Spaced Out!
Writing my entry yesterday about Shaun of the Dead got me thinking about another Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright project that I love a lot. ..the TV show Spaced! It was originally on BBC 4 for two seasons back in 1999. Rumor has it that they left the show so that they could make Shaun of the Dead. Actually some of the jokes that show up in the movie came directly from the TV show. It is, in my opinion, British humor at it best.
The story follows Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Jessica Hynes, who also shows up in Shaun of the Dead). Two strangers in need of an apartment who find the perfect flat. Unfortunately, the landlady is looking for a professional couple. So, long story short, they pretend to be a couple and much chaos ensues. It’s a wonderfully funny show full of pop culture references, especially for sci-fi/gaming/comics geeks. Nick Frost appears as Tim’s best friend, Mike Watt. Mark Heap stars as a disturbed artist who lives downstairs. And Julia Deakin steals the show with the strange landlady, Marsha Klein. It’s a fast paced, dry witted free-for-all. The only downside to Spaced is that it only ran for two seasons.
Pegg and Stevenson originally pitched the show (Spaced) as a cross between The Simpsons, The X Files, and Northern Exposure.
I’ve been fortunate enough to stumble onto two British comedies that seem to circle around the same group of professional comedians/friends…Spaced and Black Books (which I’ll talk about at a later date). The actors and actresses seem to enjoy working with each other. Which is a great because they’re all so talented and funny! If you can find it, go watch Spaced. It’s an awesomely funny show!
Technorati Tags: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright, Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Jessica Hynes, Daisy Steiner, BBC, Britcom, british comedy, Tim Bisley, Julia Deakin, Marsha Klein, Black Books
