S02E01: Kryten

[14:55] xtrebe
Season 2, Episode 1

[14:55] xtrebe
Kryten

[14:56] ZeroCool
Why is Rimmer learning Spanish if there are no humans?

[14:56] ZeroCool
Why can't Holly just program him to know Spanish?

[14:56] xtrebe
Wait, it's Esperanto.

[14:56] xtrebe
Which is even more useless.

[14:56] ZeroCool
haha

[14:57] xtrebe
Everything he does is pointless.

[14:57] ZeroCool
that is true

[14:57] ZeroCool
I noticed that season 1 simply had Lister mocking aliens the entire season and it carries over into this season yet the rest of the series deals with a ton of aliens

[14:58] xtrebe
Yeah

[14:58] xtrebe
I wonder at what point they decided to make Kryten permanent.

[14:59] ZeroCool
when they decided to redo his makeup entirely

[14:59] ZeroCool
and outfit

[14:59] xtrebe
Also, while the Kryten in this episode has his moments, I'm very glad he didn't end up being the real Kryten.

[14:59] ZeroCool
his shiny suit was pimp

[14:59] xtrebe
ha ha

[14:59] xtrebe
Yeah, his butler outfit.

[14:59] ZeroCool
made out of a garbage bag

[14:59] xtrebe
Or are you referring to Kat's space suit?

[14:59] xtrebe
Which was also shining.

[14:59] ZeroCool
No but that was a different point

[14:59] xtrebe
*shiny

[14:59] ZeroCool
was the suit functional? a day and a half and an "idiot" made it? impressive

[15:00] xtrebe
ha ha

[15:00] xtrebe
Maybe he just glued glitter and tin foil to a real space suit.

[15:00] xtrebe
Although, it never shows them actually need a space suit

[15:00] xtrebe
they go from ship to ship to ship and are never outside

[15:00] xtrebe
not that I remember

[15:00] ZeroCool
The outer door was open when he boarded

[15:00] ZeroCool
which made no sense

[15:00] xtrebe
Ah

[15:01] xtrebe
So, my favorite joke of the episode.

[15:01] xtrebe
Kryten comes back, Lister tells them their dead.

[15:01] ZeroCool
Yup, mine as well

[15:01] xtrebe
Kryten says "I was only way 2 minutes!"

[15:01] ZeroCool
one of the best of the season and series so far

[15:01] xtrebe
Yeah, it was solid.

[15:01] ZeroCool
I also liked Lister talking up Rimmer to the skeletons

[15:01] xtrebe
Ha ha ha, yeah, that was good

[15:01] xtrebe
That whole scene with the skeletons was great.

[15:02] ZeroCool
It really was

[15:02] ZeroCool
a good start to Season 2

[15:02] ZeroCool
is that a new laughtrack or a studio audience? very distracting

[15:02] xtrebe
Oh, and Lister getting all dressed up to visit.

[15:02] xtrebe
Spray painting his buttock

[15:02] xtrebe
That was also great.

[15:02] xtrebe
As for the audience.

[15:02] xtrebe
I think I remember hearing that for season 1 they just got random drunks from nearby pubs to be in the audience.

[15:03] xtrebe
This is probably a "real" fake audience.

[15:03] ZeroCool
it was noticeably different

[15:04] ZeroCool
Kryten struggles to fight his programming for his entire existence yet manages to rebel against Rimmer in a day

[15:04] xtrebe
Ha ha

[15:04] xtrebe
It was beginner's luck.

[15:09] xtrebe
I'd say it got slightly less funny after the ship scene.

[15:09] ZeroCool
that is true

[15:09] xtrebe
So, the first 2/3rd were excellent, last 1/3rd a bit weaker

[15:09] xtrebe
though not bad

[15:10] ZeroCool
A promising start to the season

S01E06: Me^2

[14:38] ZeroCool
Red Dwarf Season 1 Episode 6

[14:38] xtrebe
Me^2

[14:39] ZeroCool
There ya go

[14:39] ZeroCool
The pinnacle of them discovering them need more cast members

[14:39] xtrebe
Ha ha

[14:39] xtrebe
Yeah

[14:39] ZeroCool
er they

[14:39] ZeroCool
More highlights of Rimmer acting like Holly is doing stuff to him

[14:42] xtrebe
Yes

[14:42] xtrebe
I will say that he has some incredible lines in this one.

[14:43] xtrebe
Red Dwarf is the master at 1-liners, and apparently that was the case even from Season 1.

[14:43] xtrebe
"Stop your foul whining you filthy piece of distended rectum!"

[14:43] xtrebe
Which is hilarious.

[14:43] xtrebe
And it's also his 2nd rectum quote of the season.

[14:44] xtrebe
Oh wait, no, the next rectum quote comes in Season 2.

[14:44] xtrebe
No, it was season 1

[14:44] ZeroCool
He is able to showcase his previously mentioned (in another chat) ability to go from calm to pissed off to calm on a dime

[14:44] xtrebe
"Of course you're tense you rectum-faced pygmy."

