Spaced: Ten Years On...

^ Because this kind of genius cannot and will not ever be replicated again. Brilliant TV.

So Sunday I went to BBC to see filming of an episode of Miranda - new BBC sitcom comedy starring Miranda Hart. You may have seen her in Not Going Out or Hyperdrive, or the radio if your a radio listener. Really good fun. Sally Phillips is in the cast playing Miranda's annoying posh sister. :) Hope it does well when it airs as I like Hart a lot. The warm up audience guy on this was also hilarious.

crapguitarist thank you for reminding me that Inherit The Wind tickets for the Old Vic were already on sale. I am so slacking :( I decided to take my mum who has never seen Spacey perform on stage before and will be going in November. The closest I could get seats to the stage is row J :( Its not just shallow reasons I want this, the closer I am the more I can lip read. However I've a feeling this play will involve lots of shouting so I should be fine ;) *excited* Can't wait to see Spacey again on stage - seems ages. Also swankyfunk informs me that Jessica Hynes is back on stage in London - that is very tempting also.

Myself and missy_manic are nearly finished with watching Star Trek TOS Season 2. Just watched the episode Bread and Circuses (do I like those grey tshirts on Kirk, Spock and McCoy? Heck yes.) One more ep to go!

Comics - just finished reading part 1 of Superman For Tomorrow. Absolutely brilliant writing and story art. I will comment more on this another time, plus I need to buy part 2 and finish it.

And the other big news... Rachel's got a job in Glasgow! This is great for her - what she has been aiming to do for since Spring so I am thrilled for her. But it means I will lose a good friend as a great flatmate, so will be flatmate hunting come October. We shall be having a massive 30th birthday/send off for her early October - should be fun :D

And tomorrow I am going with missy_manic and Rach to Brighton for the weekend. Believe it or not. I have never been - this will be my first visit!

Booo! that Jessica Hynes and Stephen Mangan did not win the Tony's that they were nominated for :( but yay! for The Norman Conquests winning Best Play Revival. :)

Billy Elliot swept the boards - it really isn't the best musical I've seen IMO but meh each to their own. My opinion is probably an unpopular one (I prefer the movie).

The interview in GQ magazine with Pegg is good. It has some nice insights:

'Then 30 years later the guy who made it [Indiana Jones Raiders Of The Lost Ark] is phoning me while I'm back at my mum's - Spielberg's voice is in our living room! It was lovely. I felt good because my mum could hear it.'

and quoting Jessica Hynes...

'Simon's enthusiastic response to my comedic skills was a standout occurrence in my life. Not since my mother saw me in a primary school production of The Emperor's New Clothes had I been so openly and consistently championed by someone. It was the mark of someone with a generous heart who truly wanted those around him to succeed.'

( GQ photos )

Plus Empire's 20th Anniversary edition has an awful lot of man talent with some lovely photos I had to share...

( Frost, Pegg, Sheen, Spacey, Wright )

Enjoy! I had nothing better to do today.

Where did this week go? Went so fast!

Went to see Stephen Mangan of Green Wing, Amelia Bulimore of Big Train and Jessica Hynes of Spaced in The Norman Conquest's trilogy - Table Manners on Wednesday. I enjoyed it a lot. Funniest thing I've seen at the Old Vic since American Anthems. Ben Miles is also in it. I saw in perform before at the Old Vic in Richard III but it was great to see him play a funny role - he was brilliant at it. All the cast are. Am tempted to see the other two plays in the trilogy. Also, the stage has been completely transformed to be 'in the round' so the stage is in the middle and the audience are around in 360 degrees - that is just as impressive.

Heroes season 3 has started on BBC2 - yay! Sylar is sooo evil.

Thursday was Rach's bday and tomorrow we are going for a meal and to the theatre to see Waste at the Almeida.

