Quote: Lee Henman @ April 8 2009, 10:52 PM BST

Oh for FUCK'S SAKE!!!!!!!

WHERE is the FUCKING audience???

God damn it, if there was ever a comedy that was made for a studio audience it was Red Dwarf. Holy shit this is making me angry and I'm only two minutes in. Red Dwarf was one of the f**king reasons I got into comedy writing in the first place.

Excuse me, I need to chill and watch the rest.

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Watched it. I'm genuinely gutted about the lack of a laugh track. It can't have been that expensive to do a studio screening and get some laughs down for f**k's sake. And if the reason for no laugh track is an artistic one, then the person who made that decision is very, VERY wrong indeed. And I'm putting that mildly, omitting the use of the words "twat" and "moron".

Apart from that particular aspect that ruins the entire thing, the rest of it was okay I thought. The jokes were still there, (albeit strangely-hollow when delivered to silence) and it was lovely to see the crew together once again.

But losing the audience laughter is an unforgiveable travesty. I'm sorry about my sweariness in this post but Red Dwarf is very close to my heart and this has gutted me. Seriously.

Idiots.

I'm not sure I can stand the pain of watching the whole thing now.

I agree. It just doesn't feel right without the laughs. Maybe (hopefully) there will be some when it actually broadcasts, because the YouTube description says that they were handing that clip out, so it might be missing the final touches.

Bloody well hope they fix it though.

Just showed it to my wife. She summed it up quite succinctly I thought.

"Is this the rehearsal tape?"

Quote: Chris Forshaw @ April 8 2009, 11:25 PM BST

I agree. It just doesn't feel right without the laughs. Maybe (hopefully) there will be some when it actually broadcasts, because the YouTube description says that they were handing that clip out, so it might be missing the final touches.

Bloody well hope they fix it though.

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That would make me very happy. But I've just read on another forum that the laugh track absence was decided months ago.

My wife just asked me why I'm so pissed off. I explained to her that it feels like someone's scribbled all over a family photo of mine. Red Dwarf night was a big thing in our house - my Dad loved it as much as me and we'd all look forward to the next episode. Even my sister watched it with us.

I've recently fell back in love with the show on video and so it's pretty sacrosanct to me. Losing the laugh track is as wrong as ADDING one to The Royle Family. It's a completely ludicrous decision that can only have come from somebody high-up, who nobody had the balls to question.

Let's just hope it's some rough cut or something. *crosses fingers*

Anything with lots of gags in like Dwarf needs a laugh track.

I'm not going to judge until I've seen it in full. This clip bodes quite well - Barrie is still ace. But Charles was a little off for me. Though he has been since VII.

Quote: Seefacts @ April 9 2009, 12:23 AM BST

Anything with lots of gags in like Dwarf needs a laugh track.

I'm not going to judge until I've seen it in full. This clip bodes quite well - Barrei is still ace. But Charles was a little off for me. Though he has been since VII.

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I'll still be watching. If only to tip me over the edge into full-blown depression.

Quote: Lee Henman @ April 9 2009, 12:37 AM BST

I'll still be watching. If only to tip me over the edge into full-blown depression.

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If it's got a load of typical RD one-liners - then that'll be enough for me. It already looks better than VIII.

Quote: Lee Henman @ April 8 2009, 10:20 PM BST

You're not kidding!

So far there have been 3 reasons in the press why there is no Holly in these programmes that are being shown over Easter on the Dave channel. 1 No budget 2 Didn't want the crew dragging a computer around with them on earth 3 A water leak caused a short circuit and caused the computer to break down.

This gives you an idea of what the people who make Red Dwarf (GrantNaylor) are like and you will be able to read all about them and the cast in my auto biography which I am working on as I speak. I watched Chris, Robert and Danny on BBC Breakfast News this morning. Talk about laughs take a holiday.

I will be watching the shows but I really don't see how it will be any good because it's not shot in front of a studio audience and they're not trapped on board Red Dwarf which was it's main strength when it was character comedy.

Everything is done by one man (Naylor) and he can't do everything well. Bring back Grant and get a good director (Bye) and it might have stood a chance. And Holly with some good gags of course.

Not one of the cast have got in touch with me which just shows how self centred they are. I'm not bitter just unhappy about the way I have been treated by them. By the way GrantNaylor you still owe me money for the Red Dwarf movie rehearsals.

Happy Easter everyone, Norman

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Bloody blimey Christmas and fiddlesticks.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have 52 episodes to watch by ... very soon.

I think part of the reason for no audience was because they might leak the plot much more quickly after a recording.

Was that the first 5 minutes, or just separate bits put together? Because a lot was left unexplained...

Quote: Tom G @ April 8 2009, 10:45 PM BST

Here is the first five minutes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W8DQ2poWdA

It doesn't seem right. Needs a studio audience, the acting seems really wooden.

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Uh... is there a synopsis up somewhere? Why is Rimmer dead, where's Kochanski, and what the hell is going on?

I'm not going to watch and pass judgement yet, I'm going to wait until tomorrow and watch the whole thing. No luagh track might seem glaring at first, but once you've got past that initial surprise, perhaps you'll forget and just watch the episode itself?

I don't think the lack of audience is the only problem with this by a long way...

The characterisation seems wrong to me, for all of them.

Certain bits have me cringing too. Kryten's entrance and his comment about already being packed. Most of Cat's lines and Lister's comment about something not being right.

I am trying to keep an open mind for the specials but it's not easy...

One reason for no laugh track is probably down to Doug Naylor's continued desire to make a movie. He may well view this show as a pilot for that but I wish he had just focused everything he had on the specials.

A very short review of the premiere:

http://msnuktv.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!2CDB0D9CD523B3CA!6929.entry?sa=538755303

Remarkably different, hey?

When a sitcom has so many one liners it just doesn't work without an audience. They still pause for the laugh but it isn't there.

It's like watching a stand up die on stage.