Best Summing Up Of [cite]Hyperdrive[/cite] Evur News Posted by John Hoare on 10th February 2006, 01:51 In the latest SFX, believe it or not – where they give the show one and a half stars: “The makers hate people calling Hyperdrive the new Red Dwarf. Well, fair enough. It’s not.”
Why people adopt a 5 star system and THEN start giving out half stars is beyond me. The 10 point system is best.
They do it because ‘stars’ sounds better and they can include a cheesy little pic of the stars shaded in to show the rating! Also, with a mark out of five instead of ten it gives a more immediate impression of whether something’s good or bad, i.e. 1 star – shit, 2 star – poor, 3 star – OK, 4 star – good, 5 star – the bollocks. Out of ten there’s just too many shades of grey. Anyway, most people who read the mag can’t count higher than 5.
I’d give it 2 for the first three episodes I saw. Plot, character and laughter problems but the real worst thing about it was the actual universe itself. Sadly for some people, the idea that you can buy planets on EBay is given credibility and humour simply because there isn’t an audience or a laughter track there to laugh hysterically at it. If there was, we would either see A) their lack of laughter or B) their complete over-reaction resulting in the viewer saying ‘that actually wasn’t that funny’. I mean seriously, what point are they trying to make with Teal getting upset about the Captain wanting meaningless sex or shock at the discovery of an orgy scene at the crewmembers party? It’s utter confusion – not quite close enough to be translated directly from our present but not decadent enough to seem some escalation of present sexual freedom. And then the way Teal gets upset about ‘meaningless sex’… we take on some really quite pathetic sexual morality tale that goes against Teal’s attempts at seduction using food at the dinner table and is really quite embarassing in terms of this science-fiction universe set in the future. What does this mean? Because that doesn’t even happen now in what we call, REALITY. Set far off in the future, it’s just lazy writing and a worthless conclusion to a useless plot. I stopped watching it after that.
Watch an episode of Red Dwarf, such as Holoship, Cassandra or Confidence & Paranoia, and you’ll have an enjoyable experience. Watch and episode of Hyperdrive such as I Don’t Care What The Episodes Are Called and you’ll experience 29 minutes of boredom.
I think it’s the best comedy of the last few years. Way better than Look Around You, and I was mad over that. Actually, I’m starting a fansite for it, but I’ve got a few things I need to finish first.
> Actually, I’m starting a fansite for it Do you mean Look Around You or The IT Crowd? I think The IT Crowd is pretty good, if slightly over-acted at times, especially by the woman who plays Jen. I’m not being all anti-trad-sitcom in saying that, it’s just the truth. What it’s maybe missing is a character that’s a little more relatable or ‘normal’ i.e. a Lister or a Ted. They’re all just mental! At first I thought that Jen was going to come in and be that kind of voice-of-reason character, but Graham Linehan turned that on it’s head a little. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying it, and I’m the biggest Ted fan in the history of…history so I have faith in Linehan.
I wouldn’t say “love”, certainly not to the level that John and Tanya do, but I do rather like it. It’s a damned sight better than Hyperdrive, anyway, but not really in the same league as Linehan’s past works. It’s the cast (Morris, who is utterly brilliant, aside) that let it down, I think. The Irish bloke is the funniest of them, but still basically a poor man’s (and slobbier) Dylan Moran. The girl is alright, but as has been said a is little OTT, and you can tell she’s inexperienced. And Ayoade’s extremely deliberately mannered style really grates with me, although they’re chipping away at me on that score by giving him all the best bits (“I’ve bought both the adult version and the kids’ version”; “That’s alright, that’s why I always make two cups of tea”; “Fire! Fire! Fire! I look forward to hearing from you…”). Missed the third ep, but the first two were quite good. Pleased to see that Neil Hannon did the music, too. And you’ve got to love those opening titles.
>The Woof fansite? >Oh, God. I really should get round to that before someone else does. http://www.andrewnorriss.co.uk/wooftv.html
Edward FIDOE!!! God, the irony. (For the record, I used to love Woof – the first couple of series at least – myself. Did you know that Tony Head appeared in it?)
Wow. I didn’t know Andrew Norriss *had* a site. Must get in contact with him and try and get an interview. And yeah, I remember Tony Head’s appearance – he played a man who turned into a dog, and told them all about the secret society of people who turn into dogs. Brilliant stuff. Woof mythology! Woof! was fantastic until the end of the Rachel/Eric era. Can’t remember the last two or three series very well, so can’t comment on them.
Interesting how Andrew Norris says there were only five series of The Brittas Empire. If only that was true.
