Hyperdrive

[House of Usher]

Having been very unimpressed by ep.1 of this series, I happened to watch ep.2 (Hello, Queppu) and ep.3 (Weekend) one after the other last night, and I enjoyed them both, sober this time. And I found them - er - funny.

:D

[[YT-2]]

I've given it 3 episodes and its complete Hyperwank so if someone does notice any jokes appear or any of them attempting to act in anyway put up a post and I might give it another go.

[Banners]

I seemed to miss Series 2 when it started last month but am enjoying catching up courtesy of 'copies from a friend'. But why no Hyperdrive love on here, not even a mention of S2? Seems odd given the affection we all seem to have for Mssrs Frost and Pegg, and SF of course.

Great stuff if you ask me :-)

M@

[TordelBack]

I'll watch any old cack, but I can't watch this.  

[COMMANDO FORCES]

I thoroughly enjoyed it especially First Officer York.

[Goosegash]

I've been pondering on why Red Dwarf worked and Hyperdrive doesn't. I think it comes down to the fact that Red Dwarf was a sci-fi comedy with the odd dramatic element, whereas Hyperdrive is just a straight sci-fi parody. In RD, when the crew encounter some kind of threatening situation(ship breaks down, angry mutant, etc) it usually feels "serious". But in Hyperdrive the threats always have to be comedy threats, which makes them very...unthreatening. I hope I'm not talking rubbish here.

Hyperdrive is the kind of series I want to like, but there's always something a bit half-arsed about and it just feels like a waste of everyone involved, particularly Kevin Eldon who should've had his own series long ago.

[House of Usher]

I was glad to see another series of this, and I think the second series was better than the first. It's got likeable characters and every now and then a really funny situation or observation that does make me laugh out loud.

'The Admiral's Daughter' was particularly good. The virtual reality duel between Jeffers and Vine was a comedy highpoint, and Sandstrom's unfortunate accident brought home to me the fact that I care about the character. I'm sure it's not just because she's sexy.

(By the way, if the Admiral's daughter looked a bit old to be a first year undergraduate who's not a mature student, it's because Catherine Shepherd who played her is over 30)

[Adrian Bamforth]

"I've been pondering on why Red Dwarf worked and Hyperdrive doesn't. I think it comes down to the fact that Red Dwarf was a sci-fi comedy with the odd dramatic element, whereas Hyperdrive is just a straight sci-fi parody."

Red Dwarf is at heart a very traditional British sitcom but set in space. At its core is one person accepting their class, a happy idiot, while the other wants to pretentiously better themselves - ita about class just like Steptoe & Son, Hancock, Dad's Army, Rising Damp, Only Fools & Horses and even to a certain extent Laurel & Hardy. It's a lot harder these days to create a sitcom since we can't fall back on that old theme as easily and have to go for something more subtle. It also can't use the same sci-fi ideas that have already been parodied in Red Dwarf.

I saw some of the second series, the reality TV planet was great even though the subject has been done to death, I reckon they were told to ramp it up for a second series (Steve Evans who plays Vine is a friend of a friend and said he was surprised to get a second series).

[Floyd-the-k]

I've watched bits of Hyperdrive.  For me it doesn't work because it's an uneasy combination of 'The Office' style comedy (especially Frost's character) and Red Dwarf style 'zaniness'. So what we get is not as good as The Office and zaniness with nobody really getting into it because they're trying to be a bit like the office.
  I could be wrong here but that's how the bits I've seen strike me. I haven't been able to make it thought a whole show.