A pilot episode for an American version (known as Red Dwarf USA) was produced through Universal Studios with the intention of broadcasting on NBC in 1992.The show essentially followed the same story as first episode of the original series, using American actors for most of the main roles: Craig Bierko as Lister, Chris Eigeman as Rimmer, and Hinton Battle as Cat. Exceptions to this were Llewellyn, who reprised his role as Kryten, and the British actress Jane Leeves who played Holly. It was written by Linwood Boomer and directed by Jeffrey Melman with Grant and Naylor onboard as creators and executive producers.

During filming of the pilot the audience reaction was good and it was felt that the story had been well received.

The studio executives were not entirely happy with the pilot, especially the casting, but decided to give the project another chance with Grant and Naylor in charge. The intention was to shoot a 'promo video' for the show in a small studio described by the writers as 'a garage'.New cast members were hired for the roles of Cat (re-named Woo-fen) and Rimmer; Terry Farrell and Anthony Fuscle respectively. With a small budget and deadline, new scenes were quickly shot and mixed in with existing footage of the pilot and UK series V episodes. Despite the re-shoots and re-casting, the option on the pilot was not picked up. (Farrell was cast almost immediately afterwards for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.)

As a result, the US pilot exists and has been heavily bootlegged but it has never been broadcast on TV in any country.

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