Totally Spaced Out

Back in university, Thursdays used to be THE night for television.  Of course, it was also  Pub Night.  Although we never considered missing out on drinking at a sweaty, smoky, hormone-infested pub (for shame!), we never went out until we had watched tv from 8pm to 9pm:  Friends and Seinfeld.  As much as I love my PVR and can't live without it, there was something just a little bit exciting about my friends and I stopping what we were doing and watching those shows together.  It gave me a feeling of community.  (And inconvenience - but hey, what did I have to do in those days that was so important, except drink?)

I miss that feeling.  I also miss having comedies that I feel are worth my time.  There's tons of fine dramas on television these days, but there seems to be a dearth of good sitcoms.  If it wasn't for The Office and How I Met Your Mother, we'd be completely out to sea.

Enter Spaced.  If How I Met Your Mother is a newer and much shinier version of Friends, then I would equate Spaced with the calibre of Seinfeld in its heyday.  However, writers Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) and Jessica Stevenson pitched it to London Weekend Television as "a cross between The Simpsons, The X-Files and Northern Exposure".

Spaced is a British comedy about Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) and Daisy Steiner (Jessica Stevenson) who meet by chance in a coffee shop while searching for new flats.  They come across an advertisement for a great, affordable flat but the landlord, Marsha Klein (Julia Deakin) will only accept professional couples.  They conspire to pose as a couple, and after an interesting interview, complete with fake background information, they land the place.  Also living in the building is conceptual artist Brian Topp (Mark Heap), and Marsha herself, who shares her apartment with her wild, argumentative daughter (whom we never see).

The reason I think of it as the new Seinfeld is that it is essentially a show about "nothing".  Remember Jerry and George pitching their comedy to the network?  The main idea of show is simply following the lives of young wannabes - Simon is an aspiring graphic artist, and Daisy is an aspiring writer - as they find new and incredibly interesting ways to kill time.

What I like best about the show is their frequent use of fantasy sequences (like Northern Exposure or Ally McBeal), and their near constant use of pop-culture references.  In fact, if you buy the DVD of Series 2 (or the boxed set), you can watch the show with the "Homage-o-meter" - an alternate list of subtitles showing every pop-culture reference used.  Being total TV nerds, the Husband and I always watch it with those subtitles on.  I also like the way that it's shot with a single camera.  It gives the show a fresh, indie feeling, completely different from the overproduced dreck out there.  And there's no canned laughter to be found.  I hate it when a show tells me when I should laugh.

Of course, what ultimately makes the show are the actors.  Simon and Jessica are note-perfect in their character's insular foibles, and though one would expect Pegg to be the stronger of the two - his likeability having been proven already - it's Stevenson who is the standout.  She has mastered the George Costanza School of Acting knack of being simultaneously annoying and irresistible.  Mark Heap as artist Brian adds a zesty flavour of weirdness, much like Kramer.  And then there's Marsha.  Marsha, Marsha, Marsha.  I started off being kind of creeped out by her, until I realized that that was her brilliance.  She insinuates her drunken self into the lives of her younger tenants, unashamedly lusting after Brian.  It's gotten to the point that every time she says "Hullo, Broi-an" in her distinctive accent, I burst out laughing.

The show currently airs on Showcase in Canada, but I strongly recommend buying the boxed set so that you don't miss a single episode.  Make it a holiday present to yourself if you have to - there's no better way to lessen the stress of the upcoming season than to have a good laugh.  And this is a great one.

Photo Credit: Spaced Out

Comments

[Karen MEG]

Sounds like a great show. I just discovered this new series on Showcase, Starter Wife... it's growing on me a bit too...

[Woman in a window]

Hey, this site won't remember me and I'm starting to take it personally. Bad site! Bad!

I'll check this out. Your refined sensibilities in TV viewing seem to run along the same lines as mine. Aren't we smart? Oh ya, baby. That's what we are.

[Athena]

My husband and I loved this show. We downloaded it as it aired in the UK (we watch a lot of British shows as my husband is British and somehow keeps up with media there.)

They do eventually show Marsha's daughter btw. My fave episode is when they all go to a rave :) It was unfortunate that the series was so short-lived.

Another GREAT British show is Peep Show. I can't recommend it enough. It's also still being produced so there are a lot more shows of that around.

[Her Bad Mother]

Office, HIMYM - saving television for me.

But! On extended cable (and DVD): Flight of The Conchords! Extras! Brizilliant television!

[kgirl]

I hadn't even heard of this!

[katie ~ motherbumper]

I love the sounds of this, thank you thank you for sharing... finding a gem in all the shit out there is difficult.

BTW - I could have written this post - holy crow Thursday night used to be the end all and be all (remember when it was Monday nights? at least that didn't complete with an awesome drinking night but it did coincide with Blue Monday Alternative nights at the local). I'm pretty sure all things revolved around drinking and tv watching back then.