Red Dwarf To Return, Find Earth 298
Lawrence Person writes "Everyone's favorite live-action science fiction comedy series will finally return to TV, with Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat all making it to Earth. The new two-part series Red Dwarf: Back to Earth will appear on digital channel Dave, will be written and directed by Red Dwarf co-creator Doug Naylor, and will reunite the line-up. 'It will sit alongside two further new episodes — the improvised Red Dwarf: Unplugged, which will feature the cast dealing with no sets, effects or autocue, and Red Dwarf: the Making of Back to Earth, a behind the scenes look at the new production.' Personally, I think this is pretty smegging fantastic."
Written by Doug Naylor. So expect crap. (Score:4, Insightful)
Season 7 and 8 levels of crap.
Re:Written by Doug Naylor. So expect crap. (Score:5, Insightful)
When Rob Grant left, it all went to hell.
It was a real shame to see a show I loved, grow from very humble beginnings, develop into something delightful (despite its still significant budget restraints) and then have to watch through two agonisingly bad series of death throws.
It looks like it wasn't quite dead though.
Quick! Someone get a shovel!
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When it aired, I didn't manage to make it through season 7. It was just too painful. Never saw season 8 when it was airing, but borrowed the DVD's from a mate. Tried to watch some of them but... in the end settled for seeing how it ended. And it ended BADLY.
Rimmer kicking the anthropomorphic version of Death in the nuts? WTF?
Re:Written by Doug Naylor. So expect crap. (Score:4, Interesting)
I thought Rimmer kicking death in the yabos was a great moment. The show was always corny. What makes it great is the interplay between the actors. There have always been times in the show when the writing wasn't what carried it. Not the same show? Okay. Still funny for most of the same reasons? Yes. Looking forward to this new stuff? Ab-so-smegging-lutely.
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Rimmer kicking the anthropomorphic version of Death in the nuts? WTF?
It's a great counter to his (original self's) earlier exchange with Lister in "Future Echoes":
Lister: Come in number 169, your time is up. OK, what was I wearing?
Rimmer: Ahhh... that jacket, and that red T-shirt.
[Lister pulls out his hat and replaces it on his head, then yanks a hefty length of piping off the wall.]
Lister: You said yourself, I can't stop it. Let's get it over with.
Rimmer: Ah, Lister, what's that for?
Lister: I'm goin' out like I came in: screaming and kicking.
Rimmer: You can't whack death on
Re:Written by Doug Naylor. So expect crap. (Score:4, Funny)
I'm a huge fan of red dwarf, so I somehow feel like I suddenly have the authority to post spelling/grammar corrections in this story.
death throws.
That's death throes. http://xkcd.com/386/ [xkcd.com]
BTW I actually totally agree with you - I only watch seasons 7 and 8 out of loyalty. 1-6 still really rule hard.
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Even if it's crap it's not worth missing. Even when the stories got a little stale I thought that it was still good I liked that caliber of dedication by the actors and the fact that they are all excited to come back so many years later to finish it off is great. Though I thought that it wasn't going to be written by just doug nailer in the coffin :(
But it will be a good farewell I think, and I won't have to sit around thinking "but what next" for the next 40 years(even if it's not like the original I sti
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"even if it's not like the original I still sit down and watch the whole series some weekends"
What I wouldn't give to have a machine that erases the memory of things like RD, so that I could sit and watch it all again. Sometimes it would be nice to be like Holly in that regard.
Indeed (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Indeed (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't recall the Earth being destroyed. Lister was in stasis for a long, long time as the ship drifted further and further away, but IIRC, Earth was still there - just unreachable in any reasonable length of time (kind of like Dark Star). (Feel free to correct my bad memory.)
But, there was at least one episode where the crew does go back in time to visit Earth. I liked it just because it was so terribly un-P.C. to suggest that JFK needed to be assassinated in order to save the U.S. (Not unrealistic, just not P.C.)
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In the book (and it's a long time since I read it) the Earth still exists bit it's been turned into huge garbage dump. At some point, Lister returns and becomes friends with the new dominant species - cockroaches.
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I don't know whether or not you're in the U.S. Here, suggesting that JFK was anything but a superb president will inspire violent responses from a large portion of the populace that was alive when he was assassinated. The anger, grief, confusion, confused patriotism, and fear that gripped the nation after that event has, in many minds, overshadowed the debacle that was his presidency. He was popular, good looking, and died in office - Many people have heroized him. I've talked to people that actually bl
They did the same thing on Lexx (Score:5, Informative)
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Red Dwarf jumped the shark when they brought back the old crew.
