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

[beedekka]

"Hey, it's my girlfriend, Miranda!"

Legion's "Um, no... I need it to turn the lights on," to Rimmer's enquiry about parting with his amazing modern art ;o)

In fact, the whole dinner scene in Legion, and Rimmer repeatedly banging the front of his head against a wall while Lister smacks the back of it with a pole - who says physical comedy is passé?

Big Boys in Boots magazine.

"Mr Flibble says, 'game over, boys'."

Danny dancing in Tongue Tied.

Tony Hawks.

"Oh no! I'm Dwayne Dibbley!"

Blaize Falconburger.

"My brook is babbled."

Any time people are alternate versions of themselves, especially when Robert is a human.

Eeeeeeeeexxxxxxxtttttttraordinary!


So much more I'm not thinking of right now...

Red Dwarf <3

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, you're right - I think shows are becoming increasingly 'dark' and 'edgy', which hey, I love, but the Dwarfers have a sweetness and innocence to them which is perhaps a product of the series starting in the late 80s? We were more earnest back then *g*. Although I see the same intrinsic sweetness in things such as Cabin Pressure.

[laurenthemself]

Basically all the parts that don't make me froth with rage, I love. So if there's no weird misogyny etc. going on, I am hearteyesing at the screen.

[kronette.livejournal.com]

The entirety of Thanks for the Memory. I tried to have it on as background noise and I couldn't not watch every nuanced performance. It's a damn near perfect episode, on par with Gunmen, I believe.

The original opening theme

Rimmer oiled up in Terrorform

The first m/m kiss I ever saw - Blue

Rimmer's series X uniform

Lister's series 7 white long johns and his series X red ones *mrowr*

Cat's beige outfit from Future Echoes. Such a lovely ass, Mr. John-Jules!

Tongue Tied 'reproduction system baby' to be exact

Rimmer's shoulder shimmy to change from hard light to soft light in Entangled

Kryten falling in love with Camille

[bayliss.livejournal.com]

I can't pick. I think that's because it's so perfectly composed. It's just fabulous.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

When I first watched RD in the 90s, I loved the Cat foremost. I've had cats since I was four years old, and Danny did an amazing job of capturing a feline's attitude and movements translated over to bipedal form and speech and behavior. He's become more "human" in 25 years, but he still has cat moments like batting at the stick and string in "The Beginning" - while giving sage advice.

I also liked Rimmer - who doesn't like Rimmer? He's the most complex of the characters, IMO. It would have been so easy to cast the wrong actor and not gained any sympathy for him, but luckily this was one of those great decisions. Which, I think translates through the rest of the cast as well. They're all perfectly chosen for their characters.

"Marooned" is one of the best episodes to see how Rimmer and Lister have learned to get on because of their differences, not despite them. And it's one of the few times we see Lister's less noble side.

Howard Burden's costuming, 97 percent of the time, is flawless. Now that he's doing Who as well, you can see little touches not necessarily from RD, but that serve the story well that some other designer might not have thought of (I'm thinking of "Day of the Doctor" but can't say anything for spoilers. If I could, I'd point out a costuming choice that was subtle and great.)

[luxblue.livejournal.com]

Lots of the ones already mentioned, also;

The clapping dance in Gunmen
Rimmer's trousers in the 1st uniform
Any version of the Rimmer salute (serious or parody)
'Fried space weevil'

Also the deleted scenes and commentaries from the DVDs, always good for a giggle.

[zeddemore99.livejournal.com]

When Kryten makes that speech about Rimmer in "Justice" and when Rimmer gets Lister to set his jacket on fire in the same ep. Actually that whole ep, Cat's face when he hits that sim with the shovel makes me laugh.

Rimmer's family believing Judas and Jesus switched places in "Lemons"

In "Trojan" when Rimmer asks Cat if he can answer a lateral thinking question and Cat says "A lottery question?" That kills me every time!