I looked through all the sitcom threads and couldn't find anything for Spaced, possibly one of the best shows ever to air on television. So I started one. Because I love it. And because it is Simon Pegg's birthday today.

So, I thought I'd start things off with a little quote - the one which to me signified that this was going to be a television show about my life:


"You're not one of those sci-fi nerds, are you? You don't spend all your evenings on the internet discussing the symbolism of the X-Files?"

Ah, Tim and Daisy. Bless 'em.

Love, Love, Love Spaced.

I watch my imported DVD set at least once a week, while I impatiently wait for a 3rd series. I have made all of my friends watch it and most seriously love it. My favorite episode is the clubbing episode.

P.S. It also has Darth Maul

Ah yes! God bless Spaced and god bless Trio for introducing me to it. I've watched it everytime they've shown it so I've seen every episode about three times, despite being a latecomer.

Everything about it was great. We all know the writing was superb, but the more I watched it the more I noticed that the directing was really impressive as well.


I must admit, however, that some of the final episodes were disappointing. What with Tim's girlfriend and all (Time and Mike 4Eva). The show became too plot-oriented and sentimental, instead of the random silliness and Buffy the Vampire Slayer references that I came to expect.

I'm more EdandShaun4eva! than TimandMike4eva, though they do have a love that dare not speak its name. Plus I just love the TimandDaisy dynamic.

I just got the three-disc collector's set (and a multi-region dvd player to play it on) and watched the documentary, Skip to the End. Lord, I squeed like a mad woman in the last 30 seconds.

missbebe, I, too, watch at least an ep a week. And I'm on a tireless quest to introduce the show to everyone I know. Because it's just.that.good.

"I can't believe some of the shit I used to do with you!"

Spaced was a classic, and it kills me I had to import it on DVD from the UK and fiddle with my player so I can get it to work over here- curse the DVD industry and their single region psychosis! My all time favourite episode was the one where Colin got kidnapped and they went on a mission to rescue him- "I'm Han, you're Luke, you can be Chewie and you're..... Jabba" "Was Jabba the Princess?"

Have you guys ever tried Black Books? Similarly unavailable on DVD over here and only made 3 series, but the humour is the same with slightly more of the surreal.

Oh, and "the second rule of robot fightclub is NO-ONE TALKS ABOUT... oh, no sorry, No smoking", but I'm gushing now.

While they weren't the first to do them, I can never get enough Territorial Army jokes. Are they definitely doing a series 3?

"Rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, rabbits!"

I have a friend who ran into Simon Pegg at a concert late last year (and he was wearing his ZombAid shirt! Want!) and, when asked, he said that it was "definitely a possibility." I think the problem right now is that Jess Stevenson is in that awful According to Bex, and Simon and Edgar keep writing and filming movies. Don't care! Want a third series!

jimlad, I had to do the same. Well, actually, I didn't fiddle with my dvd player. I just bought a region free one (the dvd player was actually the same price as the Spaced dvds, once I factored in the exchange rate). Speaking of the ep where Colin got kidnapped, I love the exchange right after that:

"Twist, what's that?"
"It's my makeup bag."
"Twist, we're going to an animal research laboratory. I'm sure there will be makeup there."

and, of course, "Brian, come back in one piece. You know which piece I mean."

ganthet, what is the Territorial Army? I could never really figure it out. Are they like our equivalent to the State Guard?

The Territorial Army is the part time army reserve here in the UK. Most of the people I've known who have been in it have been nowhere near a likeable as Mike.

Most recent talk is of no third series, unfortunatly. If you get hold of the Spaced box set there is a tiny scene at the end of the documetary on the third disc which sort of bookends the show.

As Gulftastic said, the Territorial Army is the National Guard with stigma. The stereotype is that people join the National Guard because they don't want to join the regular Armed Forces and only want to do the "weekend warrior" bit whereas people only join the TA because the regular Army won't take them but they still want to shoot things. Repeatedly. While laughing maniacally.

When they're not stealing tanks and invading Paris, of course.

Love this show, and recently got myself the collector's edition for my birthday, despite having them all already on DVD. I am Spaced's bitch.

And the TA likes butterflies. With bombs.

OT, but I'm going to see Dylan Moran's stand up show in LA in a few weeks. Huzzah! Is it wrong to be secretly hoping that his good friend Simon Pegg is in attendance?

bump

Aw, Sars bumped Spaced! Awesome.

Topic? While at Austin Marsathon this weekend, I took the time to convert a couple of people to Spaced. Then they went around all weekend saying, "So, you had sex two days before you kissed?"

And, more importantly, people finally understood why I say that Tim Bisely is my One True Love.