[14:45] xtrebe
Yes, he does a rather convincing portrayal of violent mood swings.

[14:46] ZeroCool
The is a poorly designed mini cinema if the chairs are made to block each other's view

[14:46] ZeroCool
of a 1930's cartoon

[14:46] xtrebe
Yeah, not exactly cutting edge.

[14:49] ZeroCool
I did enjoy the coldness of deleting the newer Rimmer

[14:49] ZeroCool
the complete lack of emotion considering he essentially was killing that Rimmer

[14:49] xtrebe
Yeah, how casually they just murdered someone.

[14:50] ZeroCool
I laughed several times

[14:50] xtrebe
The last line, though, that was a pretty great ending to the episode.

[14:50] xtrebe
They do a great job of making the characters dishonest, scheming, and unpleasant.

[14:50] ZeroCool
At one point in the episode Lister is a blithering idiot, at other times he is pretty smart. An interesting line they walk with his character

[14:50] ZeroCool
Souper

[14:51] xtrebe
yeah, they kind of make him whatever they need at the moment

[14:51] xtrebe
A lot like Cartman in South Park, actually.

[14:51] ZeroCool
Yeah. He can't pass the chef's exam but he can do anything else

[14:52] ZeroCool
I enjoyed Rimmer pushing himself to succeed and then hating himself for it. I always set goals that I know I will fail at but I am able to lie to myself about it. Having the other Rimmer just made it so he couldnt excuse it away

[14:52] xtrebe
Yeah.

[14:52] xtrebe
It also is an interesting look at the concept of lying to yourself.

[14:53] xtrebe
They of course know just how lazy and incompetent they are.

[14:53] xtrebe
Yet they supposedly push each other, which in reality they are just pretending to be more than they are.

[14:53] ZeroCool
Painting the wall different shades of Gray simply relayed how stupid certain things are that we do because we are told they are important when any logical person can see how pointless and idiotic they are. I might be looking too deeply into that gag though

[14:54] ZeroCool
a lie contest between the Rimmers, seeing who would crack first

[14:54] ZeroCool
Interestingly it was the original Rimmer. Like being around longer made him even worse at lying to himself

[14:59] xtrebe
ha ha, yeah, interesting point

[15:01] ZeroCool
Or simply that he had been around Rimmer long enough that he could easily stomach his own lies but once he essentially was dealing with himself, he couldnt take it

[15:01] ZeroCool
This is like a friggin college course here

[15:01] xtrebe
There's a lot of depth to Red Dwarf.

[15:01] ZeroCool
Yes, I am sure it is fully intended

[15:01] ZeroCool
and not at all just us making shit up

[15:01] xtrebe
ha ha, well, at least some of it is

[15:02] ZeroCool
That concludes my thoughts on the last episode of season 1. Solid start, looking forward to the improvements made in season 2

[15:02] xtrebe
Indeed

S01E05: Confidence and Paranoia

[10:23] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Hello fellow Dwarfian

[10:29] xtrebe
Good day, sir

[10:30] xtrebe
Did you watch the rest of Season 1, or just Confidence and Paranoia?

[10:30] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Watching the last episode now

[10:31] ZeroCool
ZeroCool but I took notes on Confidence and Paranoia

[10:31] xtrebe
sweet

[10:31] xtrebe
I'll always love Confidence & Paranoia because of Craig Ferguson

[10:32] xtrebe
I remember when I first discovered he was the same guy as the talk show Craig Ferguson

[10:32] xtrebe
it blew my mind

[10:32] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I think we talk about Craig Ferguson every few years simply because of that episode

[10:32] ZeroCool
ZeroCool He aged to a better look than he maintained in his younger years

[10:32] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:33] xtrebe
Well, it's also encouraging to see a fat guy lose weight and actually keep it off

[10:33] ZeroCool
ZeroCool that is true

[10:33] ZeroCool
ZeroCool and he turned less orange as he got older

[10:33] ZeroCool
ZeroCool One of my prized possessions in life would be an autographed Craig Ferguson photo from that episode. I think I am going to write him and request one

[10:34] xtrebe
Oh man, that would be absolutely amazing

[10:34] xtrebe
better than my Bruce Campbell pic, for sure

[10:34] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I thought the episode featured some of Rimmer's best acting. Holly brush my teeth, Holly give me a shave. Exercises for the dead? Top notch

[10:34] xtrebe
Especially if he said anything more than "Hi"

[10:34] ZeroCool
ZeroCool haha, we blew that one

[10:34] ZeroCool
ZeroCool but atleast we are in the picture with him

[10:34] xtrebe
ha ha, yeah

[10:34] xtrebe
a spazzy, awkward "action!" pose

[10:35] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I blame that lack of a gold suit

[10:35] xtrebe
Yeah, we couldn't compete

[10:35] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Now we have drifted away from a conversation anyone else could follow

[10:35] xtrebe
That's okay

[10:35] xtrebe
So, yes, acting

[10:35] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Did you notice that the medical skutters are the same basic thing as Iron Man's skutters? Red Dwarf broke barriers

[10:35] xtrebe
There are Iron Man skutters?