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No, its season 7&8. 1&2 were the real thing, 3-6 were ok. 7&8 were unwatchable.
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Are you really talking about elaborate sets in conjunction with Red Dwarf?
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For a counterexample, I quite liked the Doctor Who series set on Earth with Jon Pertwee, UNIT and the Brigadier. (Shown as repeats - I'm not that old!)
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Absolutely - classic era Who, though I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so I've no idea how well it's aged. It's certainly better than the current series, at least through the rosy glow of fond memories.
have you actually watched Red Dwarf? (Score:5, Funny)
They also often represent "jump the shark" moments for a series.
Did you ever watch the show? They jumped the shark at least once an episode. That's part of what made it so great.
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>Did you ever watch the show? They jumped the shark at least
>once an episode. That's part of what made it so great.
That is not what jumping the shark means. Jumping the shark is when a show does something so out of character that the basic premise of the show is destroyed. This is usually done to either boost ratings or because the writers have run out of ideas. It usually marks the point where a series turns from being clever and innovative to being trite and predictable.
Precisely. Thus, as the GP stated, Red Dwarf seemed to jump the shark in every episode. The only thing missing was Henry Winkler in waterskis and a motorboat. But now, with finding Earth, maybe.... [crosses fingers]
Re:They did the same thing on Lexx (Score:4, Insightful)
I would hardly call the red dwarf sets elaborate, they look like they are about to fall apart most of the time
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That being said, the last two seasons of the show were sub-par at best.
Re:They did the same thing on Lexx (Score:5, Funny)
And I would be a lot better off if you tell me how you managed it.
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I'm glad someone else remembers this, it's exactly what came to mind when I read the summary.
My memory of it is slightly different, however. The first season (the four two-hour movies) showed a lot of promise, it had a weird European feel to it, and it was pretty dark and overall quite interesting.
Right away, the second series was absolute garbage in comparison. It consisted of the Lexx visiting a series of improbable locations while Stan tried desperately to find something to shag. The plot arc was virtual
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Re:They did the same thing on Lexx (Score:5, Insightful)
Usually these sort of "and then they came to earth..." plotlines are cost-cutting measures (so they can shoot in "regular" locations instead of on elaborate sets).
Not sure this really matters. Red Dwarf has always been low budget, and the later series (7+8 and to a lesser extent 6) where more money was thrown at it also corresponded with a huge dip in funniness. Generally speaking the same few rooms are used on the ship or often just Starbug. Growing up in the UK you get used to low budget comedies and high budget stuff just doesn't have quite the right feel; Red Dwarf always used to be perfect, incredibly low budget and relying just on script and actors to make it enjoyable. My favourite Red Dwarf episode ever was Marooned and that's just Lister and Rimmer in a single part of Starbug for the whole episode (with a Thunderbirds style crash at the beginning).
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Anyways, the first time I saw them on Earth I thought "What a cop-out". Same with Stargate SG-1 actually..
What do you mean about SG-1? The squad was always based on Earth since its creation. Sure there were the occasional episodes/missions that took place on Earth but that kind of makes sense as they were defending their planet from invasion. Besides, the offword sets were never that elaborate... maybe a CGI shot of a building and then a modified corridor with curved metal and some flashing screens.
If you mean Stargate Atlantis, it was only a matter of time before they were able to make contact with Earth ag
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The squad was always based on Earth since its creation.
What I enjoy is the fact that in the 60s, 70s and 80s, all alien worlds resembled southern California. Today, with most TV SciFi shot in Vancouver, alien worlds resemble the Pacific Northwest.
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No problem, looking back I can see what you mean.
I was thinking of the early seasons where Earth-based episodes were rare one-shots; they'd occur maybe once or twice per season. IE they find a relic on Earth, or discover an ancient imprisoned alien, or follow around an amnesiac alien that's writing an SG-1 TV show, or find an experiment gone wrong, etc.
The beginning of the Ba'al clone storyline and "The Trust" storylines were pretty weak. It was one thing to be on Earth but they just weren't really that i
Returning to Earth? (Score:3, Funny)
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And what about Fiji?
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Or better yet, you could cross breed them with dolphins and have leaping mutton.
