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Post by The Doctor on Apr 12, 2009 19:00:45 GMT
Just watched parts 1-2.
It's...just...not...funny...is it?
-Ralph
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Post by Benn on Apr 12, 2009 19:27:08 GMT
Can I just say, children should not be allowed in anything. Ever. Especially not whe they waste five minutes of my life explaining something that isn't relavent to what I'm actally watching. Oh, cheer up Lister, you sad faced tosspot, would have been suffiecient, and funnier.
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Post by blueshift on Apr 12, 2009 19:35:11 GMT
Apparently viewer numbers are in:
Friday- 2.06 million
Saturday- 937,000
Can't say I'm surprised. I am a huge fan and even I didn't really want to tune in to part 2
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 12, 2009 20:38:46 GMT
That typewriter gag was a substantially inferior rip-off of the Goon Show episode "Six Charlies in Search of an Author" (script Spike Milligan). See Part 2 at 4:40 and Part 3 at 4:30 for example.
Martin
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 12, 2009 20:56:14 GMT
I didn't laugh once during part three of Back To Earth.
This makes me unhappy.
Andy
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 12, 2009 20:57:49 GMT
Well try "Six Charlies" and see if that's any better for you.
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2009 21:06:57 GMT
Part three was better than part two but it still wasn't funny. I half expected it to te up the loose ends left in part one but it did no such thing. We now have an ending to Red Dwarf that has left the plot with a load of gaping holes in it.
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 12, 2009 21:59:23 GMT
Apparently viewer numbers are in: Friday- 2.06 million Saturday- 937,000 Fucking HELL. |
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Post by blueshift on Apr 12, 2009 22:04:22 GMT
Episode 3 wasn't quite as bad as episode 2, but it was still very bad. I think this 'series' should never have happened. "I'm a cute kid I watch Red Dwarf all the time on CHANNEL DAVE" "Look at all these dvds you can buy of the specials they are very good buy them now" |
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 12, 2009 22:43:22 GMT
Basically, the ending of the special means THE ENTIRE STORY was pointless. WHEEEEEEEEEEE.
And what was the point of the "Kochanski's not dead!" bit when there's no resolution, and when they were able to get Chloe anyway so she could've been in it more?
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Post by karla on Apr 12, 2009 22:50:24 GMT
I liked the bit with the kids, but I don't understand how brother had northen accent and sister didn't lol
Plus how cat landed on his feet from dimesnsion travel and no one else did, haven't watched the third part though, but thats why internet is here
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2009 23:16:01 GMT
In fact the last time they tangled with a squid and ended up thinking they weren't who they originally thought they were they ended up trying to kill themselves. God, I hadn't noticed the Back to Reality parallels before. Geez, so not only does Back to Earth rip-off The League of Gentlemen movie the but it casually incorporates elements of one of the best episodes from the glory days of the show to really complete the hollow cash-in feel to this whole affair. Doug Naylor really shouldn’t have bothered. Heh, waddaya know, I noticed something relevant. Weird. Now I'm left wondering if I got squirted with anti-despair squid ink and am living in a reality where I'm not a total tit. Still, the novelty of being half right about something doesn't bring back the hour and half of my life I wasted on that deeply unfunny and thoroughly pointless Back to Reality redux. It was like bad Red Dwarf fan fiction, except fan fiction would have at least tried to resolve the annoying decade-old cliffhanger and not completely ignored it whilst at the same time adding more unexplained stuff (why Rimmer was dead again, why the ship is back to its original squat shape, how did the crew die etc, etc). I mean if Doug Naylor was going to go back and lazily plunder his old material couldn't he have at least used the jokey half-explanations from the beginnings of series 3 and 7 to get the awkward bits out of the way? And as I said before none of that would have really mattered if it had been funny. And it just wasn't. The only half decent Red Dwarf-ish gag for my money was the DVD/video thing and that's being generous seeing as every bad stand-up worth his salt was doing very similar material five years ago. Guess I was right about one more thing. It ended up as not much more than a hollow cash-in. And after the stunning drop in ratings for part 2 I'd wager it's the last hollow cash-in we'll be seeing for a while too since it will be much cheaper for Dave to commission more panel shows next time they are looking for original programming since they can get same sort of ratings return at a fraction of the production cost. All involved will probably be kicking themselves for splitting it into three parts right now as the figures for part one were exceptional for Dave and might have even justified more episodes despite the lack of quality. Not that I'd want more episodes after this, but still. Looks like this was a real a wasted opportunity. |
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 12, 2009 23:19:11 GMT
