Simon Pegg-related stories
Posted Oct 13th 2009 3:30PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Doctor Who, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
David Tennant and Simon Pegg will star in John Landis' next film
Burke and Hare. Tennant will soon be stepping down as the lead character in
Doctor Who and while Pegg has mostly been in movies as of late (such as the recent cinematic remake of
Star Trek), he is known for co-creating the television cult fave
Spaced.
It will be interesting to see them work together since Pegg is a big sci-fi fan. He appeared in the first season of
Doctor Who as "The Editor," before Tennant came on board. Sadly, the movie probably has very little science fiction involved since it's about a pair of famous 19th century grave robbers. What do you expect from the man who brought us
An American Werewolf in London?
It's also good to hear that director
John Landis apparently isn't career-dead either and has just moved shop to England (hopefully only temporarily).
Animal House and
The Blues Brothers are two of my favorite movies of all time.
Posted Jul 24th 2009 1:03PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Web, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Hulu has been making all the right, super-sweet moves lately, at least in my book. Not only is the site streaming the marvelous British comedies
Peep Show and
Green Wing, but now
Spaced is on Hulu, too.
Spaced! You can tell I'm excited because I put an exclamation mark on it. The show has been available on DVD in the States for quite a while, but now that both seasons are online, there really isn't any excuse to not experience it. Is it obvious that I have a weird, almost evangelical need to spread the word?
Continue reading Spaced on Hulu! Now you have no excuse to be uninformed
Posted Jun 6th 2009 2:10PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Hey, gang! It's time to get your sketch comedy fill and kick the
Saturday Night Live summer break shakes.
This week, I'm here to educate you on a little British program called
Big Train. It was created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, the brains behind
Father Ted, and ran two seasons/series in 1998 and 2002. Most of the sketches were surreal and played with the most beautifully serious deadpan expressions. There are people in giant cat and mouse costumes getting in fights, professional evil hypnotists lurking in hallways, as well as
jockeys being preyed upon by Prince, so it's a wonder the actors could ever keep straight faces.
Continue reading Sketch Comedy Saturday: Big Train
Posted Aug 11th 2008 12:04PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series, Comic-Con
TrekMovie.com has posted
screen shots of the new posters for the upcoming Star Trek movie. These posters (four in total) were apparently given out at the recent VegasCon to go with four given out at the SDCC of Kirk and Spock. From left to right, the posters are of Sulu, Scotty, McCoy and Chekov.
Frankly, I don't think any of them look like the originals. John Cho has a longer face than George Takei. Simon Pegg looks like a smaller guy (at least they didn't immediately give him the mustache that James Doohan later grew). It's tough to tell with Karl Urban because of the angle of his profile, but he looks nowhere near as ornery as Deforest Kelley. Anton Yelchin has a much stronger jaw than Walter Koenig.
Do you think people would watch a movie in which they basically use only the names and don't really try to duplicate the looks of the original actors? I suppose this won't bother a new generation of
Trek fans who don't know the original cast anyway. What do you think?
Posted Aug 2nd 2008 10:01AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Sometimes television shows come along that completely change the industry.
Spaced is one of those shows. Broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 from 1999 to 2001, it used geeky pop culture references, non sequitur scene injections, flashbacks and other common television practices nowadays way back when it wasn't cool to do so. In that respect, it's a combination of
The Big Bang Theory and
Arrested Development long before either existed.
When co-creators and co-stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (now Jessica Hynes) created the main characters Tim and Daisy, they created characters that every nerdy person could relate to.
The show does cater to a very specific audience and it's the sort of audience that tends to be the most loyal, even obsessively so. Nobody is particularly super-handsome and the characters are very niche. Also, the show doesn't really talk down to the audience and makes the viewer feel like part of the conversation. This is unlike, say,
Arrested Development which tends to be a bit pretentious (sorry to all you
Arrested Development fans).
Continue reading Spaced: The Complete Series - DVD Review
Posted Jul 4th 2008 12:45PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, Saturday Night Live, Celebrities, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free
If there were a way to completely stop people on the Internet from saying, "Why do you keep watching this?
Saturday Night Live hasn't been good since the days of Gildaphil Belushikroyd Normfeyrrell!", I would punch that button (or that person). Thinking a little more optimistically, there can always be better days ahead, for
SNL is forever renewable, with an ever changing cast and crew. The thing that gets the fastest turn-over is the host, who has the opportunity to bring something new and exciting from week to week.
Now that the so-so 33rd season is over, I like to pretend everyone at
SNL has kicked aside all the beach time and BBQ invites to plan something exciting for their return. Picking good hosts is an important part of having a successful season, so I've compiled my own list of nine people that must host, just in case
SNL decides to re-work the entire show based on blog responses. I'm just covering all my bases, all right?
Continue reading Nine people who must host SNL next season
Posted Jul 3rd 2008 9:24AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, TV on DVD, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free
The American DVD collection for
Spaced is finally coming out, and Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes and Edgar Wright will be promoting it through their US invasion. Well, by "US invasion," I mean they're going on a
four-city tour, screening episodes and answering questions in NYC, LA, San Diego's Comic-Con, and Austin. That's sort of an invasion, yeah?
Anyway, I was just sitting here and feeling sorry for myself, like I do, doubly so this time because I won't be able to attend any of those inevitably textbook events. Then, I stumbled across this recent
blog entry from Simon Pegg.
Continue reading Not new Spaced, but it will have to do
Posted Jun 11th 2008 9:07AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: TV on DVD, OpEd, Reality-Free
To promote the American DVD release of the BBC series
Spaced on July 22nd,
the creators and director will be doing a U.S. tour. Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (formerly Jessica Stevenson) and Edgar Wright will be stopping by the L.A. Film Festival to promote the event and future stops may include the San Diego Comic Con, Austin and New York.