Smegging Fantastic? (Score:2)
My faith isn't so strong. I loved the first few seasons of Red Dwarf. When it was a sit-com, I thought it was hillarious. Then, it started to turn into a space adventure when they ran out of "situations" for comedy on the ship and started visiting planets. I'm not sure the later seasons were bad, but it just felt like a different show.
Finding Earth? This has the potential to be something entirely different. Maybe having the same director and line-up will ensure something good. Even if it's not the
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Did anyone watch the failed American pilot for Red Dwarf? Eww.
I watched it - Be fair. It was as good as the American pilot for Coupling. =)
Seriously, why take a perfectly good series and re-make it only changing the actors' accents and replacing "chips" with "fries" and "loo" with "bathroom"? British humor is a little bit different than American humor - And anyone who is going to enjoy it will be willing to infer from context what a "loo" is when somebody's had too much to drink and needs to pop off to one.
Re:Smegging Fantastic? (Score:4, Funny)
Try asking the average American to tell you what a "bog roll" is and watch the steam come out of their ears thinking about it.
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Is that like a hay roll, except that instead of getting laid you get stinky and go down to live with little lights?
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This reminds me of a scene from the Clerks animated series. Randal and Dante are in a clerks exchange program and are working in an English shop.
[Dante and Randal are working in Ye Olde Quick Stoppe in England.]
Customer: Pack of fags.
Randal: You're a fag!
Customer: It's a cigarette, mate.
Randal: I'm not your mate, fag!
[Randal jumps over
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I'm not convinced that The Office's success was really a factor of a switch in slang as it was good (and different) writing and great work from the cast (Steve Carell of course stands out, but there are several star performers there). Also, Steve Carell plays the manager much differently than his UK counterpart - A little sillier & stupider which I think plays well here. With Coupling (at least from what I saw), they didn't even bother writing new episodes or even re-writing the existing ones. It was
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So far, the only direct UK->US remake that I thoroughly enjoy is "Life on Mars." I think it's a great show and they're doing a wonderful job. That being said I only saw a few minutes of the UK version so I can't say that I like the US version more... just that I think it's excellent. However I'd imagine that I'd "get" the 70's US styles/culture/references more than the 70's UK styles/culture/references.
The America version of "The Office" is... alright. The British version only had a few episodes (qua
Battlestar spoofing (Score:2)
How much you wanna bet they'll be sending-up Battlestar Galactica every chance they get? With a title like "Back to Earth"...
Fan-smegging-tastic! (Score:3, Funny)
P.S. Would anyone like any toast?
Re:Fan-smegging-tastic! (Score:5, Funny)
Look, I don't want any toast. In fact, no one around here wants any toast. Not now, not ever. NO TOAST.
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How 'bout a muffin?
Re:Fan-smegging-tastic! (Score:4, Funny)
cue flame war over which Kochanski is best/hottest (Score:2)
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Holy shit. (Score:2)
I know it'll probably be a disappointment, but this is like...the Sci-fi/comedy equivelant to Duke Nukem Forever!
Pinch me!
fantastic? (Score:5, Insightful)
Personally, I think this is pretty smegging fantastic.
Why is resurrecting Red Dwarf fantastic but resurrecting Blade Runner an abomination?
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neither as bad as the Karate Kid remake that is apparently going to happen. Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith.... ugh.
Hey lets not even joke about that. You are joking.......they would never green light .....this can't possibly be good.
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Re:fantastic? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because the creator of Red Dwarf is alive and well, and is coming back to revive a universe that was created for the purpose of an episodal series.
The author responsible for Blade Runner (Philip K. Dick) died during production of a standalone movie based on his standalone book. Given that the story (originally "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep") was an exploration of what it means to be human and NOT an exploration of a fantasy future (ala Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.), expanding the universe would only detract from the original creation.
Besides, Olmos is too old to play Gaff again. He just wouldn't have that same menace about him. ;-)
Rimmer is back! (Score:5, Funny)
Announced on twitter (Score:5, Informative)
...well, actually, Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) announced it on Llewtube [youtube.com] quite some time ago.
You can also get regular updates from him by following @bobbyllew [twitter.com] on twitter.
He's a really good user of social media - he's very active on YouTube and twitter.
t
Craig Charles == drug problem (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Craig Charles == drug problem (Score:4, Insightful)
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God I hope not. I remember watching a documentary once about Red Dwarf, and Craig Charles admitted that for most of the first two seasons, he and Danny John Jules were pretty much baked out of their skulls. Those were also the best in my opinion :)
Seriously, does it really matter that much? What my choice of actors does in their spare time is of no concern to me. I like their work and therefore I appreciate their work.
