|
|
The first series, made in 1988, always left a bit to be desired. The first season was characterized by Gilligan's Island level humor and pacing that dragged a bit by sit-com standards. The budgets were low and the look was a bit crummy as a result. There were a few decent science fiction and comedy ideas on display here, although the really wacky story ideas came in later years, as did better budgets and smoother pacing. The characters had a few rough edges and the cast chemistry had not yet quite come together. Still, the individual shows had enough entertainment value to be worth a look, and the series got better as time went ahead.
After stumbling about a little in season one to find their way, the creators took some time to re-tool the formula, tightened up the pace and started throwing the jokes out at breakneck speed in season two, and the improvement is obvious early on. Basically it's hard science fiction meets humans behaving badly and this is the fountainhead of the comedy as the Dwarfers make their way through human space, encountering the detritus of mad science gone wrong and exploiting weird phenomena for cheap laughs. The look of the show is improved thanks to better budgets and the cast seem more comfortable in their characters' skins and with each other.
The show went on a short hiatus of about a year and half, during which time the creators (Grant and Naylor) brainstormed science fiction ideas and picked the ones with real comedy potential... and then made TV history. The first episode of the third season, Backwards, may be the funniest show EVER seen on TV, and the rest of season three are almost as good. Smart story ideas - a backwards Earth, polymorphing personality-sucking creatures, mutant slides capable of supporting travel through time and space etc. - are squeezed within an inch of crushing to get every last bit of comedy out of them. The characters by this point have fleshed out fully and are no longer simply sitcom archetypes, and the performers have great fun with them while showing off a fantastic collective range of comedic abilities. The dialogue is very sharp, the episodes are fast-paced and filled with a flawless mix of brilliant gags and great physical comedy.
Like season three, season four absolutely bristled with wonderful science fiction ideas - squeezed for every drop of their comedy potential, and played with gusto by a group of performers who now worked together like a comedy all-star team. The resulting half dozen episodes represent some of TV's best and funniest comedy moments thanks to an almost flawless mix of physical comedy, sight gags, cross talk insults and good character dialogue. The laughs come at high speed and you can watch the shows over and over again and still enjoy them thanks to quality and sheer volume of jokes. The cheap production values of the first two seasons are in the past, and everything now has a more convincing science fiction look and feel to it. Plus, ongoing attempts by director Ed Nye to vary the physical look of the show a bit from time to time helps to keep things fresh. And the cast are brilliant, now perfectly comfortable in character and with each other. You get the feeling that anything might happen and it does.
The subsequent seasons had many high points as well, but also brought the characters back to earlier situations and re-used many by now well established gags. The eighth season is notable for having a much expanded budget and more impressive look than anything that had come before. The ninth season was something of a disappointment, bringing the characters back together after a long lay-off and trying to get some mileage out of the old chemistry, while spinning out a not very original mix of Blade Runner-esque plotting and the re-introduction of an earlier brilliant story device, the 'despair squid'.
A tenth season is currently rumored to be in the works for broadcast in the UK during 2012.
score 9/10
dave13-1 10 February 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2563620/ |
|
10-4-2020 04:52:07
