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Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

beyondthejoke.co.uk

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Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#41

Post by jeffwask »

nephihaha wrote: post #32
JojoFatsani wrote: post #28

There was nothing like Red Dwarf on TF (British or American) back then - a laugh-tracked show that could be simultaneously the most hilarious dry wit, not-so-dry bawdy humor, and a compelling and thought-provoking sci-fi action-adventure all at the same time. I fell off it after they had that comeback season roughly in 2000 where the whole ship got revived. Then I saw a few clips from a later season where everyone wa…

I watched the whole lot thanks to lockdown. I used to like up until series six or so, but had a look at the later ones. Yes, the actors certainly all look more "lived in" nowadays. The later series/seasons are very uneven, which surprised me. I stopped watching originally around when Chloe Annette's Kochanski was introduced but I was surprised that instead of a steady decline that the quality was very up and down.

I rewatch it a lot and the only season I skip is 9. There are a couple bad later episodes I'll skip but there are more than a few bangers in the later seasons.

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#42

Post by ColinEberhardt »

kinlan wrote: post #39
nephihaha wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I remember him. He briefly had his own show called "I Lovett" or something like that. Also spent time in Bangor back in the mid nineties.

I still spend time in Bangor

One drunken night in the company of Norman Lovett was enough for me :-)

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#44

Post by evanelias »

ddellacosta wrote: post #21
afandian wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it was written by: > Grant Naylor is a gestalt entity occupying two bodies, one of which lives in north London, the other in south London. The product of a horribly botched genetic-engineering experiment, which took place in Manchester in the late fifties, they try to eke out two existences with only one mind. They attended the same school and the same university, but, for tax reasons, have completely different…

Haha I went and actually looked and yep, that's it...no wonder I couldn't remember

Yeah the first two novels were credited to their "Grant Naylor" partnership, and they're both excellent.

After that, they each wrote an additional Red Dwarf novel individually / separately. Personally I've never come across those last two novels, although I always check for them whenever visiting a used book store. Maybe they were only released in the UK. They're available on Amazon in the US, but I haven't quite given up hope on stumbling across them naturally yet...

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#45

Post by evanelias »

jeffwask wrote: post #41
nephihaha wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watched the whole lot thanks to lockdown. I used to like up until series six or so, but had a look at the later ones. Yes, the actors certainly all look more "lived in" nowadays. The later series/seasons are very uneven, which surprised me. I stopped watching originally around when Chloe Annette's Kochanski was introduced but I was surprised that instead of a steady decline that the quality was very up and down.

I rewatch it a lot and the only season I skip is 9. There are a couple bad later episodes I'll skip but there are more than a few bangers in the later seasons.

Ditto here, season 9 ("Back to Earth") is the only one I have no desire to rewatch.

Season 12 is particularly good though. In my opinion, the first and last episodes of that season are among the funniest they've ever done!

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#46

Post by KineticLensman »

nephihaha wrote: post #32
JojoFatsani wrote: post #28

There was nothing like Red Dwarf on TF (British or American) back then - a laugh-tracked show that could be simultaneously the most hilarious dry wit, not-so-dry bawdy humor, and a compelling and thought-provoking sci-fi action-adventure all at the same time. I fell off it after they had that comeback season roughly in 2000 where the whole ship got revived. Then I saw a few clips from a later season where everyone wa…

I watched the whole lot thanks to lockdown. I used to like up until series six or so, but had a look at the later ones. Yes, the actors certainly all look more "lived in" nowadays. The later series/seasons are very uneven, which surprised me. I stopped watching originally around when Chloe Annette's Kochanski was introduced but I was surprised that instead of a steady decline that the quality was very up and down.

Yes. Kryten had definitely been at the pies

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#47

Post by mrwh »

nephihaha wrote: post #35
mrwh wrote: post #3

It's cold outside There's no kind of atmosphere I'm all alone More or less Let me fly Far away from here Fun fun fun In the sun sun sun I want to lie Shipwrecked and comatose Drinking fresh Mango juice Goldfish shoals Nibbling at my toes Fun fun fun In the sun sun sun Fun fun fun In the sun sun sun

For a brief period there it was fashionable to have fish nibbling at your feet (in the 2010s?). Not goldfish shoals although that is probably what Lister wanted to farm in Fiji.

If Fiji was under water by then, wasn't his plan to give the sheep snorkels? There's a hazy memory from 30 years ago.

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#49

Post by afavour »

JojoFatsani wrote: post #28

There was nothing like Red Dwarf on TF (British or American) back then - a laugh-tracked show that could be simultaneously the most hilarious dry wit, not-so-dry bawdy humor, and a compelling and thought-provoking sci-fi action-adventure all at the same time. I fell off it after they had that comeback season roughly in 2000 where the whole ship got revived. Then I saw a few clips from a later season where everyone wa…

Very on topic: Rob Grant left the show after the sixth series. I think the lack of his influence was immediately apparent, a lot of the depth was lost. Like how the transition from series 2 to series 3 got a lot more action-y, 6 to 7 started to lean more on established tropes etc (IMO).

Also of note: Grant and Naylor wrote a series of Red Dwarf novels that were surprisingly good. They really fleshed out a lot of the character behind Lister and Rimmer. One novel goes deep on the concept of Better than Life, a one episode throwaway in the show but expanded to true horror in the novel.

They split (same time as they split on the show) and wrote separate novels in different continuity in the end. IMO Grant’s was notably better.

Re: Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

#50

Post by afavour »

evanelias wrote: post #44
ddellacosta wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha I went and actually looked and yep, that's it...no wonder I couldn't remember

Yeah the first two novels were credited to their "Grant Naylor" partnership, and they're both excellent. After that, they each wrote an additional Red Dwarf novel individually / separately. Personally I've never come across those last two novels, although I always check for them whenever visiting a used book store. Maybe they were only released in the UK. They're available on Amazon in the US, but I haven't quite giv…

I’ve read both. It’s been years but Grant’s, Backwards, was notably better than Naylor’s, Last Human.

Backwards spent the first section of the book in the backwards universe, over years. It’s has an interesting exploration of the implications of that universe. By comparison Last Human wraps that up in a few pages and spends most of its time dealing with android assassins.

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