Things You Love About Red Dwarf

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Slashy or otherwise?  Most of us would probably cite the humour, slash-friendliness and the attractive and (usually) lovable characters.  Including myself, but being more specific, here's a random list off the top of my head.

"Would you describe the accused as a friend?"  "No, I'd describe the accused as a git."

The colourful fruit setting off Cat's pink jacket in the "Learning To Lie" scene in "Camille".  And of course the scene itself.

Lister's eyes.

Rimmer's face, in general.

"Everybody's dead, Dave."

Holly giggling and fainting when she meets Ace in "Dimension Jump".

Every syllable of Mark Dexter's performance in "Trojan".

The flashback scene in "The Beginning".

Rimmer's blatant jealousy of the friendliness between Lister and Ace.

Lister's white longjohns in "Duct Soup".

The Kiss.  And The Hug.

Rimmer getting oiled in "Terrorform".

The off-screen camaraderie between the cast.

Canon m-preg and female AU.

Rimmer's exam terror (especially in the book.  Most of us have been there to some extent).

Dave Lister's optimistic grin.

The Kryten / Lister friendship, especially in Series IV.

Rimmer's gradual journey to being more sympathetic.

Cat's outfits and self-confidence.

"Or we could use the teleporter."

"I hardly said anything.  Apart from "Geronimo" ".

The drunk scene in "Thanks For The Memory".

Etc, etc.

Thinking about it, another thing I enjoy is the fact that we can discuss and enjoy these characters without having to justify horrendous things.  For example: "I know Character A murdered Character B, but B deserved it!  He raped A's wife / kidnapped A's kids / committed mass murder".
To which a B fan replies: "But he had a terrible childhood!".

This isn't a dig at any particular fandom or show - I myself have enjoyed some shows with characters like that.  But then when I start to think about it, it starts to spoil the show for me.

I'm glad the Boyz from the Dwarf remain largely likable even under analysis.  Which isn't to say they haven't done some questionable things (I'm glossing over Series VIII here), but the comedy aspect keeps things lighthearted more often than not.

So, enough from me.  What do you love about the show?

Comments

[janamelie.livejournal.com]

Of course, the show is a sitcom, but even those can be dark sometimes. Which isn't to say RD isn't on occasion. Thinking about it, it's amazing that such a bleak set-up yields so many laughs.

I suppose that's down to Lister's natural optimism as well as the quality of the writing and the funny cast. :)

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

True - I was going to say that it's tragedy played as comedy. And yet hilarious.