[10:36] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Yeah,he has his little assistant robots that are just bigger versions of skutters

[10:36] xtrebe
Oh, I see

[10:36] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Have you not watched Iron Man lately?

[10:36] xtrebe
I have, I just forgot about his helper robots

[10:37] xtrebe
The Iron Man robots seem slightly more effective

[10:37] xtrebe
Since they can move faster than 2 mph

[10:37] ZeroCool
ZeroCool yes, but the concept similarities surprised me

[10:37] xtrebe
yeah

[10:37] ZeroCool
ZeroCool granted it was 2am so I may have been stretching a bit

[10:38] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Along the skutters lines, the "Stabhim" name gag stuck out as the best part of the episode

[10:38] ZeroCool
ZeroCool the tone changed so quickly

[10:38] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Rimmer was masterful at going from frantic to calm in an instant. He really nails that in this series

[10:39] xtrebe
Ha ha, yeah, Chris Barrie definitely mastered the art of bipolar

[10:39] ZeroCool
ZeroCool whoah whoah whoah, dont separate the actor from the character

[10:39] xtrebe
wait, weren't we talking about acting?

[10:40] xtrebe
I meant acting like he's bipolar

[10:40] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Yes, but I prefer to not think of him as a real person

[10:40] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I am not being consistent in my analysis, I know

[10:40] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I just couldnt remember his actual name, easier to refer to him by his character

[10:40] xtrebe
ha ha

[10:41] xtrebe
Yes

[10:41] xtrebe
Man, did you ever watch any of the episodes with the cast commentary?

[10:41] xtrebe
Holy crap, talk about destroying the illusion

[10:41] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I havent yet

[10:41] xtrebe
They couldn't even remember the episodes they were watching

[10:41] xtrebe
it was crazy

[10:41] xtrebe
I know their work 100x better than they do

[10:41] xtrebe
in Red Dwarf, at least

[10:41] xtrebe
It was a weird sensation

[10:41] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Wasnt it 15 years after the fact though?

[10:41] xtrebe
but they did have lots of interesting trivia

[10:42] xtrebe
I guess so

[10:42] xtrebe
The DVDs came out mid 2000s

[10:42] ZeroCool
ZeroCool It doesnt seem like they did a lot of takes so I can see why they may forget a lot

[10:42] xtrebe
I mostly watch the files off my server, but the DVDs were pretty awesome

[10:42] xtrebe
ha ha ha, yeah

[10:43] xtrebe
There are a couple of scenes, not in this episode, but in others where they accidentally look straight at the camera

[10:43] xtrebe
It's awesome

[10:43] xtrebe
Kat in particular does it

[10:43] ZeroCool
ZeroCool haha, I will have to look for that

[10:43] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Kat's character is the most puzzling of all of them

[10:43] ZeroCool
ZeroCool which is saying something

[10:43] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Where did his clothing come from?

[10:43] xtrebe
:)

[10:43] xtrebe
yeah

[10:44] ZeroCool
ZeroCool I have to catch myself from wandering too deeply down that rabbit hole

[10:44] ZeroCool
ZeroCool since the entire series would fall apart within 5 minutes of poking at it from a science point of view

[10:44] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Even from someone as unscientific as myself

[10:45] ZeroCool
ZeroCool The lack of a budget definetely made the show more enjoyable

[10:45] ZeroCool
ZeroCool The space suits were memorable

[10:45] ZeroCool
ZeroCool They looked like they could come off with a simple zipper pull

[10:45] ZeroCool
ZeroCool the helment literally has a tube running into it with air

[10:45] xtrebe
Ha, yeah

[10:45] xtrebe
They blew the budget on the fish

[10:46] ZeroCool
ZeroCool and you could remove the helmet with zero safety preventions

[10:46] ZeroCool
ZeroCool ha, yeah. Fish can be expensive

[10:46] xtrebe
as was demonstrated by Craig Ferguson

[10:46] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Lister's Slo Mo jump while outside was a nice nod to the action shots made popular in the 80's

[10:47] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Slo Mo always indicates an awesome physical move that you would miss if it went at normal speed

[10:47] ZeroCool
ZeroCool or at least you wouldnt appreciate how awesome it was

[10:47] xtrebe
Yeah, he has the physical charisma to pull it off

[10:47] xtrebe
wait

[10:48] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Is that an actual "wait" or a sarcastic "wait" meaning the complete opposite? Guessing the latter

[10:48] xtrebe
yes

[10:48] xtrebe
Because he's lumpy

[10:48] ZeroCool
ZeroCool That he is

[10:49] ZeroCool
ZeroCool Overall, I enjoyed aspects of that episode but it just gets me more excited to watch the better episodes of later seasons

[10:49] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:50] xtrebe
To me it shows that it's hard to make an exciting show with only 3 characters

[10:50] xtrebe
This one felt more lively because they had 2 guest characters.

