Binge Worthy Tv – Spaced with Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Nick Frost, Mark Heap and Julia Deakin. Written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes. I really wish this show had gone on for more seasons!
I just want to start by saying, my husband is a huge fan of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost! Now when I say “huge”, I mean in the most understated way possible. In fact, unless you know my husband, you would not suspect in the least that he’s a fan…trust me when I say he is a huge fan.
Just some back ground: With all due respect, I like Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I think they are very good actors and from what I’ve seen them in, I think they make a great team. Also, for what it’s worth, I love Simon Pegg’s bleach blonde hair. I know that’s neither here, nor there but I just HAD to say it!
That background is just to say that while I appreciate their acting and I LOVE British Tv, when it comes to comedy, the comedy that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost do is not usually my kind of comedy.
So… it was with dubious agreement that when Jason said he wanted to watch Spaced with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost that I summoned up some enthusiasm and said, “Sure, let’s watch it now!” While actually thinking, “Oh, Lordy.” LOL
Now that I’ve said all that, I can tell you that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS SHOW!
I was so pleasantly surprised! I expected to “like” the show, because of all the great actors in it but I would never have guessed that I would LOVE it, simply because, as I said earlier, I usually like a different kind of comedy.
The Story
Without saying too much, I can only describe the beginning of the first episode as STRANGE! LOL
Simon Pegg’s character, Tim, is a nice guy that bad things have happened to… Jessica Hynes character, Daisy is a young woman that left home “to find herself ” and has been “squatting” in a house that she desperately needs to get out of. We find out later that it’s a drug house… So, when the two accidentally meet in a cafe, they decide to pretend to be a couple, in order to be able to rent a flat that is listed as “Professional Couples Only”.
In order to successfully get through the interview with the potential landlady, Tim and Daisy concoct an elaborate story of their past as a couple, including faked photos and a photo album that they expect to need to show.
The Characters
Tim and Daisy get along really well for two people that have just met and moved in together. For the most part, they both work from home, which means they are both at home most of the time and squabble over the usual things that couples squabble over, leading to some of the hilarity.
Mike, Tim’s best friend is played by Nick Frost. Tim and Mike have been best friends since childhood and flashbacks to childhood show that Mike has had his trademark mustache since childhood. Mike loves guns and has always wanted to join the armed forces but because of a childhood accident, involving Tim – which Tim blames himself for, Mike does not qualify for the military.
Daisy’s best friend, Twist, played by Katy Carmichael, is said to be in the “fashion industry ” but then you find out that she works for a dry cleaner…
One of the things that cracks me up about Daisy is that, because she was sqatting in a drug house, every time somebody offers her something as simple as a piece of candy, she thinks they are offering her drugs and she’s always surprised and plays it off as if she didn’t think it was drugs to start with. When she goes traveling for a bit, she buys what she thinks is marijuana from a “wise old man” but it turns out to be Oregano.
Tim who works part time in a comic book shop, gets into a lot of trouble over his dislike of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and I have to say that I know just how he feels! Lol
Julia Deakin’s character is the landlady, Marsha. Marsha is very nosy and is always showing up with a glass of red wine in each hand, wanting to hang out… She’s really just lonely but she comes off as nosy, slightly scary and stalker-ish. I’ve had a landlady like this and I’m glad to see that I can laugh about it now!
Mark Heap’s portrayal of Brian, the ground level flat lodger, is one of my favorites! Being an artist myself, but of all things happy, I love Mark Heap’s portrayal of the artist and the way every time he talks about his art or someone asks him “what he does”, as he describes his art, you flash to him painting about “ANGER”, “PAIN” and “ANXIETY”. The flashes are BRILLIANT and I want to come up something like that to describe my art… It would be something like, “OVERCOMING ADVERSITY”, “HAPPINESS” and “TEARS OF JOY”! Now, I just need to come up with the flash photos! Lol
One of my other favorite characters is Tyres, Tim’s bicycle courier friend, played by Michael Smiley. Tyres has some serious anger issues! One second he’s a nice normal guy and the next he’s screaming and the person he’s screaming at is afraid for their life! He seems to not realize that he has these moments, except that after one such moment, he mentions that he just wishes he could get “the mood swings under control “. When you first meet Tyres you think you’re not going to like him but, aside from the “mood swings”, he actually is really nice guy that loves to dance and can dance to anything, including the clock ticking!
There are really so many great things that I could say about Spaced but I really don’t want to give too many spoilers so I’m going to stop here! If you haven’t seen Spaced, you REALLY should!
Give it a watch and let me know what you think!