Watching them back years later, some of the early ones had genuinely funny bits.
A lot fewer than the fans insist, but I reckon Grant was behind those. As Cheers pointed out, it was unrelentingly shit after he quit.
(The Porcupine From Purgatory we of all lost both have them, Thu 26 Feb 2026, 21:58, archived)

The jokes run out way before the premises. It's may to December or dear John for nerds

( mongychops, Thu 26 Feb 2026, 22:09, archived)

Maybe, but at its best it was still above average.
Its best was fleeting and intermittent, admittedly, but comedy is subjective. I loved Blackadder (I-III) when I was young, but I reckon early Red Dwarf has aged better. Just.
(The Porcupine From Purgatory we of all lost both have them, Thu 26 Feb 2026, 22:24, archived)

Nah, black adder is acted and written better. Subjective as you say.

( mongychops, Thu 26 Feb 2026, 22:36, archived)

I reckon you could make a case for both being generally better-than-average sitcoms, but canned laughter has really aged badly

( mofaha ┐( ˘_˘)┌ ʅ(́◡◝)ʃ, Fri 27 Feb 2026, 1:00, archived)

I like the anecdote told by Sir Patrick Stewart
about when he was idly watching TV one night and Red Dwarf came on, and he was halfway out of his chair on the way to phone his lawyer and sue them for defamation because he thought they were taking the piss out of Star Trek, but then something happened on screen that made him laugh and he sat back down and decided against it.
( .Yeti., Fri 27 Feb 2026, 1:10, archived)

I don’t think anecdotes are Sir Patrick Stewart’s forte.

( Aardvark and so at last, I understood, Fri 27 Feb 2026, 8:06, archived)

That's true. It's on shows even as relatively recent as The League of Gentlemen, which takes away from it a bit.

( Mr. Tea 'ulmmm'/'mmneurgh', Fri 27 Feb 2026, 9:48, archived)