Basically, the ending of the special means THE ENTIRE STORY was pointless. WHEEEEEEEEEEE. And what was the point of the "Kochanski's not dead!" bit when there's no resolution, and when they were able to get Chloe anyway so she could've been in it more? How was it any more pointless than back to reality which is generally considered one of the best episodes of the show? I can't believe how badly so many people are taking part 2 without seeing how the story concluded. As far as internal logic goes it was about as consistent as ever, which isn't saying a lot but its not something new. I mean if you think it isn't funny fair enough. Personally I've always felt the show tended to swing from sitcom to scifi rather than blend the two except at it's very best so finding some bits a comedy light wasn't a surprise. I watched all three parts with my Dad and brother and maybe watching it with people helps compensate for the loss of laugh track and make it seem funnier. I don't know but I like it. As for plot, considering it was basically a sequel/rip off to one of the shows best episodes the fact that people seem to have fallen for the idea of the Red Dwarf not real again is quite impressive. It wasn't till the ad break of part three when I suddenly thought hang is this going to be like back to reality, then thought wait squid! Kochanski's cameo really took me by surprise to I dont know if people knew she was going to be in it, I hadnt been hiding from spoilers like I do elsewhere but I really wasn't expecting it. Her being dead effectively served as a plot device also allowed for a return to a more traditional Dwarf Line up which was fun. Cat seemed to get a lot more to do as part of a smaller cast. Anyway I might stand alone, but I liked it. Certainly not perfect. As with the three parters in series 8 that were meant to be just 2 parters the padding wasn't top quality, but as a whole I think it was pretty good. Andy |
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 12, 2009 23:40:21 GMT
How was it any more pointless than back to reality which is generally considered one of the best episodes of the show? Back To Reality had the cast under a more direct threat of dying, the fake reality gave us some insight into the characters, the characters had more of a reaction to the idea their lives weren't really real, and crucially it was a lot funnier than Back To Earth. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2009 23:47:08 GMT
How was it any more pointless than back to reality which is generally considered one of the best episodes of the show? I think you've answered your own question there. They had already done almost exactly the same plot but the last time around the jokes were good and the whole thing was done in only half an hour with no breaks in between to give you time to get confused/bored or think that the Cat really was Duane Dibley all along and consider how rubbish that would have been. I'd equate the whole effect of Back to Earth it to telling a good joke down the pub at the beginning of an evening and then trying to repeat the success of it later on by telling a much more long-winded and confusing version of the same joke to the same people later on when you're completely pissed, pausing twice to go to the bog in the middle of the story so that people forget where you were and just why you were telling them about the two nuns that went to the bar in the first place. Someone who comes in at the end and catches the punchline might snigger a little bit but everyone else will be too bored and confused to care. |
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 12, 2009 23:59:56 GMT
Back to Earth fooled people over 3 days even though the reality they found themselves in was even less convincing than BTR and the explanation of what was happening was already out there . BTR only had to fool people for 25 minutes.
It's a good concept which is why its been used so often so I dont mind a repeat of it. Deep Space Nines take is still my favourite take on it, but I do think BTE did show how the characters responded to the idea that their lives were written for them and I always enjoy seeing Rimmer blame others for his life.
Anyway each to their own, as I like series 7 and 8 I always expect to disagree with the majority on what made for good Dwarf.
Andy
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 13, 2009 1:11:37 GMT
Back to Earth fooled people over 3 days But that's not hard or worthy - the show didn't give us anything to indicate it wasn't real. It actually worked to its detriment, because the first half of Part 1 seemed so disconnected to the second half that the show looks a mess and the response I saw to Part 2 was a general concensus of "what a stupid idea, this undermines the whole series". So do I. I certainly found them funnier than this. |
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Post by blueshift on Apr 13, 2009 9:27:13 GMT
How was it any more pointless than back to reality which is generally considered one of the best episodes of the show? Well to me the important difference was that Back To Reality was bloody hilarious. This just felt too overlong and flat. They could have cut the whole 'other hologram' bit and had the squid teleport them into the 'real world' directly, play up the idea that they aren't real and get it over and done with in 30-45 mins. Not 1 1/2 hours. The whole thing just felt it was missing a lot of the jokes. They get to Earth and give a rundown on current Earth history... no jokes, just facts ma'am. They pick up a dvd and immediately jump to the conclusion that they are fictional characters.  They meet Craig Charles and he is just sitting there and then they wander off. Not particularly funny. What if the actual cast were portrayed as EVIL EGOMANIACS or at least anything just than 'blokes sitting in a pub' I could really go on and on. It seems like an overlong first draft that really should have been cut down and made funny. EDIT: I also really like season 8, it isn't the best but I can sit down and watch it and have genuine laughs. Also season 7 may have been a bit crap, but it had some of the best moments of the series ever (Ace Rimmer, the Rimmer song). But then they got rid of Rimmer  |
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 13, 2009 10:11:26 GMT
Apparently viewer numbers are in: Friday- 2.06 million Saturday- 937,000 Fucking HELL. Big drop-off, but still very good figures for a digital channel. I imagine Dave will order more episodes on the back of that. -Ralph |
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Post by charlesrocketboy on Apr 13, 2009 10:55:49 GMT
Oh god no.  |
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Post by Dave on Apr 13, 2009 11:04:57 GMT
Well this is irritating. my connection went screwy around the time I posted and now I see my post didn't make it grrr.
So briefly... premise a bit charity episode-ish, show itself very different to what's gone before but still found it entertaining with some funny stuff too. Shouldn't have been split up.
Strange that the crew would be so accepting of the fact they are fictional characters. Expected a twist a the end where we discover that Katerina activated shortly before the hallucination started, so despite getting back to reality she would still be around looking to get rid of Rimmer.
