Red Dwarf: The Original Series One and The Original Series Two
May 2003 Reviewed by: Anthony Di Marco Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The majority of television programming is garbage: cookie-cutter sitcoms, melodramatic movies of the week, and sensationalism support a medium that pacifies an audience rather than mentally captivating it. There are some diamonds in the rough, including Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and NBC’s Scrubs, which mix broad humor with pitch-perfect observations about the human condition. But taken together, these are but an hour of viewing within a day’s airtime. That’s not great odds.

DVD does its part to improve these chances by offering older, higher-quality television shows in complete-season DVD sets. Red Dwarf is one of them. Just released by the BBC, the first two seasons of this very original British comedy not only had me laughing out loud, but also contemplating the meaning of life through observing the day-to-day struggles of the crew on the cargo ship Red Dwarf.

By "crew" I mean one imbecilic human named Dave Lister, one imbecilic hologram named Arnold "Ace" Rimmer, one freakishly evolved cat named "Cat," and one terribly bored computer named Holly. This is not an average collection of sitcom characters and the plotline isn’t in the same universe as any sitcom I’ve ever seen.

You wouldn’t expect a comedy to deal intelligently with death, the existence of the human soul, evolution, religion, or the essence of wisdom. However, writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor manage to convey these existential constructs and create memorable and interesting characters, all within a half hour. Take Holly for example. After having been "alone" for three million years, Holly has managed to purge his database of insignificant facts. At one point the computer quips that he remembered what page contained pornographic text in the Second Impression, but could not recollect whether its author was German or Russian. The seemingly artificial life form also developed a sense of humor as well as more self-centered and quirky behavior. It would seem that given enough time, even artificial life forms could evolve in the Red Dwarf "reality."

Throughout the series, there’s the idea of the body being merely a vessel to transport the human soul and personality. The relationship between Lister and a hologram image of his not-so-dearly-departed bunkmate Rimmer is far from perfect or affectionate. But it does offer some profound observations about the need for human companionship. Rimmer may not be a corporeal being, but his abrasive and anal-retentive personality keeps Lister from becoming lonely.

The show also ingeniously tackles evolution and religion through the character of a cat, and asks the question: What would happen if a cat were to evolve over a million years with only its instincts and the dreams of its imbecile owner intact? Cat symbolizes human evolution and breaks it down into matters of behavior and the need for humans to believe that something exists beyond us -- even if what we believe is completely ridiculous. Red Dwarf maintains that religion isn’t connected to a supernatural deity per se, but is myth that evolves over thousands of years into legend and, ultimately, truth.

Red Dwarf originally aired on television, and by the looks of the first season, received no more than two cents to rub together for a budget. The second season has more colorful and complicated sets and more adventures for the crew outside the ship. Video quality for both seasons is slightly soft but has good color. Audio is nothing special. At times I had to scan back to make out some thick accents, but on the whole vocal intelligibility is good. Video and audio are commensurate with what one would see via well-transmitted cable.

Special features are excellent and plentiful. Two top-notch documentaries, deleted scenes, kitschy music videos, outtakes, model shots, TV spots, a Japanese episode, "Tongue Tied: The Uncut Version," and some very candid commentaries from the cast had me laughing as well as gaining respect for the risks that all involved took in giving life to the show. Even more interesting were excerpts from the Red Dwarf audio book. Verbal descriptions that took the place of visualizations gave added insight into the complex ideas the producers wanted the show to convey, but did sound a bit dry compared to what the cast did with the same script. It made me realize how important the personality of each actor was to the feel and character of Red Dwarf. This is the best collection of features I have seen on a DVD treatment of a television series.

I never got a chance, growing up, to enjoy or respect the vast collection of brilliant television shows from the U.K. My parents considered shows like Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, The Young Ones, and Red Dwarf a little too risqué for a teenager. Now, thanks to DVD releases like this one, I am able to enjoy their wonderful plot lines as an adult.

I cannot wait for the remainder of the Red Dwarf series to make it to DVD.

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