And then there were 608,000

Red Dwarf sites are dropping like flies at the moment. The Clearing House the other day, Groovetown today.

Over at G&T, Cappsy said it was a “changing of the guard” moment.

It is very odd, and “changing of the guard” is a good way of putting it.I think it’s also a move from sites being essentially news sites reporting the now to history sites charting the past, and offering comment upon it.

If you look at the “market” five years ago for example – there were tons of sites out there offering pictures, episode synopsis, some news, and basically that’s it. Groovetown was always the exception to this rule, and there were notable others, the much loved “SmegWeb” being one, but a quick search on Google would usually throw up several thousand sites offering the same content.

Now we have a few sites, but those few sites are maintained by people who care about the show, and I can imagine many of us here still digging out the DVDs in twenty years time on a fairly regular basis.

It’s a different market controlled by different people with different intentions – gone are the days when alt.tv.red-dwarf bustled with arguments about how Rimmer could have been alive in Timeslides and many many other plot inconsitencies.

Nowadays this is resticted to sites such as Ganymede & Titan and The White Hole (to name just two), who offer the opinions thought out, written up, and presented to all.

And essentially this is no bad thing – it shows Red Dwarf is maturing, that the excitement has waned a little, and that those that are left are prepared to admit the mistakes, point out the flaws, but still love the show, and still want to offer the community something.

Of course, this is very well for me to say – I’m effectively praising myself and my friends after all – but it’s my vision of how Red Dwarf is today, and I hope that those of you who read here feel we’re doing the right thing.

If you don’t – drop me a line.

EDIT: 17:13 19-Jan-05
Well, Groovetown is back, but only as long as someone else looks after it in the future, we are told.
My comments still stand, however.