Red Dwarf - US Pilot - Part 3

A pilot episode for an American version (known as Red Dwarf USA) was produced through Universal Studios with the intention of broadcasting on NBC in 1992.The show essentially followed the same story as first episode of the original series, using American actors for most of the main roles: Craig Bierko as Lister, Chris Eigeman as Rimmer, and Hinton Battle as Cat. Exceptions to this were Llewellyn, who reprised his role as Kryten, and the British actress Jane Leeves who played Holly. It was written by Linwood Boomer and directed by Jeffrey Melman with Grant and Naylor onboard as creators and executive producers.

During filming of the pilot the audience reaction was good and it was felt that the story had been well received.

The studio executives were not entirely happy with the pilot, especially the casting, but decided to give the project another chance with Grant and Naylor in charge. The intention was to shoot a 'promo video' for the show in a small studio described by the writers as 'a garage'.New cast members were hired for the roles of Cat (re-named Woo-fen) and Rimmer; Terry Farrell and Anthony Fuscle respectively. With a small budget and deadline, new scenes were quickly shot and mixed in with existing footage of the pilot and UK series V episodes. Despite the re-shoots and re-casting, the option on the pilot was not picked up. (Farrell was cast almost immediately afterwards for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.)

As a result, the US pilot exists and has been heavily bootlegged but it has never been broadcast on TV in any country.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• Red Dwarf
• Red
• Dwarf
• USA
• Comedy

[MrDazza690]

Robert Llewelyn made that bearable. The rest were acting like a bunch of twonks

[feckingbillgates]

Compared to series 8 of the UK version, this is actually pretty good.

[MrMikellsof88]

they must've known this series wouldn't last if they decided to bring kryten into the pilot

[Penscreen]

Okay, I don't know the actor Craig Bierko who played Lister? But even according to him in an interview he thought this US version was horrible. He also says you should watch the UK series. What a guy! :)

[Penscreen]

As a musical star I love Hinton Battle, but NOT as Cat. Utter tripe! And I see they even used footage from our UK series? I hope our creators and producers gave them permission? I know that if the US version of 'Sherlock' is in any way similar to the UK, then Moffat and co will sue the pants off them! Shame that crap version of the brilliant 'Life On Mars' did air! LOVE the fact the creators then made 'Ashes To Ashes' to show how they originally intended the story to conclude! :)

[soopie1]

What is the point of making US version of any british tv show? I mean is the language barrier so vast it needs re-enactment? And then they get some british actors to do the US show...

[dirtydog2569]

using parts of the original series as previews nice try and same jokes with different punchlines didnt work for me.......kryty made this watchable

[MrCaides]

@NiteOwl1983 She's in the second attempt; a promo that combined footage from this with the UK series, and which re-cast Rimmer and the Cat, with the latter being made female.

[NiteOwl1983]

Where's Terry Ferrell?

[Shockwave474]

This is only funny if you've seen the British version. Seriously, if you've seen the British version you could look at this as a bunch of cheesy references to various scenes from lots of different episodes throughout the entire series.

[gabiotta]

Stinker.

[MsClockworkCranberry]

compared to the British original this is rather sad ...