wow, am I behind (and just generally being a tit)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Well, maybe not a tit, so much ... mainly just clueless about behind-the-scenes, fandom, etc. etc.

It all started when I wanted to see if there was any review of the second RDX episode taping; someone posted a link a few weeks ago to the G&T episode one taping, and, sure enough, I found the report on Ep. 2. (No real spoilers, BTW.) I liked reading about how they've filmed something referenced on RD before but never filmed (though apparently my memory is shit enough that, unlike some of the commenters, I haven't the foggiest clue what it could actually BE). I also enjoyed the idea of the cast interacting with the audience before filming and "not skulking in the shadows like on some sitcoms." But really, can we imagine any of these guys skulking anywhere? Also, the in the comments, the discussion about Rimmer's relative cuntiness in RDX characterization (boy, you UKers really seem to love using that word, LOL).

Anyway - I started navigating around on the G&T site, reading other stuff, especially reviews. Holy coats, there's really a lot of facts I don't know about this show, its production, background stories (no, I'd never heard Doug and Rob say that Rimmer and Lister were based on themselves, but I am not one whit surprised - I would say it also lends some credence to the remark someone made about Rimmer/Lister not "sounding" as good in the writing after Rob left, except that I have always liked their interaction, yes, even in S8), and the like. A DVD set called "The Bodysnatcher Collection" is definitely something it sounds like I should get my hands on, but I'd never even heard of it before today; apparently it has episode/extras commentaries with Rob and Doug, brought together again well after their professional split to do this. (Which was nice to read, since while it will realistically probably never happen, lends a sliver of hope that maybe Rob could involve himself once more with RD writing at some future point.)

I'd forgotten what it was like to know so much within a fandom (not that I do, here, but seeing others who do, I mean); I remember being in the TNG fandom just a few years after the series started in 1987, and learning all I could and listening to fan and actor stories and the like. (And for those of you who were in a fandom pre-Internet, a sidebar: Isn't it amazing how much we fans of something were able to find out and hear without a Google go-to or email? That's what you call dedication - or insanity.)

All right, there's my pointless rambly post; hey, at least I gave you a link to a taping review! Anyone else as clueless as me, or do you all know everything, LOL? Thoughts generally?

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I was the one who posted that link. :) I found Ganymede and Titan a few months ago. I thought I was a fan, but I have nothing on these guys and girls. The dedicated, in-depth reviews are probably the best thing about the site. Well, that and the generous community spirit which led to me getting a spare ticket from one of them. I am forever grateful. :D

I'm not quite so keen on the endemic use of the C-word, which believe me is just as offensive over here as I assume it is in the US. I think it's some kind of in-joke. I'm used to it now. *Shrug*

I own the "Bodysnatcher Collection" and it's well worth getting. Sadly it was only released in the UK and Australia, but you can watch it if you have a multi-region DVD player. There are currently availability issues though: http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/forum/messages.cfm?threadid=8DC0A150-BE25-29D8-F44BAD04A521B818

Why is it so great? Proper, in-depth documentaries for Series 1 and 2 (they couldn't afford to do that originally), the first three series remastered with commentary on six episodes by Naylor and Ed Bye, a full-length storyboard episode of a "lost" ep from Season 1 performed by Chris and with an audio commentary by Rob Grant(!) and Doug Naylor, who sound perfectly friendly to each other and completed the script especially for this collection. *Deep breath* Chris also performs the 10 minutes or so of the unfinished "Dad" episode (which couldn't really be much slashier) and Rob and Doug commentate on that too. :D I could go on, but you get the point.

Regarding Rimmer's gittiness in Season X, they were referring to the episode I watched. It's not really that bad and is definitely in character. More importantly, it's not directed at his shipmates. Someone who watched the second episode complained he was being too nice, so I don't know what direction Doug's going in. Mid-series Rimmer, at a guess.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I checked eBay for that DVD set - holy frijoles! I'll be fucked if I'm paying $300 for that! I am actually working on trying to save for a trip to the UK later this year or next if they film another series instead, and all my pennies go toward THAT.

Now "Dad" is on one of the seasons in the extras (as is the Cat episode never filmed), and I agree about that slash factor. Very nice. I think I really would probably just like to have this set (affordably, mind) for the Doug and Rob commentaries. Barring that, it would be lovely if someone had transcribed them somewhere to be read. You know of any such place? :-)

Someday, I really want some outside source, like a UK journalist in the know, to write a definitive biography of the show and the participants involved. It's a project I would enjoy doing myself (seeing as I am a journalist), but I don't live there and don't have the free time to devote to cultivating/contacting the proper interview sources, sadly. An Erik Larsen-type book would be fabulous.