Have had a pretty full on week at work as I'm covering for my fellow production coordinator and I might have to do the same next week. The circumstances are awful, her father is dying and she doesn't know how much longer he'll hold out for :( I don't even want to think about how hard that must be to handle. So this weekend I've invested in some me time as my last few weekend have been pretty busy - not that I'm complaining! Love that :)

Have caught up on all the fan reports and video blogs of Spaced Invasion USA. It's lovely to see Jess with Edgar and Simon again, they all are promoting their stuff with such enthusiasm its' impossible not to smile :) This is a great interview that's starts off fairly serious - (and yes please Simon and Edgar write something with Jess for the exact reasons Simon states) and just gets hilariously silly with Jess' female superhero idea with Edgar's theme song, microphone fights, and Star Wars:



then watch this one, equally serious to hilarious. "No, it's not a disaster movie..." and wait for Jess' comment at the end LOL:



Look forward to the Julia Davies/Jessica Hynes project :D

Thanks to Edgar Wright's latest blog have been alerted to this. If anyone in the UK on my f-list has access to the Paramount Comedy Channel - don't miss School of Comedy Sunday July 6th, 10pm. I really wanna see this. Anyone who is a fan of the following will want to watch this documentary:

Edgar Wright
Simon Pegg
Jessica Hynes
Julian Barrett
Noel Fielding
Matt Lucas
David Walliams
Sacha Baron Cohen
Bill Bailey
Adam Bloom

Click on the link above for clips of Peas and Mash. Asylum, and Unatural Acts.


Julian Barrett and Simon Pegg in Asylum


Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg discussing Asylum


Julian Barrett and Noel Fielding in Unatural Acts

Just wish I had access to the channel to watch it :( Paramount Comedy were also the channel to air Dan Doyle Space Person which I know is on you tube - does anyone have the direct link? Can't find it for the life of me. :-/

*Squee* Daisy and Tim! together - no idea why that made me so happy. (and Edgar!) at link below:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/spacedinvasion/videos/2/

Friends list - if any of you are near the following cities: LA, NYC, Austin, San Diego (Comic Con), I urge you to go and meet these three people now and treat yourself to Spaced screenings. I know two of you are going already but those who have yet to become familiar with it. I'm pimping it, because it deserves it. It's the best thing to come out of the UK TV comedy since... [insert whatever UK comedy you last liked here].

More info here: http://www.spacedinvasion.com/

I'm really excited for USAers.

On a semi-related note crispinhellion - Twiglets were shipped to you earlier this week. Am hoping you'll get them before you go to NYC. If not, at least you can look forward to them after the Spaced Q&A and screening :)

Aww Jess, as a Spaced fan you sure as heck not forgotten, nor in competition with Wright/Pegg movie success.

"To be honest, when the second series of Spaced finished I was quite lost. Simon and Edgar were moving on and wanted to do a film and I think Edgar wanted to write it so that meant they didn't really want me to go along with that. They wanted to write a zombie film, which I would have been very happy to write, but I just think they had ideas about what they wanted to do next and they didn't involve me."

She sounds a little hurt, but it wasn't as if she didn't have offers of her own. In fact she started her own film script, but found it hard to write with no-one to bounce ideas off. By the time she did knock it into shape, her heart wasn't in it any more, even though a production company was willing to give her money to direct it. Instead she drifted into unsatisfying projects such as the shortlived, critically panned sitcom According to Bex.

What made it even worse was the feeling of inadequacy she felt watching Wright and Pegg's success. "I would compare myself and think, 'What have I been doing? I've been walking into walls and they've been doing that?' It was almost like I felt I wasn't doing well enough. I know that's a really negative thing to do but … I mean, you work with people and they go off and do something spectacular in America and you go, 'Hang on, how did that happen?' On the one hand I was really proud of them and amazed and impressed, but it did make me think, 'Oh God, maybe I should be doing that.' "

She's philosophical about it now, though, and reckons there's a time to do things and a time not to. She had her first child four months before she started filming the first series of Spaced (she now has three children), so priorities changed. "I think that's what happens when you have small babies. After the second series, I was sort of building my family, really. Parenting is such a massive thing. When it happens it's like, woah! And then it sort of settles somehow. And as soon as that happened for me, my mind went back to what I wanted to do, which was writing. I mean I was sad things didn't work out and I didn't get to write more with Simon, because I loved writing with Simon. But I think he and Edgar were really keen to get to Hollywood. I'm not so keen; I just want to write something good and get it made."

