Spaced

[Benjamin Haines]

The UK television series by the creative trio of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost is coming to US shores soon - in more ways than one.

The good news is that the entire series is getting its long overdue DVD release in North America on July 22nd. It will be a 3-disc set, just like the UK release, presumably with all of the extra features intact.

www.amazon.com/Spaced-Complete-Simon-Pegg/dp/B0019MFY3Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1213349383&sr=1-1

The bad news (and I blame the Curmudgeon for bringing this to my attention) is that the series is getting completely remade by an American studio with an American cast and crew for American audiences. As bad as that is, I was initially hoping that perhaps it wouldn't be all bad. While simply airing the episodes of the real Spaced would of course be ideal, this remake undertaking could at least be a chance for more intelligent comedy to reach the masses of American television viewers in some way (as is currently the case with the American version of The Office). Unfortunately, those hopes of mine were quickly dashed when I learned that "McG", the hack behind the Charlie's Angels feature films and the upcoming fourth Terminator movie, will be helming this American Spaced series. Ugh.

www.slashfilm.com/2008/03/02/simon-pegg-on-the-american-remake-of-spaced/

I'll be passing on the Americanized series for sure. I just can't wait to finally see Spaced for myself. I absolutely adore Wright, Pegg, and Frost's masterworks Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and I've known for a long time now that Spaced was something I needed to see. I was holding out on importing the pricey UK set in hopes that it would get a DVD release in the States, and it looks like my patience has paid off. I'm officially psyched.

[The Curmudgeon]

You'll love it, Benj. The third disc is basically the Spaced team meeting up again a few years later and walking around the old locations etc. Good fun.

And you'll go dizzy trying to spot all of the film, TV and advertising references contained in the 2 series. Some of them are fairly obvious, and some of them are willfully obscure, so much so that one of the extra's is an "Homage-O-Metre" which pops up during the show to tell you what film its referencing.

Trust me brother Benjamin - it'll be worth the wait.

I'm going to watch the US version as well, though. When I first heard they were remaking the Office, I got all Rule Brittannia and they'll never be able to do it etc. I only saw the first series and thought it was superb, and a friend of mine even says it surpasses the original. So hey, you never know.

And as for your comment on having American comedy reaching the mainstream.. you think YOU'VE got it bad? The "mainstream" comedy consists of two things over here. 1 - utter shit or 2 - doesn't exist.

[trashcanman]

Thank you, sir. I've been waiting for this. Can you name ANY instance where "Americanized" has meant "better"? There is no substitute for Simon Pegg.

[The Curmudgeon]

Well, according to a friend of mine (as I already mentioned) the US version of Office is better than the UK. And he knows his stuff.

Plus, your theme song for Sanford and Son is better than our Steptoe and Son. And the Steptoe music is ace.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqazleR3FE

compared to

www.youtube.com/watch?v=10nHp7d0fTc

Don't sell yourselves short, guys. Your American dramas kick the everloving shit out of ours. AND you made The Simpsons, for fucks sake. And Arrested Development! And Frasier! And MST3K! And Curb Your Enthusiasm! And..

I could go on.

[trashcanman]

No, no, no, I'm speaking of REMAKES! Taking something wonderful from another culture and making it mainstream and watered-down for xenophobic American consumption. Asian horror, British humor, and the like are best left to the professionals. But I'll take some good ol' American satire any day of the week as well. Play to your strengths America: no more shitty re-interpretations of foreign genius.

[The Curmudgeon]

Oh, I see. Well, how do you think the US Office compares with the UK? I've only seen the first season of the former so I can't really say.

[trashcanman]

Haven't seen either, but have heard mixed reviews of the US version.

[Benjamin Haines]

I've only seen a few episodes of the US version of The Office, but what I saw really was great. It was actually smart, and definitely a cut above most other comedy on television. One of my friends watches it religiously. I haven't seen any of the UK version though.

DVD Talk have just posted a review of the upcoming North American Spaced DVD set, and they rated it DVD Talk Collector Series - the highest rating that site allots.

www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/33782/spaced-the-complete-series/

It would seem that, in addition to all of the extras being imported from the British release, this new DVD set will have an entire new collection of audio commentaries for each episode along with the previously recorded ones.

The second set of commentaries are new, retrospective tracks, featuring Wright or Wright and Pegg or Wright, Pegg and Stevenson, with celebrities who are fans of the show, and whom the "Spaced" crew are fans of. This includes Kevin Smith (Eps. 1.1-1.3), screenwriter Diablo Cody (Juno) (Eps. 1.4 & 1.5), "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone (Eps. 1.6 & 2.5), comic Patton Oswalt (Eps. 1.7, 2.2 and 2.4), director Quentin Tarantino (Eps. 2.1 & 2.3) and "SNL" star Bill Hader (Eps. 2.6 & 2.7). These tracks are less screen-specific than the original tracks, and tend to focus more on explaining British references to American audiences and themes in the show. The theme discussions make sense, as Smith focuses on their shared interest in comics and films, Tarantino talks about the use of pop-culture references and Stone discusses drugs and censorship. The loosest tracks are oddly the least attended, as Wright shares mic with Oswalt and Hader by himself, and they just basically chat as the show rolls on. Oswalt and Cody serve as the best guests for commentary purposes, as they ask a great deal of questions, though Cody clams up part way through her tracks, leaving the discussion to Wright, Pegg and Stevenson.

I'm really not sure what I'm looking forward to more: this upcoming Spaced DVD set or The Dark Knight.