Tim Bisley (Pegg), a comic book artist, and Daisy Steiner (Hynes) an eccentric writer, randomly meet in a cafe while searching for apartments. They decide to pose as a couple to rent the perfect flat: affordable and spacious. But moving into the flat is just the first problem... now they need to make money, to afford the flat, and continue to act like a couple to keep their landlady, Marsha (Deakin) from learning the truth.
Marsha lives in the flat above theirs, and is perpetually smoking and drinking a glass of wine. The flat below theirs is occupied by Brian (Heap), a shy / awkward conceptual artist. Tim spends his days playing video games with his best friend, Mike (Frost), a hardcore weapons expert, who lives by military codes and dresses in fatigues. Daisy spends her days avoiding work, and spends her evenings with her best friend, Twist (Carmichael), a self-proclaimed fashionista. With their friends and exes popping in, can Tim and Daisy keep up the ruse?
A British show, with smart pop-culture references with a fun and fearless cast. The show inspired Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, also collaborations between Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright. And the show marks the second collaboration between Pegg, Wright and Jessica Hynes. In 1996 they came together to create the comedy show Asylum, which takes place in a mental asylum. The show only lasted 6 episodes, but led the creation of Spaced. Originally, they wanted to cast Asylum star, Julian Barratt in the role of Brian, but ultimately cast Mark Heap in the role (which is funny, because when I watched Asylum, I thought they were the same actor).
There are only 2 seasons of the show, but it is all quality, written by stars Pegg and Hynes. The show has great characters and situations, and the recurring characters are first rate. Much of the interaction between Pegg and Frost made it's way into their films: just little things that you notice after watching the TV show. And if you pay attention, you'll notice most of the characters from the show pop up in their films.
Best episodes: "Battles" (love the paintball scenes) in Season 1 and "Help" in Season 2
If you love the Edgar Wright / Simon Pegg / Nick Frost films, check out this show to get the best of their humor! Also, Hynes has great chemistry with the guys, it's a pity she only had a small part in one of their films... they should work with her more often.
Spaced (1999-2001)
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Jessica Hynes as Daisy Steiner
Simon Pegg as Tim Bisley
Julia Deakin as Marsha Klein
Nick Frost as Mike Watt
Mark Heap as Brian Topp
Katy Carmichael as Twist Morgan
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