[10:50] xtrebe
It makes sense that they needed to add Kryten later on.

[10:50] ZeroCool
ZeroCool That was probably the biggested mistake of the series, underestimating the need for more people to make it watchable

Episode 4: Waiting for God

[10:40] xtrebe
good day to you sir

[10:43] tclintoncunningham
And to you

[10:46] tclintoncunningham
Season 1, Episode 4

[10:46] xtrebe
Yes

[10:47] xtrebe
One of my least favorite episodes.

[10:47] tclintoncunningham
I like how they present other life forms as being far fetched but then spend the rest of the series using other life forms to keep the show together

[10:47] tclintoncunningham
it has a lot of dud jokes

[10:47] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:48] xtrebe
I think they were too concerned with making it some clever take on religion and not concerned enough with it being funny.

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
though it had one of my favorite sequences of the seaons. The Yo-yo scene where Rimmer laughs like Cat is an absolute idiot

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
yeah

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
too deep for Red Dwarf

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
Lister - Imagine making love to a woman with six breasts

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
Rimmer - Imagine making love to a woman

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
classic exchange

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
Rimmers hopeful look as he says it

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
then his quick over-the-top head spin at Lister

[10:50] xtrebe
Ha ha, yeah, that was a good one, and the yo-yo scene was good, too.

[10:50] xtrebe
Chris Barrie went all in on his jokes on this one.

[10:51] xtrebe
Even the shouting match over the garbage pod was surprisingly heated.

[10:51] tclintoncunningham
Yeah, he perhaps confused the show with theatre

[10:51] xtrebe
I think that's the only shouting match in the series.

[10:51] xtrebe
Yeah, the garbage pod part was pretty funny in general.

[10:52] xtrebe
The Quaagars

[10:52] tclintoncunningham
See, there were some hightlights

[10:52] xtrebe
There were.

[10:52] tclintoncunningham
*highlights

[10:52] tclintoncunningham
you just have to focus on them

[10:53] tclintoncunningham
I was a bit surprised that Rimmer said "Life's a bitch" considering when this was made

[10:53] tclintoncunningham
I know the UK has more relaxed TV standards but still

[10:54] xtrebe
yeah, it was a bit

[10:54] xtrebe
It's interesting how much looser TV content restrictions have become over the years.

[10:54] xtrebe
I'm still shocked by some of the stuff they show on CSI

[10:54] xtrebe
It'

[10:54] tclintoncunningham
Yeah, that show pushes the boundary

[10:54] tclintoncunningham
Yet Disney used to have all the characters smoking

[10:54] xtrebe
It's a freaking gore-fest, but they pretend that it's okay because it's an autopsy or whatever.

[10:55] xtrebe
ha ha

[10:55] xtrebe
yeah, a guy smoking is obscene

[10:55] xtrebe
someones brain splattering on the wall is not

[10:55] tclintoncunningham
So there are spiderwebs all over, does that mean there are spiders?

[10:55] tclintoncunningham
that didnt evolve in 3 million years

[10:56] xtrebe
Yeah, I thought about that as well

[10:56] xtrebe
The spiders are what the cat people lived on for 3 million years

[10:56] xtrebe
j/k

[10:56] xtrebe
They were spider farmers.

[10:56] xtrebe
And they used the webs to create clothing.

[10:56] tclintoncunningham
and died in the great spider plague of 2315

[10:57] xtrebe
3002315

[10:57] tclintoncunningham
true

[10:58] tclintoncunningham
and he lies to the old man so he can die and find out it was all a lie

[10:59] xtrebe
Well, if there's no lie he doesn't find out.

[10:59] xtrebe
I mean, if there's not afterlife he doesn't find out.

[10:59] xtrebe
Because you can't experience the absense of life.

[10:59] tclintoncunningham
How would you know?

[10:59] xtrebe
I guess I don't, but presuming there's no afterlife,

[11:00] xtrebe
which I think is one of the assumptions they're making in the show

[11:00] xtrebe
when you die

[11:00] xtrebe
you are no longer conscious of anything

[11:00] xtrebe
therefore you can't know there is no afterlife.

[11:01] tclintoncunningham
I know, I was merely kidding. We both know that nothing happens when you die but nothingness

[11:14] xtrebe
Yes, that's totally what I said.

[11:15] tclintoncunningham
I know, i was shocked you said it

[11:15] tclintoncunningham
I feel we have veered off course a bit

[11:25] xtrebe
A bit, yes.

[11:25] xtrebe
Oh, that roast chicken was remarkably well preserved, as well.

[11:30] tclintoncunningham
Those pods were at the cutting edge of sealing technology

[11:34] xtrebe
I suppose so

[11:34] xtrebe
Well, I don't really have anything else to say about the episode.

[11:34] xtrebe
Anything we missed?

[11:35] tclintoncunningham
That about covers it, though I wonder if the old man was a serious actor that was shocked by what the show actually was when he agreed to do it

[11:35] tclintoncunningham
he seems like he could have been a stage actor that expected more

[11:35] xtrebe
Ha ha, maybe.