Parenthood - massive responsibility. One I sure ain't ready for! Each to their own, and their own goals. Rest of this interview is here. Simon and Jess as a writing team though - solid gold. Is missed.

All photos are thanks to missy_manic. They were taken without flash so not to distract the stand up acts hence the blur on some of them.

( Jessica Hynes )

( Michael 'Tyres' Smiley )

( Rich Fulcher )

( Simon Amstell )

Yesterday was Stand Up, Sit Down comedy and music event hosted by Jessica Hynes. And it was sooo much fun and slightly surreal.

Arrived early to pick up the tickets from the box office where myself and missy_manic met up with _faeriequeen and willowfire365 who runs the Jessica Hynes Fansite. We got some good seats near the stage. The venue was Madame Jo Jo's so naturally there's gonna be music playing. Sadly though it made it difficult to have a conversation which was a shame as it's always great to chat and get to know other fans. Before we knew it the gig kicked off and Jess got us warmed up asking for a sarcastic cheer/whoop. And at the halfway point told a hilarious story about once discovering her mother's "massager." Over the next two hours we saw numerous comics. I wish I could remember all the names. I can't :( And the order below might not be the order of the performances.

The first was the brilliant Stephen Merchant. I felt sorry for the act that had to follow him! There was also Michael "Tyres " Smiley who I'd been looking forward to seeing. Great, easy, charming presence, and made comedy look easy. I loved his stories about his parents and being a parent himself. Simon Amstel was also great. And a nice surprise was Bob Fossil, Zoo Keeper aka Rich Fulcher of The Mighty Boosh fame. I still cannot work out if that guy really is as mental as his stand up persona! His poems are so absurdly funny though.

Of the lesser known acts I adored Piff The Magic Dragon (you may have heard of his brother...Dave) and Josie Long - clever comedy, and I loved her way of seeing things and using it for her stand up.

After the stand up, it was time to get down to the music. Most of the acts of the night stuck around for a drink at the bar. As funny as the stand up was, watching Jessica Hynes and Rich Fulcher dancing together to "Let's Dance" and Prince's "Kiss" was worth the ticket price alone!! - great physical comedy to watch and they looked like they were having fun. Have to say the music was great, and thank god for willowfire365 urging me and missy_manic to get out on the dance floor. So much fun! We briefly said hello to Jess near the bar area, and then later along with others at the event got down to the music, Jess included. That was a little surreal but a heck of a lot fun! I just remember dancing and singing along to Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" with missy_manic and willowfire365 and looking to my right to see Jess and friends all doing the same and thinking, this is fab! *dork* And I didn't see him but whilst we were all dancing missy_manic spotted Michael Smiley watching us all. Let's face it, that's the closest we'll ever get to dancing with Tyres and Daisy Steiner. Just brilliant :D I was sorry to leave at 00:30 but never would've made to work the next day (Work don't deserve this commitment!). Superb night out, I hope there is another event like it in the future :)

As ever missy_manic managed to take a few photos from the stand up. Will post them another time. I've a busy day tomorrow and have to pack to go visit the parents for the weekend for my mum's birthday. willowfire365 - you are welcome to post this on your website if you wish - it's the best I can do from memory for a review that you asked for. Hope it is good enough!

