http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/hyperdrive/
Any of our UK dopers catch this last night?
What did you think? Comparison with Red Dwarf is inevitable, isn’t it?
Yes, it was inevitably a bit Red Dwarf-ish, I suppose. The “sci-fi” shots looked good but the sets of the good ship Camden Lock itself were, as usual with the Beeb, made of cardboard. I quite liked the idea of English people trying to lure alien businesses to Peterborough. But I’ll give it a few weeks before making my mind up.
I’ve made mine up. It was truly terrible. Obviously written by some hack who has read the first book of ‘Hitchhikers’ and seen Red Dwarf (The American Red Dwarf) and thinks this qualifies him to write SF and/or comedy (*Alleged * comedy). :smack:
“Ooh, we can get in tons of double entendres about weird alien customs and send up Star Trek at least twice an episode”
Special efffects were OK. Pity they didn’t spend some of the money on decent writers. Or a cast that could act. One out of ten.
I thought it was ok, funny in places. I’ll give it a couple of episodes before I make my mind up.
Missed it, but the Times reviewer said it was much better than Red Dwarf so I was expecting something good. Reading the review again I saw that the reviewer had little regard for Red Dwarf so I then turned my expectations right down.
I thought it had a sort of Ricky Gervais feel to it; I think the writers were trying to make the characters socially awkward, but this isn’t an easy trick to pull off; some of the time, it just looked like they had forgotten their lines that everyone was waiting for one actor who had missed his cue.
The premise is reasonably funny, but the writing just isn’t as tight as Red Dwarf.
I’ll give it a few weeks though.
That’s how I felt too, and I think it’s the main problem. That technique works well in a naturalistic setting like the real locations that the Office filmed in, but in a non-naturalistic studio set of a spaceship, you have to work a lot harder to support it. Obviously part of the humour is meant to come from the juxtaposition of these very mundane characters and their fantastic space-opera environment, but shooting and lighting it like any old studio-based sitcom is sending the wrong visual cues. The director needs to be aiming for something a bit more Alien and a bit less Blake’s Seven.
Remembering too that the first season of Red Dwarf and Blackadder were both completely rubbish.
Did you think so? I was hooked on Red Dwarf (and thought it was very good) from the start. I can sort of see what you mean about BlackAdder - it did improve as it went on - but again, I liked it from episode one.
Right. No comparison. Hyperdrive was flat, lame and boring. Can’t see any potential to improve either. Whatever the failings of BA and WD to begin with they clearly had comic characters with great potential to build on.
Hyperdrive has boring, nondescript nobodies played by same. I’ll give it a couple of weeks to improve but it can’t be mentioned in the same breath as WD and BA.
:eek: There’s… an… Americ… ? [exploding head]
A…merican… Wuh Duh Fuh?
Different cast (except, oddly, Kryten), same script (just a little bit rewritten). What is the point of that? Seriously.
There was only a pilot episode made (though in two versions). Although the script had it’s good points it got a hell of a lot wrong - A female cat, a ‘nicer’ Rimmer, Kryten there from episode one, a less slobby Lister… you get the idea.
Full sordid details on this site:- http://members.allstream.net/~dtpltd/rdusa.html
Talking of new BBC programmes ,what did dopers think of Life On Mars?
Personally I loved it. I can remember the 70’s and it’s good to see what differences there are, in lots of things, between then and now. As a bonus, the show is stuffed full of good music.
I know this thread is over a week old, but I just caught Life on Mars, and thought it was brilliant.
I wasn’t even around for the 70’s, but I know quite a bit about modern-day policing, and I agree it’s really interesting to see the differences (even if it’s on a fictional show).
Wierdly, I’ve just found this thread and was reading about the American Red Dwarf last night. I saw a bit of Blade II, and saw Danny John Jules (Cat) playing Asad so I looked him up on IMDb and Wikipedia. I ended up looking at Red Dwarf on the Wiki and found out about the American version.
Apparently it was a single pilot terribly made, and brushed under the carpet by it’s makers. Bootleg copies are circulated between fans, and a few clips are availiable on the Red Dwarf DVDs.
What I found funny was that it was re-produced with an entirely Caucasian cast. I may be way off in this (please correct me if I’m wrong), but when the original Red Dwarf was broadcast in 1988, I think it was one of the few hit British TV shows at the time with a fully racially diverse cast. Craig Charles (lister) and Danny John Jules (cat) nicknamed the American version “white dwarf”. I thought this was brilliant, and terrible at the same time.
I’ve seen the first two episodes of Hyperdrive. The first was passable but the second was pretty rotten.
Nick Frosts mannerisms are so like Simon Pegg’s that I can’t help thinking they’d have been better off just having Simon Pegg in the lead.
Life on Mars on the other hand - saw the first episode last night and it looks really good! Will be interesting to see what they do with the series, but I’ll definately be watching more.
I liked parts of the second episode; especially the Doom Ray.
Not sure which I liked more though; there’s definitely something missing.
American Red Dwarf? Y’all must be mistaken. There is no “American” Red Dwarf. There is only the one (and only!) Large Rouge One.
Except for those pesky temporal loops. Then there are two. Or more.
:speaking firmly:
There is no American Red Dwarf.
And if you try to convince me otherwise, I will sing at you.
What the hell. I’ll sing anyway.
It’s cold outside,
there no kind of atmosphere,
I’m all alone, more or less.
Let me fly far way from here,
Fun, Fun, Fun
In the Sun, Sun, Sun.
Now enough with this “American” Red Dwarf silliness. It’s like saying there’s an “American” Red Green.
:Harumph!:
Rubbish!
[Brian Blessed]
Wwwwhhhaaaaaaaaaat??!!
[/BB]
I liked 'em both. I’m currently hooked on Red Dwarf (having gotten started on the series recently after reading the first two novelizations – “Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers” and “Better Than Life”). Have watched up through season 4, and I like them all.
Don’t know about this new one, but then, I’m in Florida and don’t get the BBC. 
I’m loving Life On Mars too. It’s sort of Lost meets The Sweeney. I like the way they don’t overplay the comedy potential of the 2006 guy stuck in 1973, although it has some very funny moments, most of the gags coming from the contrast between Sam Tyler’s scrupulously fair approach to policing and the old school attitudes of the hardnosed 1970’s coppers. Some great punch-ups, too.
Most of the 1973 details seem authentic, with only the odd anachronism. But maybe those are deliberate? Are we really in 1973, or is it a 1973 reconstructed from Tyler’s childhood memories? They’re tantalising us with the background story and I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
And yeah, the soundtrack is fab.