Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Sadly Over-hyped

Better Late Then Never

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

"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.

No... Seriously... Just NOOOO! this should never have been made. i was lucky enough to have spoken to Rob Grant one of the creators of the original red dwarf whilst he was doing a book release and heres a little story he told me."the producers approached me and Doug (Naylor) and said he had a few questions before the go ahead, the first was that he didn't feel the American audiences would be able to associate with a hologram, so was there any way we could not kill Rimmer. second, He also felt that American audiences wouldn't feel comfortable with a creature evolved from cats so was there a way to write the Cats part as human, and lastly, Does it HAVE to be set in space?" now as to the truth behind this story i don't know but i assume due to the dire quality of the USA Pilot that it may hold some basis in truth, maybe with a typical Rob Grant humorous twist, either way it sums the show up perfectly, it was set for disaster from the off, recreating red dwarf is like trying to re-make Only Fools and Horses. its not just the perfect scripting, awe inspiringly bad scenery, and excellent production work that made Red Dwarf what it was, it was Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Robert Llewellyn, Danny John Jules and Norman Lovett. they ARE Red Dwarf and always will be. as proved by the temporary replacement of Norman Lovett by Hatie Hayridge in the original Brit series, the program slumped, and was much worse, her performance was excellent but she isn't Holly.i am interested to find out where the second version of the Cat played by Terry Farrell (A Woman??? Why???) comes into it as only the pilot was ever made....

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.

Oh dear. They tried, but I'm afraid that a 28 minute pilot in Britain DOES NOT GO INTO 22 minutes. Well it would if you didn't have an extra character, more plot and changing lines like "My library books are overdue" to some rubbish about Baseball cards. Too rushed, too short - the only redeeming features being Jane Leeves and of course the always excellent Llewelyn.