Jessica's doing stand up, and doing it for charity. Next Wednesday at Madame Jo Jo's. And Tyres (Michael Smiley) is hosting! dj_intheuk and missy_manic are lucky people! Cos we have tickets :D More info at Time Out:

Is this really the first time you’ve performed stand-up?
‘Well, yes… er no. I mean kind of. Simon Amstell did very kindly let me do five minutes as a warm-up for him a little while back, which was great. He said I could do it because it would lower the audience’s expectations. I’ve done live stuff a long time ago but it was mainly as comic characters. For me that was easier in some ways because I got to hide behind someone else, not like stand-up where it’s very much just you out there.’

How did the idea for the show come about?
‘I’ve been involved with the NCH children’s charity for a while. They do amazing work with vulnerable children who are having a hard time, helping them in all sorts of ways with loads of services. They offer support to youngsters at a vital time. I did "Who Want to be a Millionaire" for them last year and that’s when the idea for this came up. Stand-up is something I’ve always wanted to do. That and be a rock star. It’s sad, I know, but I also have an "X Factor" fantasy. I did an ‘audition’ for my [three-year-old] daughter, but she said she wouldn’t have put me through.’

Rest of the interview is here

*exciting*

How ace is this cast! Talent from Green Wing, Spaced and Big Train/Ashes to Ashes:


The Old Vic brings Alan Ayckbourn's comic masterpieces, The Norman Conquests to the London stage for the first time in 34 years. Matthew Warchus (Speed-the-Plow, God of Carnage, The Lord of the Rings) directs an outstanding ensemble cast including Amelia Bullmore, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan and Paul Ritter. Especially for this production The Old Vic auditorium will be transformed into 'The CQS Space' to recreate the intimate 'theatre-in-the-round' experience that the plays were originally written for.

The interconnecting triptych of plays, Round and Round the Garden, Table Manners and Living Together follow the same six characters, Norman, his in-laws and the local vet over a summer weekend, in an English Country house.

Believing it his mission in life to make women happy by showering them with love, Norman (Stephen Mangan) makes the most of every opportunity to seduce his sister-in-law, Annie (Jessica Hynes), charms his brother-in-law's wife, Sarah and woo his wife Ruth (Amelia Bullmore) during this disastrous weekend of squabbling, eating, drinking and fondling.

Table Manners, Living Together and Round and Round the Garden are ingeniously structured to allow each play to be enjoyed independently or as a trilogy in any combination. Together they create a fascinating, hilarious puzzle, which weaves a masterful web of interconnecting secrets and desires. With his inimitable wit and compassion, Ayckbourn reveals the frustration and disappointments which bubble beneath the surface of a family's relationships and brings to light their thoughts on sex, marriage, love and loneliness.

Alan Ayckbourn is one of Britains's most popular and prolific playwrights, with 70 full-length plays to his name, which have been translated into more than 35 languages. These multi-award winning names include Absurd Person Singular, recently revived in the West End plus Just Between Ourselves, A Chorus of Disapproval, Woman in Mind and House & Garden to name but a few.


I'm so there! Anyone else want to go? (aside from missy_manic) :P!

please please be true. Stolen from peggporn and ___spaced

McSpaced a no-go

Instead for once, believe these Hollywood-names and buy the below instead 'cos they're right:



RESS RELEASE: BBC VIDEO PRESENTS 'SPACED: THE COMPLETE SERIES'

FROM THE CREATORS OF SHAUN OF THE DEAD AND HOT FUZZ COMES THE AWARD-WINNING CULT COMEDY SPACED: THE COMPLETE SERIES
"The one, the only -- Spaced. Accept no substitute"
Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill)

New Exclusive Commentary By Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody

May 5, 2008 - This July, the clever and edgy comedy series that started it all for the award-winning team behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Spaced will be available for the first time in North America in a new collector's DVD set from BBC Video™. From creator-stars Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) (Shaun of the Dead, Son of Rambow), this 3-disc set features all 14 surreal episodes of the award-winning show, described by Pegg as "a cross between The Simpsons, The X-Files and Northern Exposure." Spaced: The Complete Series will arrive in stores on July 22, 2008 for suggested retail price of $49.98. The prebook date is June 17, 2008.

