Why You Should Get ‘Spaced’
It’s hard to described how good the BBC sitcom/geekfest “Spaced” is without sounding like a promotional package. That’s why, on BBC Video’s new complete series U.S. DVD release of the show, the writing staff let some bigger names make their jobs easier on the back of the package. They just let some of the commentators do the gushing.
“‘Spaced’ is so damned good I’m seriously honored to be quoted 0n the DVD cover,” said Matt Stone, who is a little bit busy with his own comedy franchise for even the PR soundbite, much less doing commentary on both discs of eps.
“I laugh hard and I hate comedy,” said Judd Apatow (Do I really even need to list the stuff he’s doing?)
For anyone who has no clue what show I’m talking about, “Spaced” is basically the BBC show that launched Simon Pegg and Nick Frost into the international geek-love stratosphere. It stars Pegg and Jessica Stevenson Hynes as roommates nominally pretending to be a couple to keep their flat, and how completely socially dysfunctional the two are. And it throws in a lot of random fandom homages and other stuff a lot of us have fond or un-fond memories of, like raves or paintball matches. Here’s a nice taste of it.
In any case, I should be trying to sell you on this set because it’s basically got the average fan convention dream directors’ panel on the commentaries — Stone, Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino and Diablo Cody, amongst others (including hilarious Brit actors Mark Heap and Julia Deakin.) It also shows a feature-length doc about the show, a reunion Q&A with with the cast last year, and every other special feature you would ever want on a boxed set.
But heck, you guys need to buy it just because it’s great. And unfortunately the American version looks like a “Coupling” repeat performance in the making, so you need to get this to properly appreciate why you never remake a Simon Pegg production without him involved somehow.
So yes, this is a must-buy for anyone who thinks that this whole genre started with “Freaks & Geeks“, or if you just happened to really like “Shaun of the Dead“. And I hope the folks at BBC Video know how high they’ve set the bar with this set of extra features. If they could go this far with a show that lasted for two series, think about how many celebrity “Doctor Who” geeks should be chomping at the bit to voice a few commentary tracks for their upcoming Series 4 release. It’s only been around for, um, 30 series. 
(Photo: Amazon)
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