Spaced
Our next stop on our Edgar Wright film tour is a little detour into a little television bar called Spaced. In 1998 Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson were working on a little situation comedy that would becoming the beloved cult comedy we love today. After working with him on 1996 Paramount Comedy Asylum, they got in touch with Edgar Wright to bring his flair to the hilarious programme. Series 1 aired on Channel 4 in 1999 and has sparked off a legion of fans that come back time and time again.
Spaced is based on Tim, a graphic artist, and Daisy, a journalist, who play two recently single and homeless twenty-something’s in London. After a chance meeting in a cafe sparks off a friendship and a marathon flat hunting session. When a flat crops up seeking a “young professional couple,” the two decide to enter into a con and pretend to be just that. Keeping up the pretence that they are together with their landlady Marsha, the couple encounter a series of wacky events revolving around their lives and the characters involved including Brian, comic book geek Bilbo and weapons specialist Mike. Staring Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson, Bill Bailey, Nick Frost and Mark Heap, Spaced is a great sitcom.
Before we talk about Wright style of shorting, Spaced is one of the finely written comedies of British history. Pegg and Stevenson have a writing pairing that is genius. Our characters are quirky and odd but they are extremely real. The relationship each friend has is human, the conversations are brilliant and the jokes and laughs come thick and fast. There is a homage to Hollywood and movies such as Star Wars and more. Proclaimed as a show by geeks for geeks, if you are in any fandom then you’ll absolutely love Spaced. They write for people who know the in’s and outs of television and film. They comment on them as well as interacting with one another in this wonderful way. The comedy is all about the timing and each moment hits with no fail. It is greatly written and you must appreciate the wickedly slick and extremely British writing of Pegg and Stevenson.
What Wright introduced to the show is a different look at sitcoms. While he also came into the series with a background of movie knowledge, he gave the series a look that you wouldn’t find in normal sitcoms. He added dramatic camera angles, cuts between pans and shot it all on a single camera. The visuals of the film were borrowed from genre movies and it gives Spaced an artistic stylish feel as well as adding a technical geekery to the show. With this and a great soundtrack, Spaced becomes one of the most high octane and hilarious sitcoms to date.
Spaced is a show you need to watch. While it won’t come back despite the urge to following the cinematic success of Wright and Pegg, you can also go back, buy the boxset or catch it on 4OD. If you are into anything cinematic then it is vital that you rack this up alongside your obsessions. Every element and everyone is on point, it is a show with a brain and a heart. Extremely funny, wickedly well done and highly enjoyable, Spaced is one of those shows that you will love forever.
TTFN
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Robbie Jones of I'm With Geek also covered Spaced. Check out his wonderful article here.