Series 8

[Asclepius]

I watched Series 8 back in 1999. Unlike Series 1-7 (watched at home), I watched Series 8 largely in other places. A computer lab one night, when we tuned the CCTV in to actual TV, presumably some friends’ rooms that were affluent enough to have TV, etc. I can’t remember the details, sadly.

Series 1-6 I’d watched repeatedly, repeatedly on video. I’d then taped them to audio and listened to them almost compulsively. I made my own little tape covers using MS Publisher.

I’ve really enjoyed the cast commentaries on them in recent months. I’ve been listening to them on youtube while I do other things (walking places, driving…) and as I can remember the episodes so well, it works without the visuals.

Series 7 mostly worked for me, too. I’d seen it and remembered it well enough. I may have re-watched some.

And then the Series 8 commentaries came and they didn’t work for me – I couldn’t remember the stories and scenes well at all, so I started watching them again, consoling myself that I do remember Cassandra being good, at least.

But jay-hey-sus christ, this is awful, awful TV. The first three in particular. It’s an awful combination of the plots being both weak and convoluted and the jokes being signposted from about a mile beforehand.

I think if I were to create an example, it’d be like taking Cat’s

“I have got hair like yours. It’s just not on my head”

into

“I have got hair like yours. It’s just not on my head. It’s my pubic hair” or something.

And the denouement of Back into the Red III is Rimmer about to get r@ped in jail.

And suddenly we’re meant to also be getting our laughs out of women who are either a bit chubby, or a bit old and very much of colour. What the f’s that about?

I’ve made it through, though. I’ve made it to Cassandra. This one does work. Its plot works, there are some big smiles (if not laughs). But I do remember from 25 years ago, Krytie and Pete both being absolute cringe. I’ll persevere, but….wow…what happened…

it makes the resurgence since Back to Earth even more miraculous. I like BtE despite its limitations, and the Dave era has continued to be pretty good overall…

Topic

[Ridley]

Somehow, I imagined Legion’d be a rat on top and a switch on the bottom.

[Dax101]

Compared to the CGI Rat the blue midget dance is quality CGI.
You know Red Dwarf became a parody of itself when you realise the Rat was originally envisioned as a CGI Cat aka frankenstein. 

Granted that would have looked even worse but at least we’d have been spared the “rat-arsed” gag.

I believe in the script book its said the joke after they go into frankenstein’s arse was going to Lister saying it was the holiest of all holes.

Whether that is better than the Rat-arse joke is debatable.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Dave]

[Dave]

Weird how those two shots of Holly look so different despite being from the same scene.

[Ben Saunders]

Weird how those two shots of Holly look so different despite being from the same scene.

It’s an homage to series 1 (and most of the rest of the show)

[Technopeasant]

In general the Holly asides at least add a little distraction from some of the dire main bits. It’s the main reason I prefer the extended feature length edit to the broadcast versions.

Weirdly I ended up feeling the same way watching The Hobbit extended editions last October. It’s overpadded nonsense, but you might as well get all of it.

[Moonlight]

Compared to the CGI Rat the blue midget dance is quality CGI.
You know Red Dwarf became a parody of itself when you realise the Rat was originally envisioned as a CGI Cat aka frankenstein. 

I prefer saying “became a cartoon” to “became a parody of itself” because the latter implies that this is an exaggeration of something the earlier series might actually do. And as for all the myriad times I’ve seen this criticism levied at the bunkroom scenes, I don’t consider “bad facsimile” and “parody” to be exact synonyms.

[Warbodog]

I think self-parody came as early as them being chased by a curry monster. It’s the sort of thing someone who was sceptical about Red Dwarf might sarcastically expect to happen, but it actually did.

[Flap Jack]

Well, parodies are meant to be funny.

[Dave]

I think self-parody came as early as them being chased by a curry monster. It’s the sort of thing someone who was sceptical about Red Dwarf might sarcastically expect to happen, but it actually did.

Twice.

[Dax101]

Compared to the CGI Rat the blue midget dance is quality CGI.
You know Red Dwarf became a parody of itself when you realise the Rat was originally envisioned as a CGI Cat aka frankenstein. 

