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Terry Farrell Cat?

Qonundrum

Just graduated from Camp Ridiculous
Premium Member
I hope this topic hasn't been been posted 50,002 times before or not, if so I unreservedly apologize, but for those who are fans of "Red Dwarf" (a BBC sci-fi comedy/legend, American networks were trying to copy the show and apparently hired a bunch of mannequins... Two pilots were made. The first flopped so a retooling was made. The original Red Dwarf USA Cat was to be Hinton Battle but he was unavailable for the 2nd attempt, so they not only found another actor... but revamped the character -- not a bad idea since Danny John-Jules pretty much can never be copied no matter how good Hinton was (and he was, there were enough differences in the first pilot that he made work...)

But Terry Farrell was chosen to act out the role of Cat for the second and final US attempt and, like or dislike the rest of both pilots, Terry truly stands out as Cat. Though Jane Leeves clearly steals the show as Holly (even with the forced dialogue such as "PE Teachers" as opposed to "Phy Ed teachers" that Americans are used to, would later go to "Frasier" with much acclaim.

Sort of a shame neither pilot made it to production, but triply so for Farrell since they made a few ingenious twists and she hits it out of the park with her insight into the character... pity she and Danny John Jules (the UK original) could never be in an episode together because that would be "sweeps week^42".

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Full Farrell Cat episode (more a promo thanks to reduced budget for the second and final attempt to woo execs to make "Red Dwarf USA" (working title):
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She's genius.

IMHO, the pilots aren't too bad, even with lines from assorted UK episodes mishmashed to make a new plot, it's nothing new in the industry... While some dialogue is forced, the only actors that make the show seem viable are Hinton, Jane, and Terry. Craig Bierko just looks too much as a "Monday Night Football" hottie to fully portray what Dave Lister is supposed to be (an overweight slob with zero ambition) and he seems too (unintentionally?) deadpan at times. The actor playing Rimmer (Chris Eigeman) seems a bit out of place as well.
 
Pity that Terry didn't play her Cat the same way that Danny John-Jules played his. Because that would have been epic. :lol:
 
I can't see the links at work - but I am so gonna watch the sh1t out of the full length Farrell episode when I get home. I've been trying to find that for years. Seen the hinton battle one many times, but only been able to find snips from Farrells'

Thanks for posting this!
 
"Phys Ed" is occasionally used to refer to the subject, but in my life I don't think I've referred to an instructor as anything but a "PE Teacher."
 
As terrible as those copies look, they're better than the nth-generation copies from VHS I used to have to resort to back in the day.

I've softened to them over the years and think they might've been a fun American show. It would not be the same as its UK parent but I think it might've been OK on its own terms. The handsome Lister kind of works because that's probably how and maybe even why he's gets by as a slacker and is low ambition because he could always get by on that. At the time those pilots were being done I don't know if US TV comedy would do well with a hustler type character from the wrong side of the tracks like UK Lister.

Back to the subject, I think the sexy female cat played by Terry Farrell similarly makes sense for an American show as again I don't think the Danny John Jules type works as well over here (at that time). One of the pilots has a male cat trying to do the DJJ thing and the actor really doesn't seem to get it at all. Terry seems to get the retooled sexy cat thing they're going for in the other ones.

I agree with the consensus that "Phys Ed Teacher" sounds wrong to my ears but maybe that's a regional thing? Then again, around here we typically replaced "PE" with "gym" when talking about gym class or the gym teacher.
 
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