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MAG.E 5
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MAG.E 5 (Disk 1 of 2).adf
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1977-12-31
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@2"RED DWARF" AMERICAN STYLE
==========================
@1
The man responsible for bringing Red Dwarf to America is writer\producer
Linwood Boomer, who penned the pilot script and served as executive producer.
Although Boomer actually suggested acquisition of the series from it's
British creator, he eventually left the project in 1992, a few months before
NBC abandoned the pilot.
Boomer's first exposure to Red Dwarf came about early one Saturday while
flipping TV channels. "I was sitting home watching TV," he explains "It was
about 7:30, and I turned on the educational channel. I saw this show and
just FLIPPED. It was very fresh and very funny, and I called the studio
the next day and said, 'Let's see if we can bring it over here.'"
One of Red Dwarf's biggest attractions, according to Boomer, was its
originality. "It's very rare to see a comedy that has that kind of bite to
it, and that kind of imagination behind it. Most of the time you get three
people in a living room talking about Billy's bad report card, and this
just seemed like a great opportunity to do something different."
After selling Universal on an American Red Dwarf, Boomer set to acquire
the series from it's production company, Noel Gay Television. "I flew to
London with Universal executive Brad Johnson to talk to Rob [Grant] and
Doug [Naylor]. We told them that we wanted to do it, and convinced them
that we were the right people for the job."
Boomer used the British series' first episode, "The End" as the basis for
his pilot script. Although he made a few changes in the story structure,
the writer insists he did nothing to "Americanize" it.
"I thought the humor was far less British than in many British comedies,
which I like a lot. They're an acquired taste," he says. "With Red Dwarf,
the characters are so sharply drawn and well-defined that I think they're
appealing right off the bat. There was the tailoring for the actors, which
is only smart, but as far as crossing over, I honestly didn't think that
would be an issue. the show's basic sense, basic flavor, seems to be very
much in line with what Americans would like."
As executive producer, Boomer was also responsible for the pilot's casting,
and his choice of actors did prompt a few revisions. "The biggest change
was in Lister," he explains "The old Lister was a real slob, and that was
mostly what his character was about: Never washing his feet, never doing
his laundry, whatever disgusting things he used to do. We ended up with a
terrific young guy named Craig Bierko, and it would have been a mistake
to force him to play a part that wasn't right for him. We focused more
on what it would be like for a human being to be thrust into this
outlandish situation, and I think it was big improvement."
For the other roles, Boomer cast Chris Eigeman as Rimmer, mostly on the
strength in his work in Metropolitan, and Tony-award winning Hinton
(The Tap Dance Kid) Battle as the Cat. The only actor to cross over
from the British series was Robert Llewellyn, who played Kryten. "We knew
right from the start that we wanted Robert," Boomer avers. "He was so
talented and so funny we had to have him."
Why would an American audience be interested in Red Dwarf? Linwood Boomer
says it's all a matter of quality. "The jokes are funny, the production
values are good, it's well acted and directed, and everyone really broke
their butts to put on a good show. We HAD a commitment to do something
terrific."
- Joe Nazzaro