***VERY MINOR SPOILERS***<br /><br />At first glance, this show is a campy, cheesy, low-budget, poorly-acted Britcom. But, once you get past that, it takes on a certain charm that makes it one of my favorite TV shows.<br /><br />What really gives this show its awesomeness is the soul put into it. Grant and Naylor work very well as a team to write scripts that rival anything in Monty Python.<br /><br />The first two seasons play out like a standard sitcom, with most scenes being filmed in just a couple of locations on Red Dwarf itself.<br /><br />Beginning in season 3, however, the show gets a bigger budget, CGI, and the actors even get a couple acting lessons. With the addition of Kryton as a full time cast member, the show really becomes awesome. It's still cheesy and low budget, but at least now they have resources to explore other locations and meet new characters. Think of it something like the classic Doctor Who: a small regular cast, no budget, and very entertaining to a cult audience.<br /><br />The show slips a notch in the last two seasons, with the addition of Kochanski as a full time cast member. It stops being a bunch of geeks and losers romping aimlessly around the universe; Kochanski is smart and gives the show direction, while the writers seem to be trying to fit a storyline to the randomness of the first 5 seasons. It's like trying to put a storyline to all of the Monty Python's Flying Circus skits, and it fails completely.<br /><br />Bottom line: Don't judge the show on the first two seasons alone. Give it some time, at least until the awesome episode DNA, before you disregard it out of hand. And, the last two seasons are still worth watching, even if the storyline does interfere with the jokes.