Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Red Dwarf" is a 25-minute television short film from almost 25 years ago that was intended to launch the American take on the famous British comedy series with the same name. Science Fiction meets Comedy is something that is not really common. The lead actor here is Craig Bierko who I know from "Boston Legal". Obviously, he was still a lot younger here when "Red Dwarf" was made. The director is "Night Court" and "Malcolm in the Middle" maker Jeff Melman and this one here was probably among his least successful career works. All in all, this is a fairly forgettable watch. I am not familiar with the British series, but I am sure that this one isn't that great either. It's not that amateurs made this one here really and Bierko is a talented actor. I probably would not have kept watching though if this series had continued, so my final verdict is thumbs down.

Nick G I've seen both of the US pilots (the pilot and the promo) in rather fuzzy videos I downloaded off a website (which has since been ordered to remove all its downloads for legal reasons). This pilot has quite a few problems and some redeeming features, which I'll go through now.One major problem is the casting, and this applies to both pilots. As talented an actor as he is, Craig Bierko does not fit the image of Lister. The ideal Americanised Lister would have been someone less good-looking, who is preferably Hispanic. And the man who played First Officer Munson really annoyed me, for some reason. Apart from them, though, I have no problem with the cast for the first pilot. It's the second pilot (the promo) in which the cast needed serious alteration. I can't for the life of me understand why they replaced Hinton Battle with Terry Farrell. Hinton Battle was fantastic as the Cat, just as good as Danny John-Jules, and perfectly captured the Cat's character. Whereas Terry Farrell played a completely different Cat character: a fearless feline woman with a go-it-alone attitude. There was no real point in the change. And, as either Rob Grant or Doug Naylor said, "It's not funny if she says 'Hey, I'm fabulous-looking' because she is."And there's also the replacement of Chris Eigeman with Anthony Fuscle. Don't get me wrong, Anthony Fuscle was good. But Chris Eigeman was better.The second problem is that the first pilot is just 25 minutes long, including the credits sequences. The original BBC pilot was 30 minutes long, and with the added plot lines of Kryten's involvement, Lister and Kochanski's breakup and the "you gotta..." thing at the end, the pilot really ought to have been lengthened. In fact, it would have been better as a one-hour special (with about 45 minutes of content) - that way they might have been able to flesh out Rimmer's character a bit more, and make his resurrection as a hologram have more impact. The second pilot isn't meant to have a plot, really, it's just meant to be an introduction, but that left me a bit unsatisfied at the end. The third and fourth problems are the replacement of Rimmer's "H" with a silver sphere, and the theme music. Thankfully they were both changed in the second pilot. Now for the good points. The first pilot puts its 25 minutes to fairly good use. Robert Llewellyn, as always, is absolutely amazing as Kryten, and Jane Leeves plays a very good Holly (I suppose it's fortunate that the pilot never took off, though, because she wouldn't have been able to play Daphne on Frasier). The rehashed jokes are delivered fairly well, and the new jokes are for the most part very good (for example, Lister's line about his baseball cards and Kryten on reading the FIRE EXIT sign). The ending, with the "you gotta..." thing is very interesting indeed, as is Holly's video diary. Also, in the second pilot, the newly filmed "From Future Episodes" parts at the end is quite funny. So, in closing, Red Dwarf USA doesn't really measure up to the original BBC version. But, when judged on its own merits, it makes an okay TV show.

guyfromoh I just managed to see the pilot to the US version of Red Dwarf, which apparently was never screened. It is almost entirely the same dialog as the first episode of the original series. There's lots of recycled footage, in fact, I didn't see any original effects. The only major difference, except for different actors, is that they introduced Kryten from the beginning. Kryten was still played by Robert Llewellyn. There was also a funny animation of the cat's evolution. I can't imagine how small the budget must have been on this pilot. I think real Red Dwarf fans wouldn't like it because it's just a rip off of the UK version. Non-fans wouldn't like it because they failed to bridge the Atlantic comedy gap, which I assume was the point of trying to make a US version of the series. If this pilot is anything like what the US version would have been, then I guess I'm glad it failed. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

bjh-1 The version I saw had poor video quality and the audio was out of synch. But that's not what bothered me, I just didn't get the point. If you're going to do an adaptation then change stuff (more than just bringing Kryton in early), a genuine american take on the idea not just the script would be interesting. This is just recycled jokes, carbon copy characters who didn't suit the actors. I mean the original IS in english, so what's the point?