Red Dwarf: 10 ways the Brit sci-fi sitcom proved it was as smart as Star Trek

Still from the British sci-fi sitcom called Red Dwarf. Here we see four of the main cast pointing at the camera. From left to right: The Cat, Lister, Rimmer, and Kryten.

Focused on a quartet of mismatched characters forced to live together by circumstance, "Red Dwarf" is a situation comedy in its purest form. The thing that sets it apart is that said situation is somewhere in the middle of deep space, three million years in the future on a dilapidated, city-sized spaceship Red Dwarf, arguably one of the coolest spaceships in sci-fi.

For all the gags and unashamed silliness, however, the show has been built on solid science fiction foundations since it first materialized on the BBC in 1988. With "Doctor Who" on hiatus between 1989 and 2005, "Red Dwarf" became the highest profile sci-fi show on British T.V., and writers/creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor frequently came up with concepts every bit as smart as those encountered by Jean-Luc Picard and co in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." That instinct for pushing the limits of the final frontier has continued since Grant departed the show following 1993's series VI.