4/5 A very good and very original comedy
  by M. Shepherd
I`ve never been a big fan of Brit comedy, but this is the exception. Red Dwarf is fun, funny, and best of all fairly original.
If you have never seen the show before, think of "The Odd Couple" in outer space. And the main characters have the combined I.Q. of
a turnip. With the rest of their universe being just as nutty. Maybe call it a three way cross between The Odd Couple, Laurel & Hardy,
and Lost in Space. And crazy as that sounds, it really works pretty well.
As with any tv show, some episodes and series are better than others. A lot of them will have you rolling on the floor. Some are only
so-so, but only a handful could be called a poor effort.
All in all pretty good for semi-modern tv.
My personal favorites are series one and series eight.
So grab yourself a beer and some Indian food (if you are self destructive enough) and enjoy the show.


5/5 There's No Other Way To Say It
  by Howard M. Kindel
I'm not the kind of person who goes in for "jargon." But, after watching the first season of Red Dwarf, I have to admit that the only word I can think of to adequately express the essence of the show or the extent of my appreciation for it is "smeggin." It's a great show - yes: a "smeggin" great show. There's nothing about it I don't like. From the opening credits, right through the menu and on to each episode, then right on to the closing credits: it's all absolutely perfect. I will admit, though, that I didn't jump right in and buy the entire collection. Not wanting to get pilloried like the reviewer who did buy the whole series and hated it, I only started with season one - and even that only after reading just about every Amazon review plus the entry for it in Wikipedia. Then, after watching only one episode, I was completely hooked and ordered the complete series. I wouldn't call the show exactly a Sci-Fi sit-com; it's more of an anti-Sci-Fi sit-com, in that it has no Captain and, evidently, no weapons to speak of either. My favorite character (though not by a whole lot) is Holly, the ship computer. Just as the show is anti-Sci-Fi, think of Holly as the anti-HAL - just try to imagine Stanley Kubrick's HAL (or Star Trek Next Generation's ship computer) playing an April Fool prank! And even though, being something of a "neat freak" I sometimes have to cringe at some of Dave Lister's slobbiness, I just cringe and move on. Dave is fantastic. He's the Everyman you can't help but like. And Cat is also fantastic. So many reviewers said he was annoying that I half expected not to like him; but, as with Dave, you can't not like him - any character who uses his tongue to wash his clothes has to be fun to watch. Even Arnold Rimmer is likable - pompous and sanctimonious as he is.
My only complaint with the show is that I'm starting to want to watch only Red Dwarf; and I can't do that, I've bought too many other TV series. I've already watched two of the six episodes from season one a second time; and I plan to watch all six again before I even think about going on to season two - and I don't even particularly like sit-coms, British or otherwise. The only other sit-com series I have is Sports Night - though now I have no idea when I'll ever get to it.

4/5 Red Dwarf Complete Set
  by Lyra Kind (USA)
The set arrived fast, was packaged very well, and is a delight to watch (if I ever have a few hours to spare). I subtracted one star because I felt that it is over-priced compared to other similar TV show sets, but what do I know?
For those who have never seen the series, there are hundreds of remarkable gems in the script, whatever your frame of reference might be. Ahead of its time, but perfect for the casting.

5/5 8 seasons of smegging fun!!!
  by D. Clewett (Sweden)
Extremely good value. There's loads of extras on the DVDs. And there's a booklet for every season, explaining how the series were made etc. Marvelous!! Buy this box of smeg!! =]

4/5 Uneven series, but at its best quite delightful
  by Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA)
This is a series that I very much enjoyed once it hit its stride in Season Three with the addition of the character Kryten to the cast. I even enjoyed it in Seasons 7 and 8 after the very substantial changes the show underwent. The first two seasons were hurt by a very low budget, too small of a cast, and extremely low production values. The budget went up in subsequent seasons, which helped the look of the show and enabled higher production values. And Robert Llewellyn's Kryten instantly became the most charismatic character on the show, providing the perfect blend to the rest of the cast and serving as the catalyst to make the entire group of characters come together.

The series because a very, very different show in Seasons Seven and Eight, partly due to the departure of co-creator Rob Grant and partly due to the change of the show from a sitcom to a dramatic comedy. In addition, Chris Barrie, who played Rimmer in the first six seasons, left the show on a full time basis in Season Seven, before returning in Season Eight.

One thing that doesn't bother me about the series are the numerous continuity errors. Season Three starts, for instance, with Kryten, who had appeared in an early Season Two episode, as a full fledged member of the crew. There is never any explanation as to how this happened. The show has many instances like this. In the new miniseries, Rimmer is suddenly a hologram again, while in Season Eight he had been a human. Perhaps I just missed some explanations, but I can't believe I missed all of them. But really, it doesn't matter. I think they just realized that a slavish devotion to the premise restricted their options. The show was never really about story, so a bit of inconsistency never really amounted to anything.

I hate to say anything negative about a show that I like, but I have to add that I find the number of five-star ratings to be incomprehensible. This is a good show. It is not in my opinion a masterpiece, which is what it would be if it deserved all of the five-star reviews it has received here. At least half of the seasons of the show were weak at best, and the best did not, in my opinion, come up to the standards of the best comedy shows. Lest someone reply that I just don't appreciate British humor let me point out that I recently purchased THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN on DVD, and have long owned MONTY PYTHON and FAWLTY TOWERS. I got an All Regions DVD player so that I could order all of Alastair Sim's films from Great Britain, which I did. I also own nearly all of Will Hay's films, as well as the bulk of the Boulting Brothers romps. But this doesn't mean that I automatically flip out over any and all British humor.

I like RED DWARF; I don't love it. Being the completist that I am, I would nonetheless like to own this on DVD. And if the set was reasonably priced I might consider it. But until the cost for the whole thing drops by about 75% it isn't going to happen.

Thankfully, the title of this say needs revision and might actually need a lot. The miniseries RED DWARF: BACK TO EARTH was recently broadcast (and will soon becoming out on DVD). And there is talk of the series coming back as a regular series.