[11:35] xtrebe
But then again, all old British men seem respectable.

[11:35] xtrebe
It's their blessing and curse.

[11:35] tclintoncunningham
that is true

Episode 3: Balance of Power

[13:39] xtrebe
yo

[13:39] tclintoncunningham
Hello and welcome to Red Dwarf chat

[13:40] xtrebe
Ha ha, nice.

[13:40] xtrebe
Make it official

[13:40] xtrebe
-ish

[13:40] tclintoncunningham
I welcomed you with an English typing accent as well, in case you didnt notice

[13:42] xtrebe
I did not, I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

[13:42] tclintoncunningham
It is easy to miss. It is most noticeable on the r's

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
Season 1 Episode 3

[13:43] xtrebe
yes

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
The first thing that jumped out to me was the amazing use of futuristic sounds

[13:43] tclintoncunningham
such as when the toilet rotated around

[13:44] xtrebe
Ha, yes.  Although the toilet was relatively un-futuristic.

[13:44] xtrebe
In fact, it kind of looked like a toilet from the late 20th century.

[13:44] tclintoncunningham
Cant imagine it is super sanitary either

[13:44] xtrebe
Yeah, when it rotates I imagine there's a bit of sloshing that occurs.

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
Hopefully every use is clean and smell free

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
Also, I was glad to see Disco makes a comeback in the future

[13:45] xtrebe
Which scene was that again?

[13:45] tclintoncunningham
He was sitting in the mess hall or wherever and missing everyone

[13:46] tclintoncunningham
like a little baby

[13:46] tclintoncunningham
You are the last human alive, get over yourself

[13:46] xtrebe
that's right, "leave it alone"

[13:46] xtrebe
that part

[13:46] xtrebe
Yeah, I guess that's one of the few "serious moments" in the entire show.

[13:46] xtrebe
They kind of give up on those

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
It also highlighted the amazing outfits

[13:47] xtrebe
especially from season 3 onward

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
neon is apparently the future color of choice

[13:47] tclintoncunningham
yeah, they tend to avoid anything resembling seriousness

[13:47] xtrebe
Oh, wait, I remember now.

[13:47] xtrebe
They actually try to explain it away.

[13:47] xtrebe
If you notice

[13:47] xtrebe
there are signs on the wall in the background that say something like "80s retro night"

[13:47] xtrebe
Something along those lines.

[13:48] xtrebe
So, they're wearing 80's clothes because it's 80's night

[13:48] xtrebe
which of course is quite the coincidence

[13:48] xtrebe
since it aired in 1988

[13:48] tclintoncunningham
I was young but I think England 80's were different from America's 80's

[13:48] xtrebe
Yeah, I'm sure America's were better.

[13:49] tclintoncunningham
I didnt notice the signs, that atleast explains that

[13:49] xtrebe
More cocaine or whatever.

[13:49] xtrebe
yeah

[13:49] xtrebe
Well, it's sort of a tongue in cheek joke

[13:49] tclintoncunningham
yeah. How can we save money for our pathetic budget? Ah, yes. 80's themed events

[13:50] xtrebe
:)

[13:50] xtrebe
So, this episode does have one of my all time favorite lines.

[13:51] tclintoncunningham
The boob line?

[13:51] xtrebe
Rimmer tells Lister that he's tense.

[13:51] tclintoncunningham
ah

[13:51] xtrebe
Lister says that he isn't

[13:51] xtrebe
Then Rimmer replies "Of course you're tense, you rectum-faced pygmy!"

[13:51] xtrebe
One of those lines that still makes me laugh every time I hear it.

[13:52] tclintoncunningham
haha yeah. Most of the jokes you could see coming from a mile away but that was a good one. I also enjoyed when Holly gave Rimmer boobs and Rimmer wanted Holly to fix it

[13:52] tclintoncunningham
then said "There's no rush Holly" as he squeezed himself

[13:52] xtrebe
Yeah, that one was creepy but funny.

[13:52] xtrebe
Or, feepy

[13:52] xtrebe
You can use that.

[13:53] tclintoncunningham
thank you

[13:54] tclintoncunningham
Given how they present Lister, I dont buy the fact that he wouldnt just tell Rimmer to strip or something when he had the female body

[13:54] xtrebe
Yeah, they vascillate between making Lister the moral one and being a scoundrel.

[13:55] xtrebe
Yes, I use the word scoundrel in casual conversation.

[13:55] tclintoncunningham
that is because you are a rascal

[13:55] xtrebe
Although Lister watching Rimmer strip as a woman would definitely have an impact on their relationship.

[13:55] xtrebe
I've always felt you had a bit of the rogue about you.

[13:57] xtrebe
And having Lister trying out for the chef's exam, that was a pretty good plot twist/joke.

[13:57] xtrebe
I've seen it so many times I can't remember if I was ever surprised by it, but I'm sure I was the first time I saw it.