More thoughts later if I can be bothered to retype.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2009 12:06:08 GMT
I also noticed that Katerina wasn't in the ending of part three despite appearing before the halucination. One thing that I don't understand is how they had a halucination that Lister was played by a bloke called Craig Charles and that the show had a fan club. Both of which are correct but how did they know that? The 'reality' that they stepped into brought on by the squid should have consisted of things the crew had stored in the backs of their minds so how did they know that Craig Charles played Lister? The Coronation Street part could be explained away by means of Lister and co. watching a lot of 20th century TV onboard Red Dwarf (in the episode Kryten Lister tried to get the android to watch Easy Rider and in the episode Backwards we catch them watching the Flintstones) so maybe Coronation St. may have been something they watched aboard Red Dwarf at some point (after all Kryten was a fan of little known soap called Androids).
The video tapes replacing DVD's was a good gag as it cleverly explained why, in early episodes the crew used video tapes despite the show being set in the future. On the whole however it was just a load of singular ideas that Doug Naylor had written up and decided to put them all together without thinking whether they would gel.
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 13, 2009 12:18:17 GMT
It was explained by having the hallucination, which must have began as they got out of the diving bell, not when the light appeared, they created a new universe (It's "quantum" as Terry Pratchett would explain it) we exist in that reality or at least one very similar. 8 seiers instead of 10.
I did find it odd that they would so quickly jump to the conclusionthat they were only fictional characters, after all it seemed just as simple to say they had travelled into a universe in which their lives had been turned in ot a sitcom or something, but the Happy Squid seems to work as a cover all in the same way the Despair Squid did.
And it was only an hour long once the breaks are taken out.
I liked it enough to hope for more, the format can definetely be tweaked but the cast still work I just hope more of the funny is brought next time.
Andy
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Apr 13, 2009 16:33:55 GMT
Glad some people liked it, anyway.
I have no sympathy with the posters here who would rather these episodes had never been made, given that they gave some viewers pleasure. Most of us have long since got past that point with things like Transformers - everyone has their favourite eras and no-one expects to love everything. If you don't like something, you just ignore it. And at least unlike with comics you didn't have to spend any money to find out whether you liked this particular incarnation.
And Red Dwarf should be taken even less seriously than Transformers (which kids are intended to follow for the excitement of the plot more than for laughs), because it's a comedy. Criticise the lack of laughs, by all means, but criticising it on continuity points is surely like criticising continuity in The Simpsons or Blackadder.
Martin
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Post by The Doctor on Apr 13, 2009 17:47:02 GMT
Just caught part 3.
Mmmm.
I don't know what went wrong here. The cast stepped back into their old roles effortlessly, the production values were good for what was probably a low budget and the story idea was decent enough. Red Dwarf has always played fast and loose with continuity so not bothered in the slightest that it didn't quite follow on from the last run of episodes.
But it just wasn't funny.
I'm not adverse to more episodes, so long as there are funny bits.
-Ralph
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Apr 13, 2009 20:05:58 GMT
I think Doug Naylor needs to let someone else write Red Dwarf now.
I agree, the cast were as on form as they could be but with the material they had to work with it was an uphill battle.
Andy
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2009 22:04:59 GMT
I agree that the cast handled the roles just like they had never been away. It was the dire script that ruined it.
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Post by Dave on Apr 14, 2009 9:29:23 GMT
Back to Earth fooled people over 3 days But that's not hard or worthy - the show didn't give us anything to indicate it wasn't real. Can't agree with that. The eye guy (and to a lesser extent the comic store guy) seemed to treat them as the characters not the actors. The Creator lived in a huge building in London despite just being the writer of some "sci-fi bollocks". Lister found he could suddenly read Chinese and the Cat was strangely compelled to keep leaving minatures everywhere. Caught the repeat last night and as I thought, seeing the parts one after each other was better than having a day between each, though I agree part 3 could have used more laughs. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2009 12:18:52 GMT
Doug Naylor wasn't the best writer for Red Dwarf anyway. A few years ago I read the Red Dwarf novels and I found some of them quite funny. The first two 'Red Dwarf' and 'Better Than Life' are excellant despite them being in a totally different continuity to the TV series (even though events for the novels were borrowed from the TV series). Both of these novels were written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor before they decided that they would write a Red Dwarf novel each.
Coming afterwards was Doug Naylor's 'Last Human' which isn't all that good a read before Rob Grant wrote 'Backwards' which is very funny in my opinion. The problem however with both 'Last Human' and 'Backwards' is that they are both set directly after the second novel 'Better Than Life'. While 'Backwards' is a fitting second sequel that nicely explains what happened after the second novel 'Last Human' just glosses over the events and starts its own brand new story.
On this note I would have preferred Rob Grant to have written the 'Back to Earth' script as he may have done a better job than what Doug Naylor did.
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Post by Dave on Apr 14, 2009 13:36:30 GMT
I believe the original intention was for the third novel to be another joint effort but it wasn't working out so that's why we ended up with two folow-ups. Been a while since I read 'Backwards' but I did prefer it to 'Last Human'. I've also read his first two non-Dwarf novels and thought they were great.
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