Red Dwarf: Unplugged?

[p2p_productions]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dwarf#Hiatus.2C_changes.2C_and_future_prospects

Topic

[Mr Flibble]

Hmm, interesting. From an anonymous source too. Sounds like it could be a clip show with a difference though!

[Paul Muller]

Maybe it’s being guest directed by Lars Von Trier.

[Phil]

It sounds exactly like my Who’s Dwarf is it Anyway idea (but no, I promise I did not add that to Wikipedia) that I aired here a while back. Except I also assumed they’d be doing it without having seen scripts, from memory.

Could I have made a very lucky guess?

[peas_and_corn]

I’m not sure if I can just take the word of an anonymous editor on Wikipedia…

[pfm]

If they just did it from memory it would be crap! You can’t expect them to remember all the past scenes.

[Phil]

Well, no, you couldn’t expect them to remember the scenes. Which is why you’d end up with a half-hour of improvisation and synergetic, spontaneous comedy, as you get in Whose Line is it Anyway.

My title, Whose Dwarf is it Anyway, contained a very subtle reference to that other improv comedy show. I wonder if you can find it.

[Paul Muller]

I don’t like it.

[hummingbird]

I can’t see them doing an improv show. Bobby, possibly; Craig, at a push; Chris/Danny, no.
But I could be wrong. Maybe they’d be great. What do I know, anyway?

Neither can I see them doing old scenes purely from memory. There’s no way that I’d be able to remember the details of a job that I did 10-20 years ago, which is what you’d be asking them to do.
They could just give them the old scripts and ask them to do it without any rehearsal, but I can’t see that being particulary different or exciting – and different/exciting, if I remember correctly, is what was originally implied.
So there has to be more to it.

It seems more like someone’s posting the barest snippets of info to prompt us into a frenzy of speculation.

[Phil]

>There?s no way that I?d be able to remember the details of a job that I did 10-20 years ago, which is what you?d be asking them to do.

Well yeah, fair enough…but it’s not likely you took time out over the past few years to review footage from your old jobs, give interviews about them, record commentaries while reminiscing with coworkers and attend conventions where you were no doubt reminded of all the highlights anyway.

I certainly feel that if you sat Craig and Chris down and said, “Okay, the virginity conversation…go!” you’d get something absolutely hilarious. They’d remember enough of the cardinal points to keep it on track, but the two actors bouncing off of each other would be delightful, no matter how wrong they got it.

That said, I’m not designing any programs, and so can’t be held accountable for whether every specific of my idea is feasible. It was just a guess which was recently echoed by some most-likely unreliable source on Wikipedia, the web’s overall least reliable source for information about anything.

But I do stand by the idea that it COULD work. It’d have to be fleshed out better, yeah, but I’m not pitching this to the BBC (or Dave, I guess…); I’m posting on a webboard to keep from being productive.

[Tarka Dal]

It would also make use of the fact that as a bunch of comedians/actors (call them what you will) there is a bit of magic there. It’s always enjoyable watching and listening them bounce things off each other. So yeah I say we go with Phil’s plan.

[hummingbird]

> the two actors bouncing off of each other would be delightful, no matter how wrong they got it.

You’re right, of course. That would be lovely.
And Karl’s right about the chemistry.

OK, I’m in too.

[Joey TORDFC]

Ten years ago I was working in a newsagent and I think I can remember how to work the ancient till. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Tarka Dal]

It’s decided then.

Actually now I’ve had a bit of time to think about it. I really like the idea of the cast trying to ad-lib famous bits with failing memories. Their needs to be some cleverer spin on it than just ‘Rob, Craig… do the bit with the shrinking pants’ but if it was perhaps worked into somekind of the format ‘The story of Dwarf in half an hour’ or some loose panel show format(Whose Line as someone mentioned)with points for effort could be fun.

[Squeaky Gibson]

I wonder if it will be hosted by John Sargent, his seems to be Dave’s new golden boy!

[Jo]

I don?t like it.

But you’ll have to go along with it

[Paul Muller]

Obviously : )

[Phil]

And to translate for Marleen, “Ich nichten lichten…”

[pfm]

In front of a black screen? That sounds cheaper than the Justice courtroom set!

[Danny Stephenson]

It’s been removed from Wiki…

[Phil]

I was actually tempted to remove it myself, because if you follow the “citation” it leads you back to a TOS article that doesn’t actually mention Dwarf Unplugged at all.

Then I remembered the promise I made to myself never to interfere with the march of bad information.

Still, though, with shooting coming up next month, we are likely to get some more info on what these specials actually are. Right?

…right?

[pfm]

Personally I would love not to know right up to broadcast but I doubt that will happen.

[Mnoooah]

The best part about all this anticipation? The emotional rollercoaster. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[hummingbird]

*Are* we emotionally rollercoasting?
We’ve not heard anything since Bobby had his head cast, so there’s still time for it all to go tits up – like a certain movie I could mention.

OK, maybe that’s overly pessimistic, but the lack of any news at all is preventing me from getting too excited.

[Jonathan Capps]

I think it’s safe to say this is definitely happening. Things should hopefully go *mental* in the New Year when things start filming. We should hopefully be busy boys and girl at G&T towers, and I can’t fucking wait.

[Ian Symes]

We should hopefully be busy boys and girl at G&T towers

Pick up some milk on the way home, John used it all in a wanking incident.

[pfm]

I think going overboard with ‘news’ and hype would be a big mistake for TOS. After all the letdown over the movie it might feel like tempting fate. The news was already kept under wraps for a long time (as we now know, from that smug fucker Ellard, the relaunch of TOS was at first going to coincide with at least SOME word of this project) which IMO was good for us because I’m guessing there was always the chance it could fall through.

[hummingbird]

Still, it would be nice to hear *something*, rumours on wiki notwithstanding.

[Author]

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