Simon Pegg Sitcom ‘Spaced’ Coming To America
Spaced was a British sitcom which virtually launched Simon Pegg’s career and also starred a host of the finest comey talent on this side of the Atlantic.
It was created by Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson and Edgar Wright and ran for two series on Channel 4 between 1999 and 2001.
I loved it’s blend of surrealism and pop culture piss takes, and was very disappointed when the show ended after such a short space of time.
Now it’s been announced that the show is about to make a comeback, but in the States this time, rather than in the UK.
The Fox telelvision network has ordered a pilot episode to be made of the show, which could hopefully lead to a full series being commissioned.
It is not known if any of the original creators will have a hand in the new adaptation of the show, with American producers instead being hired to oversee the re-imagining.
I think it’s mad if Pegg and Wright at least don’t have some input in to the show, so that the essence of the comedy remains true to the original. But even if they do, I’m not sure America will take this comedy to their hearts as the Brits have done so.
It’s become somewhat of a cult, with a massive Internet community built around the show and it’s characters.
The main plot of the show was that Tim Bisley (Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Stevenson) started sharing a flat together without really even knowing each other.
And then you have a multitude of weird and wonderful characters who inhabit the episodes, including Brian Topp (Mark Heap), Tim’s best friend, Mike Watt (Nick Frost) and Daisy’s best friend, Twist Morgan (Katy Carmichael).
The relationship between Pegg and Frost worked so well on screen so well that it was basically carried through to the films Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz (both directed by Edgar Wright). Most of the other actors also went on to do other projects.
So will a remake work or fall flat on it’s face? Well, firstly Fox need to get the original creators involved, as otherwise it’s going to lose it’s original spark completely. And even then, I’m not sure that the situation and surreal humour will travel wuite as well as The Office did.
Like the Some Mothers Do ‘Ave Em remake I reported on two weeks ago, this seems a strange choice of show for an American network to pick up on. If they screw it up, there will be a horde of fans dedicated to the show who will not be very happy.
Simon Pegg, Spaced, UK, America, Sitcom, The Office, Some Mothers Do Ave Em, Fox, Nick Frost, Jessica Stevenson, Edgar Wright, Hot Fuzz, Shaun Of The Dead, Channel 4
May 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
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