons. You wouldn't believe it because they're short arcs within a single episode but there are only 15 episodes of Mr Bean, and it's THIRTY freaking years since the last season of Blackadder, which is insane to me, I caught it in my teens so I always thought it was a late 90s series not an 80s one! And the not as big shows like The Brittas Empire are seemingly just lost to time.
In that sense we've been spoiled with how much Red Dwarf we've had in comparison (74 episodes apparently), and I know I got shouted down for asking for some closure, but if we're going to get very few episodes and given the actors are in or pushing 60, we've maybe got 10 years max to pump out any more RD, it'd be nice to round the season off in some way at least, and ideally get both creators on board because without both it definitely lacks something.
Honestly, Red Dwarf just going "And then Starbug blew up after Cat plugged his hair dryer into the reactor core" is about the level of finish you should expect, if any. The show was always about that Hitchhiker's Guide-type humor of "Yes, it's a big wide universe full of insufferable people, places, and things. No, it doesn't get much better, but at least it's not so much worse if you aren't a total smeghead about it" and that's ok.
"Go down, kick ass, and set yourselves up as gods, that's our Prime Directive!"
Got the whole series on DVD, from series 1 to Back to earth for donating to PBS for a marathon in Seattle, best $250/$500? I ever spent. That, Mr. Bean, Faulty Towers, Are you being served, Python, Masterpiece Theater, Inspector Morse lots of fun memories growing up back in the 80's/90's.
From some point today every episode of Red Dwarf will drop on BBC IPlayer. This is the first time ever all the shows have been available to watch at the same time in the same place. Let the Dwarf binge begin. #RedDwarf
I miss the Grant Naylor years. I wish they hadn't fallen out. They acted as breaks on the excess of the other. S6 Out of Time will always be the canonical end for me.
I miss the Grant Naylor years. I wish they hadn't fallen out. They acted as breaks on the excess of the other. S6 Out of Time will always be the canonical end for me.
I got the impression that the cliffhanger on that one was supposed to have a different conclusion, but they changed it.
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Notably, Back to Earth parts 1, 2 and 3 are all in the bottom four "episodes". And then I found out Red Dwarf is available on Stan (Aussie Netflix), so I'm definitely going to have to do a binge at some point. And probably watch the new stuff too.
But then, Lister trying to explain what happened and constantly blowing up video cameras is great.
Steam | XBL
Steam | XBL
I ordered the DVD so I can play it using VLC on the computer.
The fact it even shows up to this day is kind of a sign that most of the cast, writers, and crew will need to have shuffled off from this mortal coil to consider it truly gone, and even then I would give fairly balanced odds on someone daring to take up the mantle all the same.
I mean, I'm pretty old, and the series is only 8 years younger than I am. Literally around a third of a century from when it first started off.
In that sense we've been spoiled with how much Red Dwarf we've had in comparison (74 episodes apparently), and I know I got shouted down for asking for some closure, but if we're going to get very few episodes and given the actors are in or pushing 60, we've maybe got 10 years max to pump out any more RD, it'd be nice to round the season off in some way at least, and ideally get both creators on board because without both it definitely lacks something.
The Promised Land also seems like a final episode.
It seems like they are going for a bleak ending where they live out their lives in space.
Steam | XBL
I think the original intro is underrated
Didn't like that story. Should have just used the script from that unmade cat episode.
Yeah. I don't quite get why they did not use that. I guess they wanted to give the cat his people back.
Man, talk about pictures you can hear.
Bwaaaaarp, ba-bap-bwaaaarp, ba-bap bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaarp,
Bwarp-bwarp-bwarp-bwarp-bwarp,
Is it from an era where both creators would've wrote it because they're both pretty obstructionist for each other from what I've seen.
I got the impression that the cliffhanger on that one was supposed to have a different conclusion, but they changed it.
I mean
Maybe if it wasn't Lister painting the ship