I can't watch Red Dwarf any more. It has aged terribly. The overacting (eg The Cat), the canned laughter to fit the TV format... I think I was just "meh" about

I can't watch Red Dwarf any more. It has aged terribly. The overacting (eg The Cat), the canned laughter to fit the TV format... I think I was just "meh" about it until I listened to the audiobook read by Chris Barrie (the actor who played Rimmer). I didn't even want to listen to it but my wife insisted that I'd love it. I did. In contrast to the TV series, the book is fresh, genuinely funny and surprisingly astute. The story is narrated by Rimmer, who is a wonderfully awful character, full of self-loathing and false confidence. I challenge anyone to listen to that audiobook without finding embarrassing parallels between themselves and Rimmer. The characters of Lister and Rimmer are more fully developed, making the TV series feel thin and pointless in contrast. I suppose it was pitched too hard at evening British TV audiences of the late 80s.