Live data from Hacker News

Rob Grant, creator of Red Dwarf, has died

beyondthejoke.co.uk

71–80 of 96 posts

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

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Speaking of which I remember Chris Barrie (who played Rimmer) lamenting some of the filming of Red Dwarf and how he struggled to and gave up on hanging out with Craig Charles (Lister) and Danny John-Jules (Cat) because he'd be tired and ready for bed and they'd just be getting started. And then they'd show up sometimes straight from the clubs to shooting the next morning, or sometimes drunk still, or hungover.

Craig Charles nicked my lighter in Oscar's nightclub in Plymouth in roughly 1991. I wouldn't have minded but it was my Dad's Zippo (RAOC, 7th/11th Armoured Brigade). He asked for a light, wandered off with it and then vanished, whilst I was distracted ahem.

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

#72
post #49

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…

A bit ironic that one of the reasons to leave the show is as he expressed "a wish to have more on his tombstone than just Red Dwarf"

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

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Somehow enough fragments of that stayed in my brain since 2004 to google it. My first and last real-life encounter with the word 'gestalt'.

Memory is such an odd thing: not having thought of it in years, I recalled that Gestalt was a Mac feature to allow it to know its own capabilities:

https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/Gestalt

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

#74
post #49

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…

I read the books as a young teenager in highschool before watching the TV show. I loved the books!

Actually, I realised I lie, I did occasionally watch a few of them in primary school. I remembered being absolutely terrified of Polymorph.

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

#75
post #19

As an American, Red Dwarf along with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy created a deep appreciation both for British humor and funny sci-fi in my adolescent self. I now own the box set on DVD and even have a random Red Dwarf novel I got at a yard sale (I forget which one of them wrote it though). RIP Rob! Will be having a vindaloo, lager, and maybe some fish (Fish! Fish! Fish!) later in your honor (EDIT: 100% talking a…

Red Dwarf is an absolute classic, but I think people of all nations can agree that the American version was better off cancelled. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mlnntKi2no Even the second attempt at it, with Star Trek DS9's Terry Farrell (as Cat), was a bad idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfJsViD9SjM The original was lightning in a bottle.

[dead]

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

#76
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of which I remember Chris Barrie (who played Rimmer) lamenting some of the filming of Red Dwarf and how he struggled to and gave up on hanging out with Craig Charles (Lister) and Danny John-Jules (Cat) because he'd be tired and ready for bed and they'd just be getting started. And then they'd show up sometimes straight from the clubs to shooting the next morning, or sometimes drunk still, or hungover.

Craig Charles nicked my lighter in Oscar's nightclub in Plymouth in roughly 1991. I wouldn't have minded but it was my Dad's Zippo (RAOC, 7th/11th Armoured Brigade). He asked for a light, wandered off with it and then vanished, whilst I was distracted ahem .

This is a perfect Tommy Saxondale story.

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

#78
post #6

Damn. Guess I’ll be smoking some kippers in his memory. Can we get a black bar? On second thoughts, that would mean changing the CSS.

> On second thoughts, that would mean changing the CSS. Bravo.

Dammit Kriten, I want the black bar.

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

#80
> Working together under the name "Grant Naylor", the creators of the series collaboratively wrote two novels. The first, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, was published in November 1989, and it incorporates plot lines from several episodes of the show's first two series. The second novel, Better Than Life, followed in October 1990, and it is largely based on the second-series episode of the same name. Together, the two novels provide expanded backstory and development of the series' principal characters and themes.

If you haven't read the books, please do yourself a favour. They are far far better than the series, have much more depth and have not dated as badly. I loved Red Dwarf when it was on TV (jesus, I was 12 years old..) but I find it a little hard to watch now. Some parts are still great though.

Post reply on HN