The BBC show Red Dwarf is often lumped in with other British comedies like Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones etc. Is it just me or does this show simply not measure up to those others? Those three UK shows are timeless classics. Fawlty Towers is without question the funniest sitcom ever. Red Dwarf is just your average show. Personally I think that, compared to the others, its kind of lame. Was the show a really huge hit in the UK?
Taste is a very personal thing. I personally think Red Dwarf is much better than Fawlty Towers. Fawlty Towers just gets painful after awhile.
Well, nothing is up to Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, but Red Dwarf is definitely a great comedy. “Dimension Jump” rates up with the best of anything broadcast.
Red Dwarf is one of those shows that doesn’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t seen the earlier episodes. And like Robert said, it’s not for everyone. Just people who aren’t total smegheads. 
But…but…how can you not love the Cat? Or the fact that you can tell Rimmer’s a hologram because of the “H” on his forehead? I’m getting the giggles just thinking of it.
And some who are.
Well, it is a British Comedy, and I’ve seen plenty of episodes of Fawlty Towers that were (as Doubting Robert has said) just painful and weird instead of funny. Basil’s abuse of Manuel, for example, is not aging all that terribly well in terms of comedy.
Plus Red Dwarf has a sadness to it that makes it really endearing, besides being really funny.
While I wouldn’t rank it up there with the shows mentioned in the OP, I think it is a consistntly funny show that holds up on repeat viewing. But I can see why not everyone enjoys it; it took a few viewings for me to settle into the vibe of the show when I first started watching it.
It’s all a matter of what series (bear in mind a UK series is about [where’s the approx. equals sign when you need it?] 6 episodes)you see:
Series 1-3
“consistently funny” like my spelling is consistently bad…
It’s all a matter of what series (bear in mind a UK series is about [where’s the approx. equals sign when you need it?] 6 episodes)you see:
Series 1-3 A bit pants, shoehorning jokes everywhere
Series 4-5 The best, v funny, superb, some of the best comedy ever!
Series 6-8 Let’s not talk about that, shall we?
Compared to Fawlty Towers and Monty Python, it’s not as original, but it doesn’t have John Cleese, so what can you expect?
Sorry about the previous post - how was I supposed to know I couldn’t use ‘Tab’?
The original Fawlty Towers didn’t run but for 12 shows.
Funny. I’m a big fan of Monty Python, the Young Ones, and Red Dwarf, but never much cared for Fawlty Towers. Always thought that was an ugly, nasty show. Watching it just made me feel bad.
FunkyNige - There’s nothing wrong with series 6 - it’s much, much better than 7 and 8 (which were awful…sadenningly awful).
Until recently, I got more laughs out of a single episode of Red Dwarf than I ever did from Fawlty Towers. Lister trying to get Kryten to break his programming in the “Camille” episode is my absolute favorite. There’s some greate quotes at the Internet Movie Database. For example:
Holly: Rude alert! Rude alert! An electrical fire has knocked out my voice recognition unicycle! Many Wurlitzers are missing from my database! Abandon shop! This is not a daffodil. Repeat: This is not a daffodil!
Rimmer: After intensive investigation, comma, of the markings on the alien pod, comma, it has become clear, comma, to me, comma, that we are dealing, comma, with a species of awesome intellect, colon.
Holly: Good. Perhaps they might be able to give you a hand with your punctuation.
Another Red Dwarf fan here. Though I think it went downhill after the crew got recreated, 'cause what made it poignant to me was Dave Lister: Champion Slob and Last Living Specimen of the Human Race.
I’m a newspaper copy editor, and do various jobs on various days … the days that I proofread/write headlines (as opposed to laying out pages) I am called the “rimmer.” Just makes me want to do the quadruple salute when they call me that.
(One is called a rimmer because in the old days copy desks were set up in a horseshoe shape. The peon copy editors sat around the rim and the boss copy editor sat in the slot, therefore making all the peons equally accessible when he needed to smack them with a pica pole, which is a fancy newspaper ruler/weapon. Mine’s metal and about two feet long. I call it “Sting.” After Bilbo Baggins’ sword, not the singer.)
I feel like such a heretic admiting it, but as much as I love Monty Python and John Cleese, I can’t stand Fawlty Towers. Seems to me like you seen one, you seen 'em all.
Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and Yes (prime) Minister are imho the best sitcoms ever, but Red Dwarf comes close to these (in their best seasons). I agree that the latter series have been a major letdown. I would predict that this kind of humour appeals more to Brits and other Europeans than to Americans. Usually when I talk to Americans about British humour, they reply, Oh yes, I love Benny Hill. :o
Dragon, I think the problem is that until recently we Yanks only saw British programs on PBS. My memory is hazy but when I was a kid, PBS was on in our house for one of four shows: Sesame Street, Electric Company, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and my dad’s favorite, Benny Hill. Eventually we discovered the wonders of more British television, such as The Good Life (aka Good Neighbors here in the States), All Creatures Great and Small, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and Fawlty Towers. Depending on the station, these days the lineup might include Red Dwarf, Black Adder, Dr. Who, Are You Being Served?, The Vicar of Dibley, Waiting For God, and others. Those with satellite or digital cable also have the option of watching BBC America, which is the only way to see broadcasts of Monty Python these days AFIK.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t care for Fawlty Towers. That, and “Keeping Up Appearances” are two British comedies that seem to be wildly popular and I just don’t care much for. Except, that I’ll watch the latter to catch any sequence involving Onslow …
I DO like Red Dwarf and Blackadder. The last seasons of Red Dwarf don’t work that well, though - it was much better to have Lister lusting after Kochanski in futility than actually have her in the show. One good thing about the sequences with the whole crew back was Mac MacDonald’s Captain Hollister - his sequences are hilarious (“Do you KNOW what happens when a tyranosaurus rex …”).
I like a lot of Britcoms - “Yes, [Prime] Minister” is one of the best, as is “Waiting For God”, particularly in its early going before they started trying to make a point. It got a bit mawkish towards the end.
Of course, I always have a suspicion that some of us in the US have a high opinion of British comedy because we see them filtered through PBS and A&E, and they might not pick up the utter crap.