By now, American audiences should know who Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are. If you don't, then go to your video store and rent "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz".
Before they got famous here in the States, though, they (along with Nick Frost and the beautiful and talented Jessica Stevenson/Hynes) starred in "Spaced," one of the funniest shows I've ever seen.
There are certain times in my life when I see something that speaks to me. The first time was when I saw "Mallrats" and thought, This is the movie I should have made. Watching "Spaced" gives me that same feeling.
The writing, by Pegg and Stevenson/Hynes, talks to the geek culture that I'm proud to be a part of. There are pop culture references a plenty, but even if you don't get them, you'll still like the show.
The show starts off by introducing Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson/Hynes), two twentysomethings who live in London, but find themselves without a place to live. They meet up in a coffee shop, and find an ad for an apartment that would be perfect, except that it's only for a professional couple. So, they pretend to be a couple to get the apartment. The usual hijinks happen when they almost get caught in their lie, and the supporting cast is great.
There's Marsha, their constantly drunk landlady. Brian, their downstairs artistic neighbor. Twist, Daisy's best friend. And Mike, Tim's best friend, played by Simon Pegg's real life best friend (and at the time, NOT an actor) Nick Frost.
The show is hilarious, and it speaks to me, because that was kinda the life I was living at that time, being twenty-something and loving comic books and hating "The Phantom Menace". And Edgar Wright's camerawork is gorgeous, much better than anything on American TV. The show is shot in the style of a horror movie, and it's because of one of these episodes (Episode 1.3 "Art"), that "Shaun of the Dead" got made.
You can get the whole series on DVD now, and I'd recommend doing just that, especially if you've seen the other two movies.
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