Red Dwarf Review: "Back to Earth"

Airdate: 10-12 April, 2009

Synopsis: It's been nine years since Rimmer kneed Death in the pelvis on board a burning Red Dwarf. Since then, Red Dwarf seems to be back in order... albeit empty again. Holly is out of commission, flooded out thanks to Lister. Kochanski is dead, and Lister is still in mourning. After noticing low water supplies, the crew discover that a giant squid is in their water tank. Said squid is rapidly replaced by a former crewmember, Katerina Bartikovsky, who declares that Rimmer's run time is to be terminated due to his incompetence, and that Lister (with the help of some squid DNA) is to go back in time and repopulate humanity. Learning that they inhabit an "invalid" dimension, the crew (and Bartikovsky) are sent to a "real" dimension- Earth 2009, where they learn they are part of a mere TV show.

Review: Ten years is a mighty long time in between episodes- essentially, a generation change. The internet became a true necessity, the economy rose and fell, terrorists committed high-profile attacks in London and the Northeastern US (amongst other locations), London had begun to prepare for the Olympic games, there were two American presidents, the office of the UK PM changed hands, and the popularity of the Labour Party slowly cratered... amongst other events.

Once BtE premiered, it polarized fandom beyond any fears. Those that didn't love it hated it.

So, the question is, can Red Dwarf still hold it's own after a 10-year hiatus (and 15 years since the last truly great Red Dwarf episode)?

Well, let me put it this way: I liked it quite a bit more than I was expecting to. Or maybe I was so let down by shlock like "Krytie TV" and "Pete" that anything would be an improvement! More after the break!

Red Dwarf: "Back to Earth" Preview

"Remember: only the good die young."
"That's... never happened before."

With those two sentences (and "The End"/"The Smeg It Is" slides), on 5 April, 1999, Red Dwarf VIII faded away into Britcom history. Initially hailed as a return to form by many a fan, it's reputation slipped quite a bit over ten years. By 2009, those that hated Series VIII loathed it. I consider "Krytie TV" and "Pete Part II" to be the worst episodes in British sci-fi history, and British comedy history. Yes. Worse than "The Twin Dilemma". Worse than The Wright Way. The only worthwhile episode in that entire piece of schlock is "Cassandra", and even that's held back by off pacing and awkward character moments.

Yet, at the time, it was popular enough to bring up a question: will there be a movie?

Wait, There Was a Red Dwarf Movie Planned?

Movie spin-offs of TV shows are relatively commonplace. Yet, it would be a testament to the power of Red Dwarf if there was an actual theatrical spin-off. Theatrical movies directly spun off from sitcoms are something of an unusual breed (correct me if I'm wrong), and almost unheard of when it pertains to Britcoms.

Ultimately, the film never really went through.

Actually, if Doug Naylor is to be believed, a script was written, and they had plans for production. However, setback after setback, false funding after contract failure, damned the project. The BBC didn't feel the script was up to par for a theatre. Maybe they learned their lesson from Series VIII. Or, maybe they were too busy concentrating on what appeared to be their new cash cow in the making, some little show called Doctor Who.

So, the project was going nowhere. However, between February and August of 2008, BBC Worldwide appeared to strike a deal with Naylor: produce a mini-series consisting of three episodes, at least two of which could easily be strung into something resembling movie.

Thus, Back to Earth was born.

So, How the Hell Was This Thing Produced?

Intended to be two episodes and Red Dwarf Unplugged, the movie was expanded to three episodes.

A big problem facing production? The thing barely had a budget. With the script's plans, the writers decided to (yet again) kibosh the studio audience to save money they barely even had. By kibosh, I mean it was decided not to even bring an audience in to record their reaction as the episodes aired. Thus, for the first time in history, Red Dwarf was literally laughless.

Sets were done on the cheap: half of the sets were built out of things they found in the closet. Camerawork was done to try and make it seem the thing had a bigger budget than it actually did. The crew was brought in to be extras. Yes, they didn't have money for extras.

Speaking of which, the casting was, well, troublesome. Norman Lovett was told to clear his schedule for filming dates. Ultimately, it was decided that he wasn't needed. Thing was, he was never informed that he wasn't needed until it was too late. Infuriated, Naylor went on record to declare that, as far as his acting career went, the franchise was dead. (He appears to have since reconciled with Naylor.)

Chloe Annett was also asked to join up. It would appear that her experience with the movie went far more smoothly. Why? Well... they used a picture of her at the beginning, for one. The producers and her agent must've gotten along well.

This episode also seemed to eschew the "traditional" camera yet again, going back to a filmised-style seen in Series VII. This time, the red-camera system was used. Effects seemed to reach a happier medium, with a cross between CGI and models used. Red Dwarf, for example, had it's model rebuilt (thank god).

So, what was the end result? Guess it's time to watch.

It's back to Red Dwarf.

It's Back to Earth.

Gravity Falls Review: Season 2, Episode 4: "Sock Opera"

"WE HAVE A TITLE!"- Joel and the Bots, MST3K ("I Accuse My Parents")

Airdate: September 8, 2014

Synopsis: Mabel's "boyfriend of the week" is a puppet snob. Getting trapped in a lie, she needs to produce a decent puppet show. This interferes with Dipper's goal to secure the password to the laptop they found a couple of episodes back. Running out of options and time, he manages to come across a certain isosceles monster, who is willing to make a deal... seemingly.