I prefer saying “became a cartoon” to “became a parody of itself” because the latter implies that this is an exaggeration of something the earlier series might actually do. And as for all the myriad times I’ve seen this criticism levied at the bunkroom scenes, I don’t consider “bad facsimile” and “parody” to be exact synonyms.

I think i was thinking of it more like mocking itself. Like oh remember frankenstien the cat? Mother off all the cat race? Well Starbug just went up her butt, lets make a joke about that. Even by Red Dwarf standards it feels like self parody is the best word to use for a comedy that makes fun of its own less comedic elements. 

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Well, parodies are meant to be funny.

Nobody ever told Friedberg and Seltzer that.

[Moonlight]

Pete’s most redeeming feature is Bob the Skutter. I love the use of the skutters in Series VIII except when they’re dressed as Dibbleys, which physically damages me. I’m 4x weak against post-bubble Dibbleys, which is specifically to teach the player about G&T’s elemental rock-paper-scissors mechanic by making the type advantage really obvious.

Gonna come back to that joke after sleeping and see if it makes as much sense as it did at 1 AM.

[Dave]

Gonna come back to that joke after sleeping and see if it makes as much sense as it did at 1 AM.

[Unrumble]

Pete’s most redeeming feature is Bob the Skutter. I love the use of the skutters in Series VIII except when they’re dressed as Dibbleys, which physically damages me. I’m 4x weak against post-bubble Dibbleys, which is specifically to teach the player about G&T’s elemental rock-paper-scissors mechanic by making the type advantage really obvious.

Gonna come back to that joke after sleeping and see if it makes as much sense as it did at 1 AM.

[tombow]

I never understood why the Blue Midget dance is zero-d in on as this ultimate bad S8 scene. Don’t people like DDJ dancing…didn’t people tune into Strictly every week to watch that? To me it just seemed like it was supposed to introduce the Cat as a dancing, physical character to any new viewers, while also showing off the triumphantly big new effects the show has. It probably seems worse as we know in hindsight the series it’s building up anticipation for isn’t that good.

 I don’t think they find the skeletons as discomfiting as they should, frankly.

I thought they were just resigned to finding skeletons everywhere, they might have boarded a lot of lost ships before “Kryten” so they were used to it.

[Warbodog]

Back in the Red Part 2 stood out as the worst of the trilogy and pretty much the worst ever the last time we watched it. It’s got most of the rape and the Dibbley Family (though these highlights are also recapped in 3).

Part 3’s dumb, dull and padded, but at least has a few good lines, like diarrhoea that’s at least a little bit solid.

[International Debris]

Well, parodies are meant to be funny.

So’s series 8.

[Moonlight]

I don’t think VIII feels like a parody of what Red Dwarf used to be the way something like, say, The X-Files season 7 often feels like a parody of what the show used to be.

[Moonlight]

Is it a hot take that “the post has arrived” is a really good joke?

[Renegade Rob]

I find that gag to be a bit wooden, tbh. Also, Series VIII isn’t a parody, as it doesn’t really try to recreate any of the more classic Dwarf. Even deliberate echoes to the old days, like the bunkroom scenes, are so far removed from what came before because the context and setting are just so different. I feel like instead, the lesser episodes and scenes of Dave-era Dwarf (which overall I still really quite like) are what actually sometimes feel like a parody of what Red Dwarf used to be. Rimmer in particular in the Dave-era tends to be an overly broad surface-level caricature, almost the equivalent of the fake Lister and Cat in the Rimmer Experience. 

[Technopeasant]

I find that gag to be a bit wooden, tbh.

[Unrumble]

 Rimmer in particular in the Dave-era tends to be an overly broad surface-level caricature, almost the equivalent of the fake Lister and Cat in the Rimmer Experience. 

[Technopeasant]

If there was an edit there, I can’t see it.

[Moonlight]

It fucks me up how much he genuinely looks like a different actor with that makeup.

[Hamish]

It fucks me up how much he looks like Matt Gaetz.

[Moonlight]

The real question is would replacing him with Rimmer be an improvement?

[Renegade Rob]

He always looked more like Val Kilmer to me with that makeup. 

[Author]

Replies