Simon Pegg had his wedding reception in a venue near me a few months back. I wouldn't normally do this, but as I was out and about anyway, I hung around to see him & bride go in. They looked very happy. Apparently Nick Frost was the best man, and when there was some sort of delay with the bride, he grabbed Simon and said "Oh, we'll just get married instead." Which is pretty cute.

Nick is currently in this new Red Dwarf-alike show, Hyperdrive, but I have to say I don't care for it much so far.

I love those scenes where Daisy and Tim are trying to convince people they're a couple, like when they're faking sex sounds, or when Daisy goes upstairs to cry on Marsha's shoulder about breaking up with her boyfriend, forgetting completely that Tim's supposed to be her boyfriend and Marsha had thought Tim was shouting ‘Why can't you shoot straight, you big-titted bitch!‘ at Daisy rather than Lara Croft.

Spaced has to be one of my favourite comedies ever. I always feel like a bit of a mix between Daisy and Tim (probably with a bit of Marsha thrown in, if I'm honest...).

I have too many favourite scenes and lines to mention, but I think my favourite episode all in all has to be the one where Daisy and Tim have their night out in Camden, run into Dwayne Banzi (‘Pull my finger..‘) and have the ‘gunfight‘ with the chav teenagers. I used to go in that pub, The Monarch, where they filmed it, all the time, so that felt very close to home.

I love the fake gunfight. I remember when they were talking about it on Skip to the End, about how it was just something they did all the time, and I was all, "OMGMETOO!"

I'm going to England in November, and I am stalking Simon in Crouch End. He'd better be there, damnit.

I've never seen Spaced but enjoyed Sean of the Dead very much. Are there any plans for it to be on BBC America at some point? I understand there are many shout outs to Spaced in Sean of the Dead that went by me completely.

I loved it whenever anybody ran out of bullets, especially Tim's slow-motion "Oh, sh....!"
"Thanks, babe." (Inadvertent shout-out, apparently.)

I also love Tim's seething hatred of The Phantom Menace. Which reminds me of another thing I love, his delayed reaction after being fired by Bilbo.

Oh, and the Territorial Army. Isn't that what Gareth (The Office) used to be in too? Hilarious! I loved the children's playground noises when they were let out for the day, the robot fight club, Dexter (Reece Shearsmith is probably my favorite guest character, along with David Walliams as Vulva, of course), the interview process.

I love the way they did the Tim and Mike childhood flashback too. And Brian reading Vulva's invitation.

iMissEthan: Spaced was on Trio for a while, but AFAIK, no plans to release it onto BBC America. There's a licensing issue. Also, Spaced aired on Channel 4, so I don't think BBC has rights to it.

I bought a region-free dvd player so that I could watch Spaced.



And, like, full half of Spaced was in SotD, I think. Tyres was a bike-messenger zombie, Jessica, of course, was Yvonne, and I know Julia Deakin and, I think, Mark Heap were both in it.



Heh. Bilbo. "That's not the point, Tim. The point is I was defending the fantasy genre with terminal intensity, when what I should have said was 'Dad, you're right, but let's give Krull a try and we'll discuss it later.'"

"I see it as a waste of Baco...the foil".

Best comedy ever.

p.s. Hi, EireFaerie!

Sorting out video tapes the other day, finding Simon Pegg on Kimmel promoting Shaun of the Dead, see Simon do his little breakdancing move (move can also be seen in 1st season Spaced when Tim is all happy thinking his ex will get back together with him), decide to watch move on slo-mo until I can do my own shoddy version, realize I am not 15 (actually twice that) and feel like a knob, decide to share story with TWoP. Feel better.

And I saw the "Skip to the End" doc recently thanks to a friend who has a friend in England who sends her good stuff. Soooo good. I love when they go running out to freak out the fans taking pictures of the house where they shot exteriors.

I've made lots of people watch Spaced and everyone loves it (I have friends with excellent taste). My best friend and I still fake each other out occasionally with "OH.MY.GOD....." ("What?") "I've got some fucking Jaffa Cake in my coat pocket!"

I haven't come across someone yet who I haven't managed to convert. (This may be in part because I only convert like-minded individuals.) But, like, if you're at all a fanboy/girl, hell, if you're a member of TWoP, you're going to love Spaced. Because it's our own little anthem.

Quote for the Day:

"I want to be seen as a whole!"
"I do!"
"A 'whole,' Bryan. With a W."

Heh. One of the things that surprised me about Spaced is how much I grew to love Twist. I hated her in the second ep ("Big's in. Good for you.") but she's just so funny. When I was watching SttE, I was shocked by how different Katy Carmichael looked. Good, just . . . not Twist like. (And Mark Heap, with that bit of extra weight he put on for Big Train? Yum. And David Walliams. Sigh. He's hot.)

