Directed by Edgar Wright (BBC Warner)
Early on in British series Spaced, procrastinating writer
Daisy (Jessica Hynes) manically suggests the idea of throwing a party
to her new roommate, Tim (Simon Pegg). “We could have a glitter ball! I
could make one out of tinfoil!” she enthuses. The hilariously lame
party that results has a soundtrack featuring “American Pie” and “The
Power of Love;” only three guests show up, and Daisy ends up making out
with her surprisingly old paper boy. Spaced is co-written by
Hynes and Pegg (the latter of whom went on to star in and co-write
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) and directed by Edgar
Wright (the director/co-writer of both those films). It’s unsurprising,
then, that the series is packed with clever film references (One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Star Wars, Pulp
Fiction…) and I imagine that it’s that aspect of the series that
appeals to famous fans like Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Matt
Stone (all featured in episode commentaries). I probably missed a lot
of the in-jokes, but I’m still laughing at that party-from-hell, and at
childlike pretentious artist Brian (Mark Heap), a man who makes
triptychs about pain in his dank apartment, then runs excitedly to the
door when he thinks Father Christmas might be there.
—Lindsay McCarney
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2008.