"Spaced is utter brilliance. Constantly and amazingly laugh-out-loud funny and heart wrenchingly emotional, this is a series for, well, anyone who has ever lived," says JJ Abrams (Lost, Star Trek). "Watching Spaced is kinda like watching a Kevin Smith film if Kevin Smith had any real talent," confesses Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma). "I watch and re-watch Spaced from time to time to remind myself how good television comedy can be," says Matt Stone (South Park, Team America: World Police).

Boasting over eight hours of content, Spaced: The Complete Series features bonus material including the all-new commentary from Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Matt Stone, Bill Hader (Superbad, Saturday Night Live), Patton Oswalt (King of Queens, Ratatouille) and Diablo Cody (Oscar®-winning writer of Juno).

Among the many accolades Spaced, distributed by Channel 4, has garnered from fans and critics alike, Hynes won British Comedy Awards in 1999 and 2001 for her smart portrayal of moody writer Daisy. Additionally, Spaced received BAFTA (UK equivalent to the Emmy) nominations in 2000 and 2002 for Best Situation Comedy and an International Emmy Award nomination in 2001.

SPEAKING OUT ON SPACED

"The best thing out of England since Winston Churchill." - Seth Rogen (Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up)

"I laughed hard and I hate comedy." - Judd Apatow (Director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up)

"Daisy Steiner is a revelation: a female character who isn't an accessory, martyr, one-dimensional fantasy object or humorless foil." "In a world of prefab TV pairs, Tim and Daisy are a miracle: He's an observant, whip-smart geek, she's a slacker-feminist icon, and together, they're as real as it gets." - Diablo Cody (Oscar-winning writer of Juno)

"Innovative. Witty. Hilarious. Spaced is the show we American comedians watch and say 'How the hell did they get away with this?! Spaced is the sole reason I bought an all region DVD player. Now you have no excuse! Buy this and you can officially be cool." - Bill Hader (Superbad, Saturday Night Live)

"Annoyingly good." - Eddie Izzard (The Riches)

"Spaced is a to-be-envied, to-be-cherished blend of pop culture heartbreak and genuine human hilarity. It's also a foolproof Idiot Test. Here's how it works: if someone ever tries to duplicate, replicate, or otherwise re-do this one-of-a-kind show, they're an Idiot! Aren't we all lucky to have such a thing in our world?" - Patton Oswalt (King of Queens, Ratatouille)

"Brilliant! Hilarious! The first TV show to combine my love of Star Wars, Evil Dead, and funny Brits. If I had grown up in England this show would be the documentary of my life... Although I think it already is." - Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel I & II)

"The wonderfully funny, outrageous and unique British television comedy series that manages to be both insane and sweet at the same time! A very influential show from the guys who gave us Shaun of the Dead" - John Landis (Director of American Werewolf, Blues Brothers)

"Spaced is too smart, too entertaining, and too hilarious for American television. When Americans get a glimpse of this mind-blowing show, they will take to the streets, demanding a reason as to why they've been deprived of Spaced pleasure for so long." - Mike White (Freaks and Geeks, School of Rock)

"The greatest television show in the history of television! The gold standard of geek cool!" - Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News)

SPACED: THE COMPLETE SERIES BONUS FEATURES

New exclusive commentary with director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) and guests Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody.
Exclusive Spaced On Stage reunion Q&A recorded at the National Film Theatre, London in October 2007.
"Skip to the End" - Exclusive feature length documentary
"Spaced Jam" by Osymyso
Outtakes
Trailers
Deleted scenes
Raw footage
Photo gallery
Homage-O-Meter - An onscreen feature that tracks each pop-culture reference
Newly updated cast and crew biographies
Spaced: Definitive Collector's Edition
Street Date: July 22, 2008
US/CA Price: $49.98 / $62.48

:D I shall be buying.

