Smeg Ups I havn't seen before

Awesome treasure! I wish the quality was better. I wonder why some of these weren’t included on the DVD’s?

Love it! Nice bit of tension between Craig and Chris during DNA plus extended robo cack.

A few of these I remember from the Smeg Ups/Outs tapes. Specifically, Craig tapping the cardboard wall in ‘Meltdown’. Bobby breaking the vase in ‘Legion’ and Bobby declaring he’s cacked his pants in ‘Quarantine’. Awesome find though with this!

I’m guessing these little bits never made it onto the DVDs because they only exist in this quality.

The few clips that did make it on were a bit more edited- presumably to keep the dvd classifications down.

My sources (Ian Symes) tell me that it’s an early cut of Smeg Ups.

Isn’t this video available as a download on this website? Or at least a link to a downloadable source.

> tell me that it’s an early cut of Smeg Ups.

It’s a hastily slapped-together smeg ups video that was put together to show to a studio audience, as well as cast and crew. Obviously not to record laughter for it, just to show them.

What are you basing that on?

His staggering intellect.

> What are you basing that on?

Memory (not mine).

> His staggering intellect.

It does stagger frequently, yes.

What audience was it shown to? It’s Series IV, V and VI clips, so it wasn’t the tape shown to the DJ ‘93 audience. And there wasn’t a Red Dwarf studio audience between then and when the VHS was released in ‘94. The next GNP audience was Series VII’s play-in, and then the 10th anniversary recording (to whom various things were shown, but not that tape).

Seems unlikely that GNP compiled a tape to show to someone else’s crew or audience. So could your source clarify the detail?

I know nothing of its origin, but if it is correct that it is a ‘hastily’ thrown together compilation to show a studio audience (and the cast and crew) couldn’t said studio audience have been the latter stages of series VI? The ‘hastily slapped together’ element suggests urgency… maybe the series VI footage came fresh from the rushes? Plus, the cast AND crew being on hand for the viewing suggests a studio recording.

> maybe the series VI footage came fresh from the rushes?

But what about the rest? The Series V and IV rushes weren’t ordered up until the Smeg Up project was greenlit and kicked off - which happened after the VI-only tape was compiled for DJ ‘93. It’s hugely expensive to get those tapes out, logged and transferred - no way they do that without allocated budget. Doesn’t seem likely.

Plus, when a series hasn’t even finished being written despite mid-shoot, it’s hugely unlikely that Rob and Doug were approving ‘just for fun’ outtakes videos, or that the production team had time to knock such things up from seasons they mostly didn’t even work on (different directors, producers, etc.).

But since I don’t know the providence, I could’t say for certain.

Maybe it was put together for one of those outtakes shows like Auntie’s Bloomers? Maybe they sent out a whole reel of outtakes for the producers of Bloomers/It’ll Be Alright On the Night etc to pick and choose from?

Nope!

That’s all I got!

> couldn’t said studio audience have been the latter stages of series VI?

Apparently it was for VI so, yep, it’s got to be this. As for clips from the other series’, heck only knows, but someone obviously went out of their way to compile them.

Series VI audience? Hmm. A lot of things suddenly add up.

Anyway, yeah, if the Smeg Ups project was already underway by a separate team while the series was going on (and at the early stage it was being overseen by different people), kinda adds up. Makes the DJ reel less ‘an idea that got expanded’ and more ‘a push of a specific aspect, already being compiled, before the broadcast of VI’.

Maybe the Smeg Ups reel was originally going to be a bonus feature on the VI video releases, but then got expanded into its own feature when they realised how much material they had?

Nope.

But there WAS a plan for a ‘making of Series VI’ special, and word was that might have been specifically for sell-through VHS. It was dropped very early into shooting…and you have to wonder in the Smegs plan didn’t take its place.