Exciting development (Score:2)
When I was in America, I saw complaints that Slashdot was too America-centric, never any nerd news for the English. The response was always something along the lines of "Fuck off, we don't care about your stupid British TV shows coming back or being canceled."
Okay, I live in England now, and I still don't care. Why am I suddenly seeing articles about things that involve countries I live in?
MST3K treatment (Score:2)
I'm reminded of how MST3K went whereas the show died, and was resurrected, and it changed so much, it wasn't entertaining anymore.
Lloyd!! Noooo!!! (Score:2)
Does this mean Lloyd's leaving Corrie? What about Liz, he'll break her heart? And what about Steve, the feckless rogue? Mark my words he'll run Streetcars into the ground.
WTF [wikipedia.org]
Re:Aged badly (Score:5, Insightful)
This series aged badly. Watched a few episodes last year and found them deeply unfunny.
It's a britcom so of course it'll be a bit campy, a bit odd, and not for everyone.
What really impressed me was how the Grant and Naylor team wrote the novels as well as the shows. The audiobooks based on the novels were also voice-acted by the original cast.
Humor is a difficult thing and prose and teleplays are two completely different environments to work in. There's so much to written humor that can simply never be translated to the screen, the classic example from the Hitchhiker's Guide -- "The huge golden space ship hung in the air in almost exactly the way a brick doesn't." How do you convey that visually? You can't, not well. And likewise there's more than just sight gags that simply cannot be done in prose. The easiest example to bring up is the Heath Ledger Joker. So much of that performance wasn't just what he said but how he said it, the mannerisms and expressions. It was both comedic and horrifying.
What I find impressive is when you have a writer or writers who can take a story and tell it in such diverse media and do it well. Adams was involved in all the HHGTTG variants and, as I said, Grant and Naylor did both the show and the books.
Anyway, looking forward to these new episodes! Between this and the final movie wrapping up Dead Like Me, looks like we're in for some good telly this year!
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Red Dwarf, like HHGTTG, is one of those things that just isn't for everyone. And, like HHGTTG, I'm not sure it can even be an acquired taste - If you read/watched a few and hated them, you'll probably hate the rest. Personally, I'm a big fan of both - A unique flavor of humor that just can't be duplicated. (Although in the case of HGTTG, I think the radio show out-shines the movie and, although maybe inferior, is more fun to revisit than the books.)
That said, I have to agree with GPP - It aged badly. Wh
Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Funny)
Although in the case of HGTTG, I think the radio show out-shines the movie
The what? ;)
That said, I have to agree with GPP - It aged badly. When I go back to watch the episodes over, it's rare that I watch anything beyond the ship being reconstructed. It was still fun, but lacked a lot of the charm that the early episodes had.
Not a matter of aging imho. Something weird happened after season 6. I still deeply love seasons 1-6.
gestalt entity fissioned (Score:4, Informative)
The Gestalt entity Grant Naylor fissioned, both Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, came out with crappy books, and, in spite of (or because of) the contributions of Robert Llewellyn the series went from amazing to crap.
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That said, I have to agree with GPP - It aged badly. When I go back to watch the episodes over, it's rare that I watch anything beyond the ship being reconstructed. It was still fun, but lacked a lot of the charm that the early episodes had.
Not a matter of aging imho. Something weird happened after season 6. I still deeply love seasons 1-6.
This is something I really don't agree with.
Some things can be said to age or go downhill, others simply change.
Believe it or not (and I hope you would, given the demographic of the SD crowd), people don't like doing the same stuff all the time. They like change. They like to be challenged. They like to learn new things.
Sometimes, new things aren't quite the same as the old. Some better, some worse. You have to allow for possible failure if you want the good stuff.
Early Dwarf was primarily an odd-cou
Re:Aged badly (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a britcom so of course it'll be a bit campy, a bit odd, and not for everyone.
But you can't just lump all british comedies together that way. Some of them are just incredible works of comic art. Monty Python, Black Adder, the original HHGG, Fry & Laurie, The Office, and Spaced come to mind. And then there are british comedies that to my mind at least, have no redeeming value whatever. For example, Absolutely Fabulous, and Are You Being Served?. Red Dwarf to me, lies somewhere in the middle.
I'm not sure what it is that I don't like about some Britcoms, but it's not their Britishness. If that were the case, I wouldn't like any at all.