[13:57] tclintoncunningham
Yeah. It also emphasized just how shitty their careers were that a chef was higher rankede

[13:57] xtrebe
ha ha, yes

[13:59] tclintoncunningham
I liked how they also show the cat as capable of survival yet incredibly dumb

[14:00] xtrebe
Oh, with the fish negotiation?

[14:00] xtrebe
The gag where he orders seven fishes was pretty good.

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
I did like that.

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
I enjoy Rimmer's reaction to the Cat

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
he over-the-top talks to him like a moron

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
and gets to show his sarcasm without fear that the Cat will say something

[14:01] tclintoncunningham
atleast until the later seasons

[14:02] xtrebe
Yeah

[14:02] xtrebe
He gets away with it until Lister and Cat team up and make him the whipping boy.

[14:02] xtrebe
So to speak.

[14:03] tclintoncunningham
Yeah. Kind of 1.2 people versus 1

[14:03] tclintoncunningham
Cat actually becomes quite a bit more intelligent though over the seasons

[14:03] xtrebe
At certain things, yes.

[14:03] xtrebe
Like space flight :)

[14:03] xtrebe
Who couldn't pick up something simple like that?

[14:04] tclintoncunningham
:)

[14:04] tclintoncunningham
I guess they figure if Lister can do it..

[14:05] xtrebe
True.

[14:05] xtrebe
I think ep 3 was a better than 1, but not quite as good as 2.

[14:06] xtrebe
2 actually had a good sci-fi premise behind it, so it was strong on sci-fi and comedy.

[14:06] xtrebe
Which is how it is for a lot of my favorite Red Dwarf episodes.

[14:07] tclintoncunningham
They do make it realistic enough that you believe it

[14:07] tclintoncunningham
like the Hard Drive that makes Rimmer solid so they can stop dealing with that annoyance

[14:07] xtrebe
Yeah.

[14:08] xtrebe
I'm sure it's impossible to be 100% consistent, but man, they don't even really try with Rimmer and the hologram stuff.

[14:08] tclintoncunningham
Yeah, there is only so much they can care about that stuff

Episode 2: Future Echoes

[10:41] tclintoncunningham
Season 1, Episode 2. I dont remember the title

[10:45] xtrebe
hello buddy

[10:45] xtrebe
Future Echoes

[10:46] tclintoncunningham
That is right. It is also the introduction to one of characters that I completely forgot about: The Toaster

[10:46] xtrebe
Ah, good ol' Toasty the Toaster.

[10:47] tclintoncunningham
It was like they wanted to make sure to have some secondary characters but realized killing all the humans limited their options

[10:47] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:47] xtrebe
I remember hearing in an interview that the writers were determined to not have one of the character be a robot

[10:47] xtrebe
because it was so cliche

[10:48] xtrebe
which is a goal they gave up on after 2 seasons.

[10:48] tclintoncunningham
Yeah, you would hate for a show that was so amazingly high budgeted to fall into the traps of cliches

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
Were both his fish robots then? or just 1?

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
or is it just 1 and a mirror or something

[10:49] xtrebe
I think it was a reflection

[10:49] xtrebe
I could be wrong though

[10:49] xtrebe
Maybe the number of fish changed from scene to scene

[10:49] xtrebe
because when he grabs the fish it looks like two

[10:49] tclintoncunningham
It would make sense if it was a reflection for many reasons

[10:49] xtrebe
but when he puts it back it was the only one

[10:50] tclintoncunningham
This analysis has taken an odd turn

[10:50] tclintoncunningham
Changing direction - humor is improving. Rimmer's little dance when he talks about Channel 27 made me laugh

[10:50] xtrebe
Well, the robot fish is memorable, what cna I say.

[10:50] xtrebe
ha ha, yeah

[10:51] xtrebe
Yeah, this is definitely one of the best episodes of season 2.

[10:51] xtrebe
One of my all-time favorite scenes of the whole show is when Lister and Rimmer have the double conversation in the drive room.

[10:51] xtrebe
That was so brilliantly done.

[10:52] tclintoncunningham
It was a good one. Like we talked about last time, it showcased their dynamic well

[10:53] tclintoncunningham
Even though there was a marked improvement in the humor, it also was worth noticing that they were committed to jokes good or bad. There were a few that were not funny but they kept at them

[10:53] tclintoncunningham
Rimmer exploring them curing death was a trainwreck but it just kept going

[10:53] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:54] xtrebe
The other thing I noticed was the weird little grimmace Rimmer does a couple of times.

[10:54] tclintoncunningham
I hadnt noticed, I will look for that

[10:54] xtrebe
It seems like they thought that might be some signature thing Rimmer does

[10:54] xtrebe
But they backed off.

[10:54] xtrebe
He never does that again, if I recall.

[10:54] tclintoncunningham
quick in season adjustments

[10:55] tclintoncunningham
I love how some stuff is meant to be futuristic while other stuff is complete garbage. Like Lister's camera

[10:55] tclintoncunningham
even then, they couldnt imagine a camera that wasnt the size of a shoe

[10:56] xtrebe
Ha, I hadn't noticed that.

