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

And of course does for smeg what H2G2 did for 42.

Red Dwarf is my favorite show! I should have wrote this article myself! I suppose RD is what you would call "cult" here in the States, since the majority of Americans have never heard of it. But eveyone I know who's seen it loves it. I've even got a little fan club going. We get together, salute my Mr. Flibble puppet, eat, drink, talk, and watch RD together. Long live the Dwarf!

It's really too bad that no major US network ever takes a foreign show and runs it, even at the lousiest time of day. I think if someone other than Public Television or Comedy central would run Red Dwarf, they'd have the next Star Trek on threir hands... and you all know how well that show did.

I'm so jealous of the English

Didn't they make an American pilot version of RD?

Comedy Central doesn't run it. Maybe it did once, I don't know, back when it played the odd episode of Flying Circus, but all I ever see of the small rouge one is three nights a week on PBS. Between MacNeil and Lehrer and Benny Hill. It's just as well that no major network has picked it up though. Would you really want to see USA running their cheesy promos for Red Dwarf? Or—dare I say it—NBC?

TBS?

TNT?

Nick at Freakin' Nite?!

I heard that they were going to do a US version, with all-American chatacters, except for the cat, who was going to be dropped completely. What a pants idea. Wasn't there a US version of fawlty towers once? American comedy can be funny enough on its own without having to steal the ideas behind British shows and then totally ruin them. Just show the originals and accept the fact that the whole world doesn't talk with an American accent.

DO not blaspme the idea of R.D. by sugesting that any of the mainstream networks here in the states run it. I give money to my local PBS station during their bi-annual begging crusade. Be happy to support all of those good British shows we can see without commercials on PBS. btw I do not work at a PBS station, I just like to keep mine running.

Red Dwarf used to be on Comedy Central, but they dropped it. Now it can only be seen on a small number (15 I think) PBS stations in the U.S., one of which, luckily for me, is near my hometown of Campbell, OH. I know it is also shown in Lansing, Michigan, because my best friend's cousin live there, and they get it. As for the others, I have no idea. If your PBS station doesn't get Red Dwarf, start a petition and send it to them. If that doesn't work, you can always buy the videos. I get mine from the Suncoast chain, but I'm sure they sell them elsewhere. Or you can order them through the mail. If you haven't seen the show, take as many of these steps as necessary to see it. It's worth it! In my opinion, Series 1,2, and 7, aren't as good as the others, but then that's just me. See them all and judge for yourself!

Red Dwarf is the only programme I've seen that was capable of bringing in the target for a PBS pledge drive, not only that but I got to see all of series 8 in one night (or at least record all of series 8 on one night) before they had all been shown in the UK..

Greetings! From the above, I assume that you are all Americans. I hail from the Land That Gave Birth To Red Dwarf.
They did shoot a pilot for a US version, and flew Robert Lwellyn out to appear as Kryten. Apparantly, it sucked the Big One, so was dropped. I feel series seven was the weakest, because it was not shot with an audience. If you've ever seen the Smeg Up tapes, you would see how the guys react with the audience, and work off them. Danny John Jules is the weakest at this, but then he is a dancer, not a stand-up comedian.
I think the distinction between US and British comedy is that we put a lot of irony into the scripts. I'm not really a fan of the US comedy shows we get, such as Friends, Roseanne, etc. But be assured, we have huge amounts of totally crap "comedy" of our own, which hopefully, you will never have to suffer.

I thought the American version WAS going to have a Cat, but it was to be a female one: Terry Farrell (the late Judzia Dax)

Or was that the rumour mill going overboard again?

No-one's mentioned Wayne Dibley - the most important character on the show - played to purrrrfection by Danny John Jules. The American version HAS to have a cat, just so Wayne can make an appearance.

Running completely off the above subject (but still to do with Red Dwarf) I'd like to hear from anyone whose seen the last episode in series 8, how are they going to get out of that one, eh?
- Ideas please!

Don't be jealous of the Enblidh cause the BBC earns £2200000000 a year from us licence payers and the only come up with a series like RD about every 15 years The rest of the programs we pay for leave a lot to be desired.

http://www.lysator.liu.se/~kjell-e/tekla/scripts.html

has all the scripts, which is probably highly illegal but I'm sure would be of interest to anyone who has no TV access to the series.

I love the way Red Dwarf is set in the future but no-one writing it cares, so most of the jokes are about curry and lager. There's no in depth discussion about drives/transporters and all that stuff, which leaves more room for smut, abuse and the like.

I, for one, thank you, oh wisest fool, for that link.

Ta Mr.Shack,
I'm not too sure everyone will appreciate it (for copyright reasons), so I'll try to bury the link under a vaulting horse in the h2g2 gym.
Every time someone uses the link, can they visit another h2g2 thread and empty a little dirt out of their trouser bottoms. Thanks.

I think it should be on the Discovery Channel. But what, do, I know?

May I ask how one is expected to get locals to sign a petition to support a program that isn't shown on their televisions and is therefore one that they have never seen?

You know how I hate to split hairs, but... well, you know.

I don't know if those in the States will have seen them or not, but the shows are being "remastered" by the Beeb. The "Red Dwarf" is a different shape, and odd bits have been tackily added. Personally, I prefer the original versions, but then I'm just an old stick in the smeg.