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And then there are british comedies that to my mind at least, have no redeeming value whatever. For example, Absolutely Fabulous, and Are You Being Served?.
I agree with you 100% on AbFab but Are You Being Served? You don't find that funny, not in the least bit, Hatta? I'm disappointed in you.
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I agree, Are You Being Served? was quite absurd, and hilarious.
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That's why opinions are like....
You see you put Black Adder as an incredible work of comic art but I have painfully watched and scratched my head and said "Why do people think this is funny?" The same with The Office (admittedly I've only seen the version here in the colonies). Maybe it's because I know the idiots being portrayed and have no desire to watch them on the tele. OTOH I really like Are You Being Served. I've only ever worked retail in the restaurant industry as a teen so I never had to endure an
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You like parodies of things you aren't familiar with and don't like parodies of things you are. I think you don't understand parody.
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I'm not sure that any of the examples you list fail to qualify as "a bit odd, and not for everyone", although I would agree that not all of them are campy. (By way of illustration of the "not for everyone": The Office would make my list of comedies with no inherent redeeming value whatever; it does have the single redeeming value that it enabled Gervais and Marshall to go on and make Extras).
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If Ab Fab is the worst British sitcom you can think of, I can only assume that we don't export the really dire stuff over to you guys.
While the best of British comedy is (imo) the funniest in the world, we also produce a huge volume of crap. What's more, this crap is what seems to appeal to mainstream audiences, and it's what you have to put up with if you watch prime-time TV in the UK (when we're not showing American stuff instead).
Re:Aged badly (Score:5, Interesting)
I find the biggest difference is that Britcoms are normally about losers. Compare with the US, say 'Friends'. The main characters are very successful; they have lovely flats near Central Park. I find it hard to have empathy with them. Whenever they have a 'problem' I wish they'd just shut up and catch themselves on. They seem like whiney, spoilt, brats.
Lister, on the other hand, is a slob who lives in an interstellar slum. Yet he always seems pretty chirpy about it. You should check out the US version of Red Dwarf, where some moron at the networks replaced Lister with a super-jock. None of the jokes made sense afterwards.
Of course, there are good US comedies (normally the cartoons) and there are *loads* of really, really bad Britcoms.
Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Interesting)
This is summed up by the never made Red Dwarf USA .... ...Rewritten by Grant and Naylor .. and a team of American writers and producers ...Lister is heroic, and handsome (but still a slob)
Most British comedies are still written by a very small team (usually 2 or 3) people rather than the joke committee system they have in the states, it is noticeable that the US comedy shows that work in the UK are the ones with the smaller teams of writers ....
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And I don't see how any of those that you named do not fit into "a bit campy, a bit odd, and not for everyone"
Re:Aged badly (Score:5, Interesting)
Like many Americans I first encountered Red Dwarf on PBS late Saturday evenings. After seeing one episode (Demons & Angels) I was hooked. I was thrilled when Season 1 released on DVD and I watched it through that Saturday afternoon. However, it didn't seem to hold up over the years. I was watching a mediocre British comedy, and quite confused.
Eventually I realized that Red Dwarf needs to be enjoyed late at night. Like ATHF, it's bizarrely hysterical but only when in a certain mood. Red Dwarf is not meant to be analyzed for plot holes or comedic merit. It's meant to be watched in a dark room, late at night, and alone. Only then does it become a spectacle of incomprehensible British slang, something far greater than it was meant to be.
Red Dwarf is the only TV series I've purchased on DVD. I've seen the episodes so many times that I remember the audience's laughter. It's no exaggeration to say that it's the best show I've ever seen. But, I can understand that many consider it a mediocre sci-fi comedy. It needs to come with a warning label, "Only watch after 10:00 PM".
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"pants" is roughly equivalent [democratic...ground.com] to "lame" or "sucks" right? In which case you'd agree with me on that one.
AbFab probably did capture the spirit of its era. It's just not a particularly appealing era. To me at least.
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Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Funny)
ITV axed Men Behaving Badly
What did they axe them?
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"...several huge, yellow slab-like somethings. Huge as office blocks, silent as birds. They hung in the air exactly the same way that bricks don't."
http://xkcd.com/386/ [xkcd.com] ;)
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Re:Aged badly (Score:5, Funny)
He would have stopped, but the king of the potato people wouldn't let him...
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Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Aged badly (Score:4, Funny)
You are wrong.
Now I am angry, very angry.