[10:56] xtrebe
I did notice how Holly is all pixelated in season 1.

[10:56] xtrebe
A mile-long spaceship is easy, but high resolution screens? No way

[10:57] tclintoncunningham
haha, I had noticed that too. They have nailed making a hologram of a person but not a 2D image

[10:57] xtrebe
Ha ha, yeah

[10:57] xtrebe
Yeah, the hologram comparison is more apt

[10:58] tclintoncunningham
Now as I watch the show as an older person, I appreciate that Lister really is disgusting

[10:58] tclintoncunningham
Very few redeeming qualities

[10:58] tclintoncunningham
Neither him nor Rimmer are people I want to root for

[10:59] xtrebe
Man, neither Rimmer nor Lister are particularly great people.

[10:59] xtrebe
yeah

[10:59] xtrebe
Lister is basically a homeless person living on a spaceship.

[11:01] tclintoncunningham
Somehow that makes him an "everyman"

[11:02] tclintoncunningham
filth, excuses and zero ambition make him relatable to early 1990's Englanders I guess

[11:02] xtrebe
Kind of a depressing message when you think about it

[11:02] xtrebe
The "hero" is a disgusting bum with no aspirations

[11:03] xtrebe
And his frenemy is a talentless hack who has ambition but not the wherewithal to achieve anything.

[11:03] xtrebe
The message is that you can either not try and fail, or try and still fail.

[11:03] xtrebe
There is no example of success anywhere to be rind.

[11:03] xtrebe
found

[11:03] xtrebe
Except on the Holoship in season 5

[11:03] xtrebe
where everyone is an a-hole

[11:03] tclintoncunningham
Even Cat is a blundering idiot

[11:04] xtrebe
Yeah, and Kryten, who is the only competent one, is virtually a slave to the incompetents.

[11:04] tclintoncunningham
I wonder if they planned it that way. Like did they think Lister truly was relatable?

[11:04] tclintoncunningham
or were they trying to make it extremes?

[11:04] tclintoncunningham
or was it just an accident

[11:05] xtrebe
Man, I don't know.

[11:05] xtrebe
I guess that's one of the big ironies of the show:

[11:05] xtrebe
In a universe governed by the principal of survival of the fittest, at the end of time, the only survivors are the least fit of the species.

[11:06] xtrebe
It gives us hope :)

[11:07] tclintoncunningham
The cockroach theory

[11:07] tclintoncunningham
or that one movie where the idiots keep breeding and rule the world. Idiocracy or whatever it is called

[11:07] tclintoncunningham
Really depressing underlining messages

[11:07] xtrebe
:)

[11:08] xtrebe
Wow, we even managed to take a review of a sitcom and turn it into a depressing conversation.

[11:08] xtrebe
Go us!

[11:14] tclintoncunningham
Well we did experience a good portion of it while in junior high and high school. Isnt that the definition of depressing?

[11:18] xtrebe
I suppose so.

[11:21] tclintoncunningham
Yes! 2 conversations in and I want to jump off a building.

[11:22] xtrebe
Well, just wait until the Better Than Life episode

[11:22] tclintoncunningham
Haha

[11:22] tclintoncunningham
yeah

[11:22] xtrebe
Ha ha, in conclusion, Future Echoes was a good episode.

[11:22] xtrebe
:)

[11:23] tclintoncunningham
Yes, and we should stop looking too deeply into these at the risk of reverting back to our high school/stay up all night/listening to Korn/Hating everyone selves

[11:24] xtrebe
Hey, at least we were never cutters.

[11:25] tclintoncunningham
True, I found other ways of expressing it, never went down that path

Episode 1: The End

[09:41] xtrebe
hey there buddy!

[09:41] tclintoncunningham
Howdy Amigo

[09:42] xtrebe
Watching Red Dwarf last night made me realize that it's impossible for me to talk about the show objectively.

[09:44] tclintoncunningham
I definitely have a soft spot for it. I actually thought to myself that it was impossible not to think of the series as a whole when watching the early episodes

[09:44] tclintoncunningham
namely how skinny they are

[09:44] xtrebe
Yeah, ha ha

[09:44] xtrebe
And how young they look.

[09:44] xtrebe
Even Captain Hollister looks young.

[09:45] xtrebe
Yeah, it's hard to talk about it without comparing it to future episodes, so I'm not going to bother trying.

[09:45] tclintoncunningham
We shouldnt try to limit our discussion in that way. We both love the series so why not compare/constrast?

[09:45] xtrebe
True

[09:45] xtrebe
First off, the first episode felt fairly slow-paced compared to later episodes.

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
the jokes were more forced

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
I couldnt tell if it was a laugh track or not because there were a few scattered random laughs at odd moments

[09:46] tclintoncunningham
like during the funeral scene

[09:46] xtrebe
Yeah, and there were times where there were no laughs, like in the mess hall or whatever when there were a ton of people everyone

[09:47] xtrebe
Well, not a total lack of laughter, but some jokes didn't get a laugh.

