Spaced is a 1999 British sitcom directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It started out as a script that was written by Pegg and Jessica Hynes, the latter of whom went on to play Daisy Steiner in the show. Pegg also managed to convince Frost, who was his flatmate at the time, to join the cast, which kickstarted his acting career. Although Spaced clearly had a small budget and some aspects of the show definitely come across as dated to modern viewers, it’s a great show for Edgar Wright fans to watch, as it shows the writing and acting talent that encouraged Wright to direct the Cornetto Trilogy — Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End.
The show acts like a coming-of-age story for young adults. Tim Bisley, played by Pegg, is a struggling artist who desperately wants to work for the major publishing house Darkstar Comics. Daisy and Tim meet by chance in a café while they’re both flat-hunting and pretend to be a couple so they can move in to a cheap flat together. Their landlady happens to live in the same building as them, and so they have to keep the charade up for the entire time that they’re in their new flat.
Tim and Daisy’s fake relationship isn’t the only drama that happens in the show. Daisy is an aspiring writer who struggles to actually write anything and has trouble holding down any kind of job. Tim’s best friend, Mike, played by Frost, wants to enlist in the British army, but is unfortunately ineligible because of an injury he acquired at a young age.
The buddy dynamic between Tim and Mike is very reminiscent of Pegg and Frost’s later roles in the Cornetto Trilogy. It becomes very clear how Wright came up with the ideas for their characters in Shaun of the Dead while watching Spaced, as Tim and Mike share some major defining characteristics with Shaun and Ed. Dry British humor is also used well in Spaced and the tone is very similar to Wright’s proceeding movies.
While Spaced definitely isn’t as impressive as Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World when it comes to special effects, it still manages to stay interesting and funny by focusing on the smaller details. Comedic scenes are emphasized through the use of editing in this show, such as cutting to Tim and Daisy’s less-than-glamorous jobs when their landlady asks them about their careers and Tim hearing strange sound effects behind his reclusive neighbor’s door after he tells him that he’s “working.”
Although Spaced isn’t on the same scale as the Cornetto Trilogy in terms of budget or special effects, it definitely makes up for it with the writing and acting. The story is simple enough to keep audiences entertained and the characters work so well with each other that they entice viewers to come back for more. With only two seasons, Spaced is the perfect show to watch for fans of Wright, Pegg, Frost, or the Cornetto Trilogy. It can easily be binged in a weekend and shows the very start of Pegg and Frost’s acting careers, as well as the start of Wright’s career as a director.
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