TVSquad

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).

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.

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.

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?).

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.

BBC America will start airing one of my all-time favorite shows, Spaced, starting June 23. Spaced is an absolutely hilarious show, loaded with clever references to various aspects of stoner/pop/geek culture, from Tekken 2 to zombie flicks to Star Wars. It's from the makers of Shaun of the Dead, so expect that sort of material (but with less gore and a lot more mimed gun fights). Plus, the show features a rather cool-looking Mark Heap (Dr. Alan Statham from Green Wing) as a miserable, young painter. The now-defunct Trio channel aired the show to coincide with the American release of Shaun of the Dead back in 2004, but I haven't seen Spaced on TV since then. Now that it's on BBCA, maybe my American friends will know what I'm quoting all the time.

BBC America also has Peepshow coming June 30 (I've heard a lot of good things). Apparently, Peepshow and Spaced will be a part of BBC America's late-night adult comedy line-up, "The Underground". Well, I would hardly consider Spaced a candidate for this, but... okay.

As a huge fan of the first season, I was eagerly anticipating the premiere of the new season of Green Wing. Last season ended with a literal cliffhanger: three doctors in an ambulance dangling from the edge of a cliff. I was expecting the premiere to pick up where it left off, explaining exactly how Mac, Guy, and Martin were saved (or how they all died, became fatally injured, sprouted wings and flew away, etc.), so I was surprised when they offered absolutely no insight into what actually happened. Instead, we were immediately faced with a fully normal scene of all the main characters going back to work at the hospital. But then, suddenly, the entire scene changed into a futuristic setting and everyone had donned new, silver costumes. What's going on?!