show name | Spaced |
---|---|
genre | Sitcom |
picture format | PAL (576i) |
runtime | 24 min. |
director | Edgar Wright |
writer | Simon PeggJessica Stevenson |
producer | Gareth EdwardsNira Park |
executive producer | Humphrey BarclayTony Orsten |
starring | Simon PeggJessica StevensonNick FrostMark HeapJulia DeakinKaty Carmichael Aida the Dog |
country | United Kingdom |
language | English |
company | London Weekend TelevisionParamount Comedy Channel |
network | Channel 4 |
first aired | |
last aired | |
num series | 2 |
num episodes | 14 |
list episodes | List of Spaced episodes }} |
The series largely concerns the colourful and surrealistic adventures of Tim and Daisy as they navigate through life, decide on what they want to do with their lives, come to terms with affairs of the heart, and try to figure out new and largely unproductive ways of killing time. Tim and Daisy repeatedly stress that they are not a couple to everyone but Marsha, but despite (or because of) this, romantic tension develops between them, particularly during the second series.
Tim Bisley (Pegg): Tim, often seen with his skateboard, his Chocolate beanie, or his PlayStation controller, is an aspiring comic book artist (his surname is an homage to real life comic artist Simon Bisley), amateur skateboarder, and passionate follower of cult fiction in many forms, including video games, science fiction, and especially — at least initially — the original Star Wars trilogy. He is a rather grumpy and short-tempered soul, quick to irritation at the slightest provocation, mostly because his girlfriend, Sarah (Anna Wilson-Jones), broke his heart and dumped him after an affair with Tim's friend, Duane Benzie (Peter Serafinowicz). He is currently writing and illustrating a graphic novel about an orphaned boy who has been inadvertently transformed into a giant mutant bear by an "oxypheromalkahyde" steroid created by the experiments of the crazed Doktor Mandrake, who now is trying to find this bear so that he can replicate the results. Tim has not actually tried selling his work, because he is afraid that people will laugh at both it and him, as shown by flashbacks in-show of an evil-looking man (who is later found to be Damien Knox, editor of Darkstar Comics) laughing at Tim's work. A traumatic incident in his childhood when attempting to cure a fear of dogs merely left him terrified of dogs, lightning and bamboo instead. He initially works as an assistant manager at a comic book shop, "Fantasy Bazaar", alongside its manager/owner, Bilbo Bagshot (Bill Bailey). In the second series, he lands his dream job as a graphic artist at Dark Star Comics. Tim consistently demonstrates more of a work ethic than Daisy, although his adverse reaction to Twiglets makes him violent.
Daisy Steiner (Stevenson): Daisy is an aspiring writer, although she tends to spend most of her time actively avoiding doing any writing — or any other actual work for that matter. Whereas Tim is often grouchy and sour, Daisy is sunny, enthusiastic and cheerful, and at times overwhelmingly so. She can also be aggressive and confrontational at times, as demonstrated when she joined an employment agency only to lose most of the jobs she was assigned through her negative attitudes (including snapping "Fuck you!" to customers when presented with reasonable requests). She considers herself to be quite intellectual, even though she only graduated from Kingston University with a third class degree in Humanities. She has a tendency to babble in conversation, making social interactions rather more difficult to navigate than they necessarily have to be. She also has a tendency to interfere in other people's problems or lives as a way of avoiding focusing on her work or her own problems. Daisy bestows most of her love in a shockingly high pitch upon her dog Colin, a miniature schnauzer, whom she rescues from being put down. (Colin grows upon everyone, so much so that they rescue him from a dognapping; Tim jokingly refers to him as his and Daisy's "baby" in the second series premiere.) Daisy also possesses an innate knack for martial arts, although this is seldom called into use. Her greatest desire was to go to India and see the Taj Mahal, a goal which she accomplished between series one and two after having actually published some articles for a change (her trip was also aided by inheritance money from her deceased aunt).
Marsha Klein (Deakin): Marsha, the permanently sozzled landlady, is never seen without a lit cigarette in one hand, and a glass of red wine in the other. Once a promising young athlete, she retired from athletics after receiving a leg injury and became a groupie instead, resulting in several marriages that ended bitterly and a teenage daughter, Amber Weary, with whom she is near-constantly arguing. She passionately lusts after Brian, an attraction which stems from a hazy, torrid incident in the past where rent negotiations became somewhat more sensual than usual as a result of Brian's sheer poverty. She is utterly delighted to have new, young friends, which is slightly awkward, as she is the only one who does not know that Tim and Daisy are not actually a couple.