The Region 1 DVD will include a brand new
all-star commentary track that will include the creators and director as well as various guest stars including Kevin Smith, Matt Stone (co-creator of
South Park) and Diablo Cody (writer of
Juno).
There was an attempt by McG and Fox to create an American version of
Spaced that didn't involved the original creators. Fortunately, that has been
put to rest.
In short, if you're a
Spaced fan and you live in the vicinity of Los Angeles, Austin or New York then you are a lucky, lucky person.
Posted May 11th 2008 2:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Cancellations, Reality-Free
If the rumors are to be believed, then
the inevitable has occurred. Fox has passed on the Americanized version of
Spaced (nicknamed "McSpaced") and its fans are breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Producer McG made a huge mistake when he decided to not include the creators of the original, British version in his remake yet he included their as if they were still involved. Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes-Stevenson and Edgar Wright have been very vocal in their displeasure regarding the remake.
Known for its cinematic style and pop culture references, the original
Spaced launched the careers of everyone involved. Pegg and Wright have gone on to bigger and better things (such as
Shaun of the Dead and
Hot Fuzz) and Stevenson has starred in several British productions afterwards.
It's never a good sign when one is trying to remake a show and pisses off the original creators. NBC was smart enough to have the creators of
The Office rewrite their original pilot and give them creator credits. Why couldn't
Spaced?
[via
Aint It Cool]
Posted Mar 3rd 2008 7:00PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, TV on DVD, OpEd, Celebrities
Let's start with the good news, because I like ending on a downer. American fans of the British comedy
Spaced, starring Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), and Nick Frost, are in for a treat because the
Spaced Region 1 DVD finally has a release date! Expect the good stuff to come out July 23 of this year. I'm tempted to buy it just because it's something new, shiny, and
Spaced-related, but I already splurged on the 3-Disc Collectors' Set and a region-free player that I got just so that I could watch the series. Why, yes, I am a sad little person.
Continue reading Good news and bad news for Spaced
Posted Nov 5th 2007 2:01PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Celebrities
When I first heard the news of an
American Spaced remake, I was outraged, just based on principle. How dare McG touch one of my favorite shows of all time? How dare he even entertain the very notion? "For shame, McG," I thought, "For shame." I then proceeded to the nearest Best Buy, where I collected all the copies of
Charlie's Angels and
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and set them alight. I was then banned from entering any Best Buy ever again, but I think I made my point clear.
Spaced director Edgar Wright
recently updated his blog with his own thoughts on this situation and now I'm even more upset. The gist is this: McG and FOX are planning to remake
Spaced. Director Edgar Wright and writers/stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson were not contacted before the decision was made to pursue an American version. They will not be involved in the same fashion as the way Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant worked with NBC's adaptation of their creation,
The Office.
Continue reading Spaced's Edgar Wright is pissed, and rightfully so - VIDEO
Posted Oct 30th 2007 11:56AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, OpEd
According to Variety,
an American version of the Simon Pegg/Jessica Stevenson Channel Four Brit-com Spaced is being developed for American audiences. It is being adapted by
Will and Grace alumni Adam Barr and to be exec-produced by McG and Robert Green. The BAFTA-nominated show is about a man (Simon Pegg) and a woman (Jessica Stevenson) who pretend to be a married couple in order to rent a cheap apartment in London. Simon Pegg went on to star in movies like
Shaun of the Dead and
Hot Fuzz.
I've seen episodes of
Spaced and liked it. It has that frenzied storytelling style that is seen in Pegg's later movies. It also has a lot of pop culture references and it helps that Pegg plays a comic book artist and fan.
Continue reading American version of Spaced to be developed
Posted Oct 12th 2007 1:01PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, OpEd, Celebrities, Casting
It seems like all the geekiest blogs buzz with excitement whenever there's news about the new
Star Trek movie. Yes,
that includes us. The film sounds cool and all, but I think the biggest reaction I have had is when I silently nodded with approval upon hearing that
Heroes' Zachary Quinto would be playing Spock. That is, until now.
Variety is reporting that
Shaun of the Dead and
Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg is going to play Scotty in the upcoming feature. Simon Pegg! Insert obligatory "beam him up" joke here.
Continue reading Simon Pegg and Star Trek to make sweet geeky love
Posted Oct 27th 2006 10:07AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable, Programming, OpEd, Horror, Comedy Central
I don't know how long these promos have been running on Comedy Central, but during
South Park, I just saw a bug promoting the television premiere of
Shaun of the Dead (Saturday at 9 PM EST!). I was so giddy, I choked on air. Although I've seen it a million an one times, I am very excited that it's coming to American cable.
Shaun is one of those films that I constantly try to get people to see, so it's nice that some fresh meat will watch it without me having to strap them to a chair and do various
Clockwork Orange-y things to them.
Also, I am quite interested in seeing how much they edit from the film. After all, it is a rather gory movie... and the language is quite coarse (heh, Ed's not going to have any lines in the television version, is he?).
Continue reading Shaun of the Dead coming to Comedy Central
Posted Sep 11th 2006 10:41AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Talent, BBC, Celebrities
The latest edition of
The Guardian features some fantastic interviews and articles about some of today's hottest British comedians. They're all great reads, but the photos of the comics re-enacting various moments in pop culture are what really reeled me in. My favorites include Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant (from
The Office) as McCartney and Lennon, the boys from
Green Wing as Queen, and Nick Frost and Simon Pegg (from
Spaced and
Shaun of the Dead) as Paul Gascoigne and Vinnie Jones. Hilarious.
Read the
text and then check out the
great pics by Karl J. Kaul.
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