(I'm not worried about Rimmer's git-ness. I trust Chris pretty much completely to do whatever he can with the material he's presented to make it palatable.)

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I don't know of anywhere the Rob/Doug commentaries have been transcribed to, sadly. If it's not on G&T (I've been through most of their archives), then it probably doesn't exist.

I suppose I could give it a go myself, but without the episodes in front of you - the lost "Bodysnatcher" ep, the original version of "The End", "Dad" and a few short script extracts, you'd only get half the picture. Or did you mean Doug and Ed Bye on the regular eps?

I own an old episode guide covering Series 1 - 8. It's good for basic info, but not entirely accurate. The reason given for dropping "Dad" was that Rob and Doug felt it was danger of becoming sexist and homophobic. When you actually watch it it's not. The reason, it turns out, was more that Doug was a father already, but Rob wasn't at the time and just couldn't get up the interest to do the script justice. *Lol*

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

Now "Dad" is on one of the seasons in the extras
Which one? I don't remember seeing it. I have all 8 series. ???

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

More importantly, it's not directed at his shipmates. Someone who watched the second episode complained he was being too nice, so I don't know what direction Doug's going in. Mid-series Rimmer, at a guess.

Well, he wasn't exactly mean to the guys in BtE either, so maybe Doug is just taking off from that point. Maybe he's trying to give us a kinder, gentler, more grown up Rimmer.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

It may be a case of "OK to his shipmates, smeghead to anyone else". Katerina would agree, even if it was only a hallucination. ;)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I was rewatching S1 the other night and not having seen it for a while, I was surprised to remember just how much of an asshole Rimmer is at that point. I think there are some fans who want him to stay that way forever because it's a laugh (dare I say it - some male fans? Is that sexist of me? This is the gender that made "Jackass" a hit, after all, LOL). It's just one aspect of his personality, and we've seen it doesn't preclude him being understanding or even kind when he feels like it.

Or, you know, maybe it's just that Rimmer was Rob's creation and Doug was the "kind" influence on the character? I read far too much at G&T last night in case you couldn't tell ....

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Here you go, Bayliss (and anyone else who's interested): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp_7kzsll0Y

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :-)

[leyosura.livejournal.com]

I've been posting on G&T for about three years now, and the guys on there do know their stuff inside-out. You can be pretty sure that if anything's happening that's related to the show then it'll be on G&T. They're also a really good bunch of people.
So: recommended site; worth joining.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

I am a member actually - probably should have made that clearer. I would indeed recommend it to anyone as long as they don't mind swearing. ;)

And as I said before, I'm very grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to see the show live. I'm grinning again just thinking about it. :D

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Oh, swearing doesn't bother me. I don't like the c-word, but I comprehend its usage and context there, so I ignore it. Guess I should've made it clearer I was amused at its popping up all over the place, rather than really appalled.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried to sign up, but I may have to. I read some essays there last night, and agreed with a lot of the points - some of which I've never seen brought up anywhere else, especially on the personality influences on the characters.

[leyosura.livejournal.com]

There's some very interesting stuff on there indeed, and there's several years of it, so there's plenty to look at. It's also a good place for discussion ... much better than the official forum, which I rarely look at.
Yes it can get a bit sweary, but that's sort of the sense of humour over there.
There's a lot of excitement now with the new episodes being filmed, but they thankfully have a strict spoiler policy so you don't have to worry about seeing something that you don't want to (I'm very spoiler-phobic!).

Btw, I'm currently having a revival of PotC fandom, and I'm re-reading some of the old stuff - very old stuff, as in CotBP old - and I've really been enjoying your fic. :-)

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

I'm so uneven about fandoms - some thngs I remember forever, but I don't have a good memory for detailed trivia like which episode such and such occurs in. I'm even a bit vague on episode titles sometimes. But then I remember exceedingly specific things like the commentary on... Rimmerworld, that's it, where CB is talking about how getting oiled is a weird way to spend a day *g*

I was in ST:TOS fandom in the 80s, and yes, it was all newsletters and occasional meeting then. I probably know the TOS eps much better than in other fandoms though, because that made up the bulk of what was actually available to discuss!

Edit: god, I suspect that's NOT Rimmerworld, is it? See, I told you I was bad at titles...

[kronette.livejournal.com]

:D "Terrorform," the episode that gave us oiled up Chris Barrie. I've never forgotten that title LOL!

