[...]Red Dwarf never takes itself seriously with regards to the sci-fi aspect
While you’ve made some great points, I’d have to disagree with you on this.
I think the Sci-Fi in
Red Dwarf is the one thing that
is treated seriously within the show (well, the concepts are, at least). Much like
Futurama would do later,
Red Dwarf used genuine scientific theories and concepts in its plots, then explored these with its characters and scenarios to generate the comedy.
Artificial intelligence, time dilation, the Big Crunch theory, parallel universes, wormholes, white holes, and almost every imaginable theory of time travel and its effects (causal loops, causality, paradoxes etc.) have all been explored in
Red Dwarf, and all using real-world scientific theories and ideas. To this regard,
Red Dwarf took its Sci-Fi just as seriously as
Star Trek did.
Then, on the more philosophical side, episodes like Confidence and Paranoia, Legion, Rimmerworld, Terrorform, and Back to Reality, delivered the kind of introspective science fiction ideas that all the best
Star Trek episodes have.
It’s also telling that
Star Trek and
Red Dwarf have several episodes sharing remarkably similar stories and concepts (Camille, Better than Life, Demons & Angels, Thanks for the Memory, - just of the top of my head. There’s no doubt many more)
In fact, it’s difficult to watch some new Sci Fi films, or documentaries, these days without uttering “it’s a bit like that episode of Red Dwarf...”
No doubt
Star Trek fans having been saying the same for years also.
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