Brian Topp (Heap): The lodger in the flat below Tim and Daisy's, Brian is a rather bizarre and somewhat angst-ridden and pretentious artist. Quietly spoken and intense, Brian gives the impression of being almost psychotic and sociopathic; in fact, he is just very shy and timid. His main artistic drives are anger, pain, fear and aggression, and his art is, according to him, 'a bit more complex' than watercolours. Both his artistic drives and his social maladjustment can be traced to the death of his childhood pet dog Pom Pom, run over by a truck when playing with Brian (who used to dress him up in period costumes and photograph him). He frequently behaves in a tormented fashion, particularly when Marsha's lusting after him. He is in love with Twist, and embarked on a torrid relationship with her before they broke up towards the end of series two. Despite this, his sexuality is quite complex and frequently alluded to throughout the series, as he seems quite undecided at times. When directly asked if he is gay he replies that he is not, but in a manner that suggests he thinks he ought to be. At the start of the first series, he has a strong dislike of contemporary art, but is quite talented in its use, and by the end of the second series he overcomes his disregard and proudly displays his abstract portrait of Twist in public. The character of Brian was originally written for Julian Barratt, who had previously worked with Wright, Pegg and Stevenson in their previous series Asylum. Barratt was unable to play the role so Mark Heap was cast instead.
Mike Watt (Frost): Mike is Tim's best friend. He wishes dearly that he could join the British Army, but unfortunately is ineligible owing to the detached retinas he received following a painful childhood accident when jumping from a tree after being egged on by Tim, and as such, must console himself with membership in the Territorial Army instead. Mike had been thrown out of the TA because he stole a chieftain tank and tried to invade Paris with it while on weekend manoeuvres in France. At a re-admission hearing, it is revealed that Mike's invasion plan failed because he stopped at Euro Disney and was apprehended on Space Mountain. Mike is granted readmission, however, and even advanced to the rank of sergeant. Mike is very protective of Tim, and subtle suggestions (such as Tim and Mike holding hands at the start of some scenes) over the course of the series indicate that Mike may have a slight crush on him. Despite his military pretensions, Mike is a sweet and caring individual who is deeply hurt by being put aside in favour of Tim's growing relationship with Sophie (Lucy Akhurst). The character was based on a recurring joke character between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who are best friends outside of the series). When writing Spaced, Pegg included the character and persuaded Edgar Wright to cast Frost.
Twist Morgan (Carmichael): Twist, Daisy's best friend, is (in the words of Tim) either 'sweet and stupid, or an evil genius'. She 'works in fashion' (i.e., a dry cleaner) and is an atrociously superficial 'fashion fascist'. She is prone to giving backhanded compliments to Daisy, particularly about her size, weight or clothing choices. It is never mentioned in the series how Daisy and Twist met, though various extras on the "Definitive Collectors Edition" boxed set state that they met at university. Although she and Brian are social opposites with apparently incompatible fashion sense, they did have an intense love affair, mainly based on sex, which ended badly. It is alluded though that they both still love each other. Tim has said she is like "Cordelia out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Brian has a long and happy life with Twist, and after his death, his works become incredibly popular and sell for millions. Twist, however, ends up in suspended animation and awakes in the future, to find everyone, to her disgust, is wearing silver. Mike ends up with Dexter and moves to South London.
Simon Pegg had joked that a hypothetical third series would end with a Blake's 7 style shoot-out.
Northern Exposure's frequent use of fantasy sequences was "one of the key influences" in the creation of the show, and Pegg and Stevenson pitched the show to LWT as "a cross between The Simpsons, The X-Files and Northern Exposure."
The series is dense with references to popular culture, including but not limited to science fiction and horror films, comic books and video games. The Series 2 DVD release introduced the "Homage-o-meter", an alternative set of subtitles listing every reference and homage; the "Definitive Collectors Edition" boxed set introduced a similar subtitle track for Series 1. 2000 AD artists Jim Murray and Jason Brashill provided the artwork for Tim's comic "The Bear," as well as other incidental artwork for the show. Tim's boss Bilbo wears a 2000 AD comic T-shirt whilst lecturing Tim about The Phantom Menace.
The series is also noted for its regular references to recreational drug use, from its title onwards. Tim and Daisy smoke pot on a number of occasions, one episode centering on its use. Tim and Mike take speed on one occasion, and Tim, Mike, Daisy, Twist and Brian take ecstasy while clubbing.
Music rights issues long prevented the release of Spaced in Region 1 (U.S. and Canada). Despite the raised profile resulting from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (film collaborations between Pegg and Wright that performed well in the Region 1 countries), no DVDs surfaced between 2004 and 2007. In an interview, it was suggested a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment failed to come to fruition over the music rights.
Wright announced the release of a Region 1 Spaced DVD release on July 22, 2008, which included an all-new commentary with Wright, Pegg, and Stevenson, as well as special guests Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, and Patton Oswalt. Supplemental features included the original commentaries, the "Skip to the End" documentary, outtakes, deleted scenes, and raw footage.
In 2001, a soundtrack to the first series was released in tandem with the first series' release on DVD and videotape. A second soundtrack was not released, although the series' official fan website has an episode-by-episode list of music featured in the second series.
Soon after series 2 had aired on television, the official Spaced fan website announced that, "despite what certain national newspapers might have said, series 2 is not the last series of Spaced. There will be a third series of Spaced - we just don't know when."
Edgar Wright initially was "torn" about making more Spaced, saying "we have genuinely talked about it and have some neat ideas that could work in a Before Sunset/Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? kind of way". However, in April 2007, Wright confirmed that the show no longer had any possibility of returning in any form, as the actors were all now "too old", and he and Pegg feared it would ruin a good thing. In August of that same year, Wright told Rotten Tomatoes that "there's not going to be a third season, it would be silly now" but that they could "do something that sort of like catches our heroes ten years later."
In 2006, Pegg stated in a Chain Reaction interview (conducted by co-star Bill Bailey, who had played Tim's boss, Bilbo) that he would like to bring back Spaced for a one-hour special to "tie up all the loose ends." In a March 2007 interview on a New Zealand radio station, Pegg was asked by the interviewer if Spaced was "an ongoing production" and responded, "No, I think that's done." In May 2008, Pegg said, "[W]e have never categorically ruled out the possibility of more. Tim, Daisy, Mike, Brian, Twist, Marsha and Colin all have destinies locked in mine and Jess's collective grey matter, who's to say they won't some day be played out." However, Pegg stated in December 2009 that if he was given the chance to continue Spaced, he would decline.
In 2007, Nick Frost called the series "dead," saying that Pegg was holding out the possibility only to not disappoint the fans and keep them happy, but that Frost could declare it dead as he had no emotional attachment. Frost said Pegg and Stevenson decided that series 2 would be the end whilst writing episode 7.
Wright was initially approached about an American version after the first series was broadcast in 1999, and felt an American remake was impossible due to the series' fundamental theme. "Same reason it couldn't be a film," Wright said. "Part of the charm of 'Spaced' is it's people in north London acting out stuff from American films ... you know, Hollywood in, kind of, suburbia. [...] American TV is much more glamorous. It doesn't make any sense. I remember that the producer at the time said, 'Yeah, we'd have to change a few things. We'd have to take out the drugs and the swearing, and obviously, Mike can't have guns.'"
Neither Wright, Pegg nor Stevenson were at any point approached regarding the proposed American remake, which Wright had dubbed "McSpaced", due to the involvement of film director McG. Wright was upset that "they would a) never bother to get in touch but still b) splash my and Simon's names all over the trade announcements and imply that we're involved in the same way Ricky & Steve were with The Office". Pegg and Stevenson also complained of the "lack of respect" demonstrated by the creators of the proposed American series, who left them out of discussions as well.
Wright was also angry at the media for what he felt was their overlooking of Stevenson's role in the creation of Spaced by connecting the series to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz in news articles.
Category:1999 in British television Category:1999 British television programme debuts Category:2001 British television programme endings Category:1990s British television series Category:2000s British television series Category:Big Talk productions Category:Channel 4 sitcoms Category:Spaced Category:Television shows set in London
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