Return to Red Dwarf

I was introduced to a TV series called Red Dwarf (based on the books by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor) at a pretty young age. I remember it was a Christmas and my sister had received a VHS (yeah, it was a long time ago) of three episodes from my dad. I had never heard of the show or the books, but I decided to give it view and see what I thought of it. After the first few minutes of the first episode, I knew I liked the show. I liked the characters (who doesn’t love Lister or The Cat? Kryten and Rimmer are also well defined and are a good counter to Lister/The Cat. Holly also tends to steal any scene he/she is in [I preferred the male Holly].)  and the humor.

From that point on, I always held Red Dwarf in high regards. I eventually found that the show aired on the local PBS station occasionally. All the while I enjoyed every minute I was able to see. My love of the show led me to my first conversation(s) with the guy who eventually became the best man at my wedding.

As the years went by, I still got to see an occasional episode on TV but my interests started to turn to other things. I still held a special place for Red Dwarf, but when it came out on DVD, I never could rationalize paying the price for it (if I remember correctly, it was like $40 for 6 episodes). So, that was just about the end of the Mikey-Red Dwarf saga.

Then, Netflix comes into the picture. I put all the seasons of Red Dwarf on the queue. Eventually I get the first season. I sit down and watch it. While, I enjoy it, I do feel that it is missing a bit (maybe it’s because Kryten doesn’t show up at all). So, after that, I decide to take all the later seasons off my queue. Deciding that the show just didn’t hold up over time.

Then, Netflix comes into the picture…um…again. As I posteda while back, Netflix is now offering video that you can watch directly from your computer. I checked it out, but the list of titles available to watch now was limited. I did, however, notice that all the seasons of Red Dwarf were on there.

A couple of weeks go by, I go to the watch it now screen and see the Red Dwarf sitting there. But I am still hesitant to hit play. Is it better to leave it a great memory or should I revisit it and maybe ruin the memory?

This brings us up to last week (or so, I don’t remember the exact day). I finally decided to check out the second season. After the first episode, I realized exactly why I loved the Red Dwarf series. It still holds up today (except, the first season was kind of weak, apparently). I rip through the second series with in a couple of days. The love I knew as a boy has been rekindled.

As of the time I am writing this, I have watched the entire second and third seasons. It turns out that the VHS my sis had gotten was from the third season. Growing up, I thoguht that those episodes on VHS were the best episodes of the entire series. Now that I have gone back, I realize that while a couple of the episode are really good (SDRAWKCAB and Polymorph) they are not the best.

Here is my top two episodes as of 3/21/2007:

1) Queeg – Season 2

This episode started up and there wasn’t any huge jokes. The episode continues and still not much. I start thinking that it is one of the worst episodes. Then out of no where, a huge twist and big laughs. I love it because it breaks the mold of the other episodes.

So, if you were to watch one episode, I’d suggest going to my number two episode. If you are a Red Dwarf connoisseur, Queeg is an absolute must see.

2) Better Than Life – Season 2

This episode was eventually spun off into a book and a second episode. So, you know there is something to it.

The basic premise is that there is a video game that is “Better than Life.” In the game, you can get anything you can dream of. This leads to fun and amusement as we get to see what type things each character desires.

The humor comes quick and often throughout the episode.

If you are new to Red Dwarf and you only want to watch one episode to try it out, this is the one I’d suggest.