Review: While Gravity Falls normally has awesome character development, a sizable chunk of it has been centered on Dipper and Stan. Mabel seems to have been put behind as far as character development goes. This episode goes far in trying to flesh her out, and in doing so, continues a streak of fantastic episodes.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 18: "This Little Wiggy"

Airdate: March 22nd, 1998

Synopsis: After noticing that Ralph is constantly bulled due to his "off" character, Marge arranges a meetup between Ralph and Bart, much to the latter's chagrin. As Bart realises the power his father lords as the chief of police, such as having the master key, Bart begins to use Ralph to break into various places, like a toy store, a bakery, and a local jail.

Review: If ever I were to pick the best "valentines day" episode of any show ever, it would probably have to be "I Love Lisa". Not only does it have a simple yet compelling story between the ditzy yet soft-hearted Ralph and the intellectual yet occasionally aloof Lisa, but it also showcased that Ralph was more than just a prop character, a "kid in the back". He was a loner, ostracised because of his ditzy behaviour, yet was an utter savant when it came to the stage. It's probably my favourite "holiday" episode of The Simpsons by quite a margin. If ever you need proof that the classic seasons of The Simpsons were able to craft some of the most fantastic characters in TV history, watch that episode.

I bring that epsiode up because, again, Ralph is the centre of an episode revolved around him. You can feel the difference in the two episodes. One gives him natural character development that pulls at almost every emotion imaginable, whilst not being overtly sappy. The other tries too hard to be funny, and as a result, seems to reserve it's characters to joke fodder.

The Scully Era was infamous for taking certain traits that the characters had, exaggerating them, and making it the centre of their characters, if not their only discernible trait. As I mentioned before, Homer's moments of selfishness and his occasional lapse in judgement were transformed into a impulsive sociopath at the centre of the universe. However, he was merely the most infamous example: pretty much every character was either mishandled or exaggerated, and Ralph got it almost as bad as Homer. From a somewhat ditzy, slow on the uptake kid, Ralph is rapidly degenerated to outright insane levels of ditzy-ness.

Now, cartoonish exaggeration of traits can be a good thing... but they have to be done well. Take, for example, Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Series 1 and 2 just showed him as a neat freak jerkass who never seemed to have moments of happiness. When Rimmer acted like a jackass from Series 3 on, he was portrayed as a madman who made you wonder why Holly never turned him off. However, that was balanced by insights into his life, which showed a childhood that was miserable in every regard. Thus, while the character was still funny, he was also very much a relatable character.

Ralph does get a little bit of development- walking into a haunted penitentiary to get the master key, and chasing after a rat do suggest a braver Ralph- yet it's but brief, and only used to lead to the stupidest episode conclusion thus far.

Every single manoeuvre, every single line... it's all coincidence after coincidence. Poor attempts at red herrings abound, and the end result is a mess. Lampshading it, at least in this instance, does not help matters. I'll give the writers that the town is stupid, but the dearth of comedy? Come on.

It's really just an episode that's not really memorable for the humour as much as it is for the potential character development it squandered. If anything, this episode is a sign- character development and comedy were slowly being replaced by zany plots, insert character here.

Tidbits:

• I've got nothing. This epsiode was really a dead-zone for comedy.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1. There was nothing really irritating about Homer here.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5. Most of the silly stuff is done based on coincidence. 

Favourite Scene: OK, I'll give the scene at the Knowledgeum credit. That was pretty damn funny.

Least Favourite Scene: It's a tie between the first half of the second act, and the last four minutes. Can't choose what irritated me more: the dryness or the stupidity.

Score: 5.

September Announcements

So, August wasn't really too productive of a month for me. Why? I just fell lazy. Which begs the question: what about the rest of the year?

Well, here's the state of the blog.

First off, my plans to go back and look at Red Dwarf from episode 1? For now, those are on the back burner... probably for about a year or so. Why? Simply put, I feel that I am still too close to my reviews of the show. Also, I have other plans involving the show.

You see, I want to review Red Dwarf X, putting out reviews of each episode on the 2-year anniversary of their airdate. That, and with Red Dwarf XI possibly coming next year, I want that to pass as well before I take a look back at series I.

For now, the following shows are on my table:

• Gravity Falls reviews will still go out as normal, about 2-3 days after the new episodes air. If this season is the last, then after this season airs, after I have a nice long sob, I'll go back and redo my original reviews.
• As for Scullyfied Simpsons, my review for "This Little Wiggy" should probably go out later this week. I'm going to try and do a review every week, if not every other week. I'll probably increase the frequency of my reviews as we enter the zany idiocy of season 10.
• I'm also thinking of doing a fourth show. So far, the following are in "contention":
• Star Trek: Enterprise, simply because it's sort of ignored in the Star Trek fandom.  I want to see how it holds up 13-14 years later.
• Star Trek: The Original Series, with what's going on in the world today, it would be an interesting idea to take a look at the 60s and see just how similar it is to the 2010s.
• Futurama, albeit with a caveat: if I review Futurama, it's getting it's own blog. Why? Because Futurama is simply that awesome.
• Twin Peaks, a show that I consider the spiritual grandfather to Gravity Falls.
• Steven Universe, another show that could have it's own blog due to the sheer amount of episodes available, plus the awesomeness of the show itself.
• Probably not making it, but still a decent contender, is Galactica 1980.

So, that's the state of the blog. I'm alright, I just fell lazy this August.