I am up to Season 4 in Red Dwarf. RD was a BBC SF show that started in the late 80’s and it is hilarious.

The basic premise is that Lister, a complete slacker, is the last surviving human in the Universe. He was put in statis by the ship’s (Red Dwarf’s) captain for bringing a cat on board. He stayed in stasis for 3 million years after a radiation leak killed the ship’s crew and the ship’s AI didn’t let him out until the the radiation levels were back to normal. The cat was saved from the radiation by virtue of being in the protected ship’s hold at the time of the leak. The cat was pregnant. And three million years later, Lister’s only living companion is an evolved descendant of the Cat.

Lister’s other companions are: a hologram of his old roommate, Rimmer, a total git that Lister can’t abide; Kryten, an Android that the ship rescues along the way; and Holly, the Ship’s AI. (Holly thought that having Rimmer as a companion would help Lister keep his sanity by allowing Lister to plan all sorts of torments to inflict upon him. He/She might have been right.) Oh yes, all the other cats left the ship in a religious schism over what color hat they should wear at the sacred curry stand; and Lister is their God. The Cat left on board is apparently areligious and believes that if anyone is God, it is he.

Rimmer is one of those characters that believes he is intelligent and competent despite all evidence to the contrary. Rimmer is also the one who caused the radiation leak that killed the crew.

So far the Red Dwarf has visited parallel dimensions, been visited by evil aliens, stumbled across garbage pods and criminal transport vessels, found GELFs and left GELFS, and have found a number of ways to cross time. Holly, with an IQ of 6000, has tried to invent the Holly Hop Drive. He actually did invent something but there was a question as to whether it was a hop or a skip. Lister is the proud mother of twins and he witnessed Winnie the Pooh executed by a Fascist Firing Squad.

Not only are the weekly situations more than a little twisted, but the ongoing relationships between the characters makes the show so enjoyable. (The actor who plays Cat has captured the essence of cats.)

There are 8 seasons to the show, so far. Each season is 6 half- hour episodes. So far, only the first 6 seasons are on disk. The cast has added commentary to each disk. I guess that they hadn’t seen some of these episodes since they were broadcast the first time. The commentaries are quite interesting as well, especially choice comments about some fans who really need to get a life.

I understand a movie is on its way and if the movie is a success, the series may continue.

8/10 with touches of 9.