I can still quote the full speech Kronos gives to Methos in Highlander, episodes "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8", and that aired in 1999. If it's something that makes a mark on my brain, I can't ever forget it. Though, I have been known to completely forget the word for "door" while talking, so there you have it.

I only knew about fandom after I got online. I didn't know about conventions until then, either. I do have a fanzine/newsletter from the A-Team in the mid-80s, though it's stapled and folded more like a little booklet.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

It's "Terrorform". :)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I think it's age, for me. I used to be super-good at titles and quotes back in the Trek fandom, but I was like 20 or so and had room in my brain for all that. Now I'm lucky if I recognize some of the more well-known acronyms for episodes in my current fandom (i.e., BTE, BTR, DJ, SMAC, etc.).

To be fair, there is no way to forget hearing a straight man talking about getting his nipples oiled by a couple of hot women. (Or his co-star going on about how buff he was getting it done.)

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

(Or his co-star going on about how buff he was getting it done.)

Or how that same co-star said he would shag him.

[kronette.livejournal.com]

I didn't look up much about RD when I first got online, though I was heavily into the show at the time. And then I didn't retain a lot of what I'd discovered, or didn't go into great depth, mainly because Highlander fandom was sucking the life out of me at the time :)

I haven't even gotten through all the DVD commentaries/extras yet, though over the Christmas break/vacation, I have made great progress to about 80%. I even found the Easter eggs. I remember reading about Craig's law troubles, in a vague kind of way, but I didn't get into the BTS stuff of the show until this year. And I'm still woefully behind. I didn't know why it was so long between shows, I don't think I even realized Rob was gone.

Yeah, I saw the Bodysnatchers collection online and said "NO WAY". I had a fit at $100 for the 8 series + another $15 for BTE. Though Andrew Ellard tried to convince me on Twitter that it was worth it because he's most proud of the production values and quality of the stuff he got.

I joined G&T after I'd joined the fan club this year, and haven't gotten though the whole site yet, either. I'm not fond of the c-word being tossed about on the boards, either. It's one word that I despise hearing.

Are the Skuttercasts worth listening to? I don't listen to podcasts as a rule, but if they give some good insight, I may try listening.

Don't forget, Chris (re)reads Better Than Life tomorrow on Radio 4! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q08ss

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

I don't know if Rob's decision to break off was in any way conterminous with Chris's decision to leave the show for Brittas, but I've wondered for a while if one may have had anything to do with the other. It appears to me in reading a lot of G&T (as well as my own reading of Rob's handling of Rimmer and subsequent new characters) to be generally acknowledged that Rimmer was Rob's character, and it just seems really coincidental if the character's actor and primary creator both just happened to decide to exit the show at the same time with absolutely no influence from one another.

I haven't listened to any of the 'casts on that site yet, so I can't address your question ...

Don't forget that BTE has commentary, too! What I like about it is it comes so many years after the other commentaries, so you get to hear differences in their perceptions, their lives, etc. (And it's not to be missed for Craig's reference to "Chris Barrie's Massive Tools.")

I already have the BTL parts on my Zune and computer. Did you also download the unabridged 7-hour version from a response to the post I made not long ago looking for it?

[kronette.livejournal.com]

I just started the commentary on S8; BTE is the last on my list. I've been distracted by Downton Abbey.

I was the one who posted that you could download the full unabridged BTL and IWCD from audible.com. It's sort of like watching a movie when you come across it on the television, even though you own it on DVD. Besides, typing this while listening to Chris doing all the voices is fun :D

I'd rather not know about the BTS problems of RD, as 'seeing behind the curtain' has ruined my enjoyment of other shows, though I doubt any new/old news could do anything for Dwarf. I've liked it for too long. THough it would make me sad.

I stand corrected, listening to Chris is distracting. I can barely type.

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

http://twitter.com/#!/NathanCubitt

Back on-topic (kind of), this guy is the official "Making Of" documentarian for Series X. Had to link just for the description under his name. *Lol* :)

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

A distinction most of us would like alongside our appellations, I believe. *G*

[kronette.livejournal.com]

Been following Nathan. I added some of the fan club guys, Ian, DrumJay, Capps, all the official RD fan club & offical sites, Seb, Andrew, G&T, Ed Moore (Dir of Photog), Rob & Doug, Bobby & Danny, SpaceCorpsDirectives (purely for fun), there's even one for Brittas Empire. Whew.

I'm copying out all the tweets that refer to RDX into a Word doc and saving by date (minus the 6 hour time difference, poor Ed was up at 4:30am today). I want to keep a record of how the filming went, with pictures, so I can enjoy the new episodes come September even more :D