Before the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy,Edgar Wrightdirected a British sitcom with a perfect score onRotten Tomatoes, which is as good as his famous comedy trilogy.The works of Edgar Wrighthave become known for his narrative style, humor, and visual comedy, as well as for his frequent collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. While Wright has branched out over the years with movies likeLast Night in SohoandThe Running Man, he continues to be best known for his comedies.
Wright’s most famous project to date isthe Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, which he co-wrote with Pegg. The trilogy, formed byShaun of the Dead,Hot Fuzz, andThe World’s End, covered three different genres (horror, action, and sci-fi) mixed with comedy, all of them with Pegg and Frost as the main characters, and featuring a different Cornetto flavor. Although the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy is Wright’s best-known work, he directed an equally good British sitcom years prior, also starring Pegg and Frost:Spaced.
Spaced Is A Hilarious British Sitcom Starring Frequent Edgar Wright Collaborators
Spaced Was Created by Simon Pegg & Jessica Hynes
In 1999, the British sitcomSpacedpremiered in the UK on Channel 4. Created by Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes,Spacedfollowed Daisy Steiner (Hynes) and Tim Bisley (Pegg), two twenty-somethings looking for a new apartment. Daisy and Tim met by mere chance at a café while flat-haunting, and they came up with an idea despite barely knowing each other: to pose as a young and professional couple so they could meet the requisites for a somewhat cheap flat. Their plan worked and they moved into the building, where they met some of their colorful neighbors.
Spacedfollowed Daisy and Tim as they carried on with the lie of being a couple.
Among them was Brian Topp, an angst-ridden, eccentric conceptual artist, and Daisy and Tim were often visited by their respective best friends: the superficial Twist Morgan (Katy Carmichael) and weapons expert Mike Watt (Frost).Spaced, then, followed Daisy and Tim as they carried on with the lie of being a couple (while assuring their friends there were no feelings between them), whilethey also dealt with all the struggles of being a young adult.
Spacedwas a hit thanks to its concept, writing, tone, and performances, earning a couