h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

OK

It was crap. They made an Pilot amd one Episode before it was scrapped. The basic story was the same, but the Americans couldn't get it to work.

Note: Does anyone know where a video of the 2 episodes can be found?? I've not found anything on the internet.

Anyone wanting to know why it never quite worked out has only to read Robert Lewellyn's book "Man In The Rubber Mask". He was the only member of the original cast to be used in the American version.

I have to say that if they had stuck to the British form but used american actors, it probably would have worked (IMO). I have numerous american friends who love RD as it is.

Hello,

What's funny is that for the American version they used indie movie actor Chris Eigeman in the role of Rimmer. It's funny to me, because he has a bit of a following for doing sarcastic and smarmy roles (in such films as Barcelona, Last Days of Disco, Kicking and Screaming), so I could actually see that part of the cast working.

But mostly I imagine an American version of Red Dwarf being somewhat like when Lister looks at the other people playing the game in the Despair Squid episode.

Yours,
Jake

Yes, there are Americans out here who love Red Dwarf just the way it is! Most certainly! When we're lucky, our public broadcasting stations show reruns for us, and then we are very happy indeed! Personally I can't see the need to take wonderful things done by the BBC and "Americanize" them in order to market them here. The fact that shows like Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served - to name a few - are distinctly British is I think, in part at least, what gives them some of their appeal here in the first place. It's nice to have something different. If I had only to choose from the rubbish they put on the television here I don't think I'd ever turn the thing on at all! Surely nobody is trying to redo our programs to make them more palatable to your tastes, so I think it is silly that anyone wanted to change the amazingly wonderful series that is Red Dwarf even one bit in order to find a wider American audience for the show, when it already has an enthusiastic and loyal following here as is.

As a Brit I think it's slightly, shall we say 'lopsided' (and I realise I'm now saying this on a BBC website) for the BBC to send over "Are You Being Served" when in return we get such class acts as Friends and Frasier.
Mind you, I think Red Dwarf makes up the deficit.

Maybe I just missed the point in Are You Being Served...

Hello,

You get Friends and Frasier? I'm deeply sorry. Of course, my sister's friends in England all love NYPD Blue, so I guess what goes around comes around. Now we just Americanize British game shows.

Yours,
Jake

But I really like Friends and Frasier...

...I hear you've hijacked Ann Robinson

Hello,

Ah, okay. I guess they can be funny enough and are ahead of "Are You Being Served?" which doesn't elicit even a chuckle out of me. But I don't really like Friends because they have nicer apartments than I do, and I only live a few blocks away. What really peeves me is that the local PBS station shows that, but doesn't air "Red Dwarf." Ah, don't forget "Teletubbies."

Yes, the Weakest Link. I don't think we really hijacked her as much as borrowed her for some shows (as opposed to Australians). There's a little discussion on that in the Ask the H2G2 community.

Yours,
Jake

Some shows?
Is she not gonna do the whole series? What a pity.

Hello,

No. I think she is doing the whole series, but they brought her over, taped a whole bunch of shows (she looks rather tired by some of them), and then sent her back. They'll probably keep this up for a while.

Yours,
Jake

I'd quite like to see those- I heard the American contestants responded a lot better than the Britsh ones, in that Ann was able to get more snidy than usual...

Ah, here we go http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F19585?thread=108182

Two points...

1. I wish someone HAD hijacked Ann Robinson... PLEASE, keep her!!!

2. The US version of Red Dwarf... some tidbits I remember from a magazine include Rimmer's glowing red dot replacing his H (which earned him the nickname of "Gandhi in space"), the casting of Craig Bierko as Lister (which necessitated rewriting the part in a Han Solo style, as he just couldn't do a good job as the slobbish Lister), and "Deep Space Nine"'s Terry Farrell as the Cat.
Also, long time Star Trek graphic artist Michael Okuda worked on the show doing computer displays.

I'm still trawling eBay and bugging people on the other side of the Atlantic for a tape!!!

I had a quick shufti through Google today using cast names and "Red Dwarf" as my search parameters... I'd post links but the moderators would get them, so I would suggest using "Terry Farrell" (the first one I did) - which turned up pictures, scripts and info from BOTH pilots and some unfilmed episodes!

I can't, or rather couldn't see the point in making an american version, gameshows yes, the news deffinalty, but a cult sci-fi comedy show, its like painting an american version of the mona lisa, not that a care much for the painting its self, but you konw what i mean

Simple.
Shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" are a hit over here because they're funny in two ways - they're dumb, which appeals to the American mass market, and they can also be subtle and intellectual (which is why studios need canned laughter).
Americans generally don't get good old British humour - witness the dismal failure of Absolutely Fabulous - hence they have to remake stuff.

ah well when you put it like that.......

one thing i din't like is the updated versiond of the first two series, not that i've seen them all, but what I saw i can't say I liked, they were great the way they were,

and while I'm thinking about it what was the extended versions of the last episodes like(the 7th, or 8th series), i never like them so much but am always tempted to buy the videos to see what they're like

You can have her back any time you want - pleeeaaasssseee!

I'm a Brit living in the States and I think Ann Robinson is just an embarassment. Her "wit" runs thin after a short while. She should have stuck to Watchdog (IMHO).

We couldn't get it to work because, as any fan of the show will agree, who can imagine anyone other than the original five in the roles? Anyone BUT Chris Barrie as Rimmer would be awful. Besides, I hardly think that there is any way to improve upon RD, which is what we always try to do - as Lister would say, tart it up with new paint and go-faster stripes. As with AbFab, it was Americanised and never went anywhere. In reply to your question, however, try eBay. Every once in a while, I see them listed. Can't give a hint as to the quality, as I have not seen either one of the episodes. Personally, I was thrilled that it never made it to tv! Yuck. What a nasty thought!