I am so curious - just from the descriptions here. How can I see a few episodes without having to buy the DVD and a new DVD player. Any suggestions anyone. (I checked Netflix and there was no dice. I could call BBA America I guess.)

In America, the only way I could see it was on Trio (owned by NBC) and that network isn't available on satellite dish anymore. The episodes are also edited for time and the language is bleeped out. It's still funny though. NBC apparently owns the rights to the program and I wonder if they are planning an American version (gag).

It is gone from cable as well.

From the Trio Website:

Oh, God, I just threw up a little in my own mouth.

SoTired, you might have to do that thing we don't talk about here. That's how I saw them originally. And then I was, like, eep! Must buy dvds!

Yeah I was crusin' 'the unmentionable' this weekend looking for the show. No joy yet, but good to know the stuff is out there.

I didn't even notice that it was gone. That's sad.

Well, NBC still owns the US broadcast rights. I wish they would release them to Showtime (which has shown many uncut versions of British tv series on their Showcase channel) so we can see them.

SoTired, did you get my email? I may be able to work some magic for you.

On topic, SPACED trivia: the Ewok song heard during the end of Tim and Bryan and Daisy's Star Wars-a-thon ("Oh my God. I've got some fucking jaffa cakes in my coat pocket!") was performed by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright-Here-Wright-Now. They couldn't get the rights to the actual song, so Simon performed it from memory.

Re: a slightly rounder Mark Heap. A few months ago I saw a video (Four Tet's "Smile Around the Face") that had Mark in it. It took me a bit to recognize him due to the slightly rounder face (adorable)...I totally ended up screaming "BRIAN!" at the TV. It's a great video that follows him throughout a day, shot straight on his face the whole time.

Spaced on the TV - I first saw it in Canada on Bravo ages ago. They only played the first season, but thankfully, they played it through twice in a row so I was able to tape them all. I actually emailed Bravo a few years ago to ask if they would ever replay it or at least play the second season. They said probably not.

I am a lucky, lucky nerd who has the show on DVD now. Speaking of, I find Simon Pegg lowers his voice a whole heck of a lot when he does commentaries. I have trouble recognizing him because it's so low.

(And eirefaerie, I love Simon and Edgar's version of the Ewok "Yub Nub" song...and Simon (Tim) basking in the glow of the credits with tears pouring down his face and his mouth hanging open a little. And the jaffa cakes. Happy sigh.)

Just in case there's someone here who hasn't seen it yet, here's Edgar Wright's video for "Bastardo" by Charlotte Hatherley (of Ash, his girlfriend). Another link. With David Walliams and cameos by Simon Pegg, Lucy Davis and I think that woman from Nighty Night. Somehow I think it suits this thread better than the Little Britain thread. Very cute!

Oh, wow. I'd never seen that before. I'd heard of it, but could never find it. Thanks, Adina!

You're welcome, eirefaerie. Anything for a fellow Spaced fan!

Got it today, and hurridly sent a vigorous affirmative for the reply. Ta!

Spaced is my favourite thing ever! I put the 2nd series DVD on earlier just planning to watch one episode, but of course I had to watch them all.

Does anyone have any favourite quotes? I'm rather fond of: "Jar-Jar makes the Ewoks look like fucking Shaft!", and of course the absolute classic that is: "Oh yah, I hadn't thought of dat!". It's all fried gold!

SoTired, there's been a bit of a delay, but I'm working on it. :)

Heh. I love when Daisy goes on her interview with the women's magazine, and it's a flop, and Tim says, "Daisy, when you said it went 'well', well, did you actually mean 'shite'?"

And Daisy's all "Shit shitting shit it!" I say that a lot.

OT, but I just watched Derren Brown's The Gathering today (Derren is my Creepy English Boyfriend, Simon is my Actual English Boyfriend. Colin Firth is my "English Boyfriend I'd throw the first two over for immediately."), and there was little Simon in the audience. He didn't say anything, though. :(

Spaced-reference question: after the great "I've got some fucking Jaffa Cakes in my coat pocket!" line, there's the "oh mummy oh daddy, let's all play Kabbadi" thing. Just yesterday I saw a bit of Kabbadi on the TV, so I (kind of) know what it is, but I have NO idea what the line is all about. Feel free to help out a non-UK type.

And also feel free to explain "it's too orangey for crows!" I always assumed it was from a commercial or something, but, obviously, I have no idea.

That is my favourite sight gag of all time. Vulva was genius. I love watching all the episodes with the commentary on. When it gets to that bit in the bar with Brian and Vulva everyone on the commentary starts into "When I think of the shit I used to do with you". Classic.

For months I was likely to come out with "Oh yah I hadn't taut a dat" which in retrospect, was very very annoying.