Region 1 territories take note. buy this Spaced DVD finally getting released this summer. Click the link for trailer.

And Hot Fuzz has just been released in Japan.




Website.

Hope it does well :)

Nicked from justtracy because I agree. I knew Simon was articulate from his writing scripts and what not but man, he's seriously intelligent with it too. He's made another statement on the horribly sad McSpaced fiasco:

( It makes me want to drown things )

Nicholas Angel Bear is not amused and does not approve of McSpaced

Seen at the cinema:

The Good Night
In The Valley Of Elah
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
No Country For Old Men
The Edge Of Heaven (Auf der anderen Seite)
Grindhouse double bill: Planet Terror + Deathproof
Vantage Point
Lonesome Jim
Son of Rambow

Trailer:



Another gem of a movie. I was worried this movie might have a predictable ending, it didn't. There's a real feeling of nostalgia running through this film, and it feels like a movie made with a lot of love. But even if like me, you never went around making movies as a kid, everyone at some point has pretended or role-played with other kids and the joy of this is what this movie reminds you of. I guess that kind of escapism is sometime replaced by movies (that is certainly one reason why I go to the cinema) and this film illustrates that too. Ulitmately though, Son of Rambow is about the power of imagination and friendship - and if you cannot relate to that, I don't want to know you. The two lead actors playing the kids - superb. Great to see Jessica Hynes on the big screen. I can see why she is proud of this movie, damn right. Oh, and Edgar in his blink and you miss it cameo! Great to see Adam Buxton in it too. Hot Fuzz fans might be pleased to know that he gets involved in yet another funny, gory, nasty little accident - to say how would spoil it - go watch the movie! Also, fact fans who like to know this sort of thing - stay till the end credits finish and you'll get a little reference to the spelling of Rambow.

I have no other reaction but to laugh my head off at McGit McG - see Edgar's post which says it all. Waay too little too late. Does he himself even believe the stuff he spouts out? Keep digging yourself into a bigger hole why don't you!

The reason this whole project deserves to fail is that it is clear McG see's this as a money maker, nothing more. I'm not seeing a whole lot of heart and soul go into this project with the way it has been handled so far. And anyone who has seen the original or heard Simon, Jess, or Edgar talk about Spaced - they absolutely put their heart and soul into it in spades.

So again, don't watch it. Buy the original on DVD. Now seem's a good time to post a banner made by waitingforsimon:



or if you prefer, this design says it all:



Onto something much more cheerful, yay for crispinhellion getting a shout out for her superb work on Peggster.net by the man himself in this interview. :D I mean seriously compare Pegg's interview to McGit. You couldn't get further apart in r-e-s-p-e-c-t. Damn you justtracy for distracting me for a good 10 minutes posting that photo ;) I have to do the same:


= Pegging awesome :D That made me feel better :)

I stole this from Rik @ the Peggster.net forum because it made me LOL. Hot Fuzz imitates real life. This article ran in the Telegraph newspaper over the weekend, sharing the page for an advert for He Kills Coppers (thanks for the catch up link for that redderz ) which happens to star Rafe 'We all sell apples round here don't we?' Spall of Hot Fuzz. Click below for the story:

Tall, long slender neck.

Also, start saving the pennies because the Region 1 DVD release of Spaced will contain new commentary from Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Edgar Wright and:

Simon Pegg: We had Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Diablo Cody, and Matt Stone with us to do special new commentaries and I think Edgar is going to do a couple more on the episodes we didn’t get to with other people as well, so I think it’s going to be very clear to anyone that SPACED has a huge following in America already and that pleases us.
Quint: That’s sweet. Do you know when those DVDs are hitting?
Simon Pegg: In July. We will be at COMIC CON in conjunction with the release.

SOURCE: AICN