Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2020-06-02 12:09 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2020-06-02 12:09 pm
Entry tags:
Not Today.
I mentioned this in the comments of my last entry on this show, but Red Dwarf's visuals have aged surprisingly well, save a handful of ropey special effects. Series seven and eight use CGI for the ships, but the model ships in the earlier episodes are actually more convincing. The set design is great. I'm impressed that I can watch this eighties/nineties sitcom and genuinely believe that the characters are in space.
Some of the humour's aged poorly, as you might expect. (Surprisingly, series eight, the last of the original series, is the one that's most dodgy in retrospect, possibly because the larger number of characters enables situations that weren't really possible earlier.) Most of the show still holds up, though! The characters are still very strong. And it never really struck me as a kid, but half the cast is black, the protagonist included, and nothing is made of it; that'd be considered progressive in British television today, let alone in 1988.
Some details, meanwhile, have aged hilariously. I love that they have VHS tapes, but they're TRIANGULAR, because it's the FUTURE.
Here's a line that's aged extraordinarily:
Rimmer: Maybe you haven't noticed this, but we're going to be spending the next two years in the brig. Two years with the scum of the universe: hardened criminals, deranged droids. People so unbalanced and debauched they couldn't even get elected as President of the United States.
There's got to be fanfiction material in series eight. Lister's been locked up with a version of Rimmer who's not quite the Rimmer he remembers; it must be incredibly strange for him!
The conclusion of 'Only the Good...' is one of the best endings to a television show I've ever seen. (Well, yes, there was technically more Red Dwarf to come, but not for another ten years. 'Only the Good...' was definitely written to be a finale, so I still consider it one.) It's an abrupt conclusion, yes, and it leaves a lot of questions open, and it's a little strange that it focuses solely on Rimmer (and not even the Rimmer who's been around for most of the show), but it's so brazen and so magnificent that it manages to pull it off. I love it.
I have a considerably more genuine emotional investment in Red Dwarf than I feel I should. I really do care about this ragtag bunch of stupid gits.
Some of the humour's aged poorly, as you might expect. (Surprisingly, series eight, the last of the original series, is the one that's most dodgy in retrospect, possibly because the larger number of characters enables situations that weren't really possible earlier.) Most of the show still holds up, though! The characters are still very strong. And it never really struck me as a kid, but half the cast is black, the protagonist included, and nothing is made of it; that'd be considered progressive in British television today, let alone in 1988.
Some details, meanwhile, have aged hilariously. I love that they have VHS tapes, but they're TRIANGULAR, because it's the FUTURE.
Here's a line that's aged extraordinarily:
Rimmer: Maybe you haven't noticed this, but we're going to be spending the next two years in the brig. Two years with the scum of the universe: hardened criminals, deranged droids. People so unbalanced and debauched they couldn't even get elected as President of the United States.
There's got to be fanfiction material in series eight. Lister's been locked up with a version of Rimmer who's not quite the Rimmer he remembers; it must be incredibly strange for him!
The conclusion of 'Only the Good...' is one of the best endings to a television show I've ever seen. (Well, yes, there was technically more Red Dwarf to come, but not for another ten years. 'Only the Good...' was definitely written to be a finale, so I still consider it one.) It's an abrupt conclusion, yes, and it leaves a lot of questions open, and it's a little strange that it focuses solely on Rimmer (and not even the Rimmer who's been around for most of the show), but it's so brazen and so magnificent that it manages to pull it off. I love it.
I have a considerably more genuine emotional investment in Red Dwarf than I feel I should. I really do care about this ragtag bunch of stupid gits.
no subject
The practical models were great for its time, and are still fine for a TV show!
Another thing I remember from the cast commentary about skin colour is that they discuss how incredibly difficult it was to light a scene, because obviously Danny John-Jules has darker skin than Craig Charles, and meanwhile you've got Robert as Kryten whose head is already pale and then his body is metallic and shiny. It was the first time I'd heard anyone discuss the difficulties in lighting when it comes to filming a bunch of people with different skin colours.
no subject
I remember hearing about the Red Dwarf lighting issues! It's an interesting topic; it hadn't really occurred to me before that you have to take differing skintones into account if you want to light a scene in a way that makes everyone look good.
no subject
Admittedly I don't listen to a lot of DVD commentaries but it's definitely something that doesn't get talked about a lot - but then plenty of technical details don't. I think it only came up once in the Red Dwarf commentaries, and even then it was a casual 'oh yeah, that was tricky, wasn't it?' and back to taking the piss.