The "It's too orangey for crows" comes from an ad that was on tv years ago. It was for a drink called Kia-Ora. One of the things they always do in Spaced is show that even though Tim and Daisy are young, they are terrified of the even younger generation coming up behind them. So the kid not knowing the Kia-Ora ad is sinister on its own even without what happens later.

Black Books is good but I don't think it is as clever or polished as Spaced. Its very surreal but sometimes watching it is like watching 3 or 4 really funny ideas stretched into one show. An oldie but goodie is Father Ted, which isn't really all that much like Spaced but almost everyone I know that loved Spaced loved Father Ted.

But seriously, what is Jessica Stevenson doing on that BBC sitcom?

Making money?

Yeah, I know. It's not pretty. I love their ComicAid bit, though, with Simon and Jess being increasinly insulting, and Jess calls Simon a "podgy, balding freak," to which Simon just says "According to Bex."



Pudding!

"It's not finished.

It's finished."

That was brilliant. I squee everytime I see them doing something together. I even squeed when she turned up in Shaun of the Dead. I didnt realise she was going to be in it.

After reading this thread I went home and watched the episode with the fake gunfight last night. The machine guns, the running out of bullets, the knife to the head. But the best bit was one I hadn't remembered. When the boys run into Dwayne's porsche, he gets out and starts shouting at the main chav. Then he hears this little noise, turns and sees the rest of them gathered around them. He just goes "Clever boys" before being mauled ala Jurassic Park.

I actually watched SotD before I saw Spaced, and through the entire movie, I was like, "Shaun should date that nice Yvonne girl! Liz sucks!!" And then, lo, when I saw Spaced, I was like, "ZOMG they are in love!"

Hey, it's been 24 hours, so I can double post. I'm so lame.

Happy birthday to Simon Pegg!! (And to this thread!)

I know I've posted in the Spaced thread before, but I can't find my original post and I'm thinking there have been multiple threads.

In any event--a friend of mine brought me the DVDs from England in 2003 and I was blown away at how hysterical it was. Especially compared to my limited exposure to US sitcoms.

The only thing that really tops it is Green Wing...If you like Spaced, you must watch Green Wing. Only not the BBCAmerica version, because it's edited to heck.

This is as good a place as any -

Simon Pegg talks about training for Hot Fuzz. You can see a bit of Edgar in there, setting up shots, and lots of Simon practicing Judo and bike riding and gun play.

And he's hot. I mean, even more so than I usually find him.

As for Spaced itself, contact me through my profile if you'd like computer-playable copies of the eps. I might be able to help.

Simon Pegg says he'd like to do a one hour wrap up - like the Christmas Special of the Office, I presume. From CHUD.com.

Thanks for the link, eirefaerie! He looks cute.

Simon looked so awful in the Doctor Who ep "Long Game". It was his character, but still. The platinum hair and eyebrows and pale makeup - awful!

Maybe if they do a third series, Steve Pemberton could be on. They've already had Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith.

I think I have a new favourite quote from Spaced. When Twist is talking to Brian and says: "So don't forget to wash your sheets...and your penis."

My favorite Twist quote is still "I want you to see me as a whole!" "I do!" "A whole, Brian, with a W." Heh. Poor Twist.

Ew. Brian's penis would have to be washed. God only knows what he's doing with that thing.

Didn't he paint with it once? Either way, having to be reminded is gross. Heh.

Twist is/was very much a guest character for me, she's okay but I didn't really like that she was part of the "credits" at the start of the last episode (I think?) of series 2.

One of my favorite exchanges:

Daisy Steiner: Do you rent downstairs?
Brian: You mean am I gay?
Daisy Steiner: What?
Brian: You mean am I gay?
Daisy Steiner: No, I meant, "Do you rent the downstairs flat?"
Brian: Oh. Yep, sort of.
Tim: Are you gay?
Brian: Hmm?
Tim: Are you gay?
Brian: (thinks) No.

I have to say I'm not a big fan of Green Wing. I don't think it is all that like Spaced. Green Wing is more like Smack the Pony. In fact I think some of the same people are behind it. But the thing that both Green Wing and Smack the Pony have in common is that it is incredibly hit and miss.

If you wanted to check out something to combat the Spaced cold turkey I would suggest Big Train. It's a sketch show from the writers of Father Ted but pretty much all of todays British comedy legends are in it. Well apart from Ricky Gervais and the Little Britain people. Mark Heap, Simon Pegg, Kevin Eldon. It's very surreal and very silly. It's not every day you see the artist formerly known as Prince hunting down jockeys on the plains of Africa. It also has the woman from Nighty Night (who's name I can't for the life of me remember).

I don't know if they should revisit Spaced, its been a long time and its rare for something like that to work. Most of the time you end up wishing they had left well enough alone.