[09:47] xtrebe
The first episode felt like they just had to get all the setup out of the way.

[09:47] tclintoncunningham
Whats an Iguana?

[09:47] tclintoncunningham
That one was pretty bad

[09:48] xtrebe
Yeah

[09:48] xtrebe
Pause, then laughter right when he starts talking again

[09:48] tclintoncunningham
I enjoyed the attempt to explain in scientific terms the way the chamber worked to freeze him in time.

[09:49] tclintoncunningham
I am pretty good at suspending belief, primarily because that is required to enjoy most shows but I always wondered how someone that runs the ship for several years can't manage to advance at all (Referring to Lister)

[09:49] tclintoncunningham
then i think that the ship survived for 3 million years with no crew

[09:50] tclintoncunningham
so perhaps he doesnt end up doing that much

[09:50] tclintoncunningham
I only bring that up in this context because I had forgotten that it had been that long since everyone died

[09:53] xtrebe
My guess would be that Holly does and did all maintenance via the scutters, and the crew did all the mining stuff, cargo handling, whatever else they do.

[09:53] xtrebe
The part that I had missed for years was that the radiation killed the entire crew, yet Cat and the entire Cat race survived for millions of years.

[09:54] xtrebe
Of course, Red Dwarf was never concerned too much about logical consistencies.

[09:55] tclintoncunningham
yeah, not high on their priority list

[09:55] tclintoncunningham
Where did the cat get a pink suit?

[09:55] xtrebe
Some silk worms survived in the cargo bay.

[09:55] xtrebe
j/k I don't know

[09:56] tclintoncunningham
How did the original cat colony survive? Was there a storage of food and milk there too?

[09:56] tclintoncunningham
tell me!!!

[09:56] xtrebe
Also, you'd think that an entire race of cat people would have gone through all the supplies over the course of 3 million years.

[09:56] xtrebe
Ha, exactly

[09:56] xtrebe
That's it, this show sucks.  I quit.

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
Does the ship convert stuff into food?

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
I assume it does that to a degree

[09:57] xtrebe
If it does, it's never mentioned.

[09:57] tclintoncunningham
That is because all intelligent people assume it

[09:58] tclintoncunningham
Us intellectuals like to fill in the gaps of logic and reason with our own plausible answers

[09:58] tclintoncunningham
unfortunately we cant simply override parts of the story and make zero sense like what we have already discussed

[10:00] xtrebe
My favorite is between season 2 and 3

[10:00] xtrebe
where they have the big scrolling text that explains all the changes in the series.

[10:00] xtrebe
But it scrolls by too fast to read unless your care enough about the storyline to record it and watch in slow motion.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
ha, I dont remember that but it has been over 5 years since I have gone through the series

[10:01] xtrebe
You'll have to go through it slowly and read the whole thing.  It's pretty funny.

[10:01] xtrebe
It's there as lip service to the hardcore nerd fans.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
i vaguely recall it, just not the details

[10:01] xtrebe
And the writers clearly don't give a crap.

[10:01] tclintoncunningham
i will pay close attention when we get there

[10:04] xtrebe
One thing that I hadn't really noticed before was how they nail the relationship between Lister and Rimmer right from the start.

[10:05] xtrebe
How they interact in ep 1 is pretty much how they interact through the entire show.

[10:05] tclintoncunningham
That is true, there is no drastic shift in that dynamic like a lot of shows have happen

[10:05] tclintoncunningham
expecially after the first season

[10:06] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:06] xtrebe
Ha ha

[10:06] tclintoncunningham
Does it ever clarify the year that the show is meant to start in?

[10:06] xtrebe
A lot of shows have the characters slowly evolve over time

[10:07] xtrebe
But the only real character development that occurs in Red Dwarf is that you get to know them a little bit better in each episode, and in each season they are a little bit more pessimistic and bitter than the previous season.

[10:07] xtrebe
Just like real life :)

[10:07] xtrebe
I think it's 21XX

[10:07] xtrebe
I can't remember, though.

[10:34] tclintoncunningham
My favorite part of any show that deals with the future is when they make the decision: Do we try to anticipate fashion or simply have it be the same as now

[10:34] tclintoncunningham
They opted to leave it in the now

[10:34] xtrebe
Yeah

[10:35] xtrebe
which actually ends up being fine because it's old Euro fashion, which seems alien

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
lol, yes

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
I also like the relaxed dress code of the crew

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
wear this outfit

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
but be cavalier about it

[10:35] tclintoncunningham
have it completely untucked and unbuttoned

[10:36] xtrebe
yeah

[10:36] xtrebe
We'll have to watch for when Lister makes the transition from uniform to badass leather jacket

[10:36] xtrebe
I don't think it's until season 5, but I can't remember

[10:38] tclintoncunningham
I also want to see when the cats suddenly learns how to operate the ship

[10:38] xtrebe
Ha ha, yeah, I think that's season 2.

[10:38] xtrebe
Whenever they start regularly using Starbug.