Thursday, November 01, 2007

Spaced out

Nooooooo! There are plans to make an American version of "Spaced," the British comedy from Simon Pegg and his pals from "Shaun of the Dead." (Via Metafilter.)

We have a region-free DVD player, so bought the original "Spaced" on DVD some time ago, and love it. Tim and Daisy share an apartment and pretend to be dating (kind of a reverse "Three's Company" concept) and have a wacky landlady, a spacey artist friend, and a nutty military-obsessed pal you'll recognize from "Shaun of the Dead." Oh, is it funny. Think "Austin Stories" only in England.

Now, "The Office" ended up translating really well to American TV, but I think that's because we're even more obsessed with work than the Brits. I can't say "Spaced" would make the transition as nicely. Watch the original instead.

3 comments:

Jen said...

OMG I love Spaced! We saw it mentioned in the IMDB Trivia for Shaun of the Dead, downloaded it (justification to follow) and after a few episodes, bought a region-free DVD player and the series. See, kids? That's how to use the downloading powers for good.

If you haven't, you should check out Black Books. God Bless amazon.uk.

Anonymous said...

"Spaced" is my favorite sitcom of all time, just ahead of "Royal Family" and "Black Books." And all I can say to this is: no. No no no no no no nooooo!

Anonymous said...

Whoa! I have to delurk and comment on this because I absolutely love "Spaced"!

My initial instinct re: the American version is the same as yours and Shannon's ("NOOO!"). But at the same time, I'm sure that fans of the British "Office" felt the same way, and the American version of "The Office" is now my favorite show.

But you know, even if the American version of this show is written well . . . I just love Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson so much in those roles -- in a way that I can't imagine feeling about anyone else.

(I have to add: I told my boyfriend (another "Spaced" lover) this story, and when he realized Simon Pegg probably wouldn't be in the new version, he just said, "Well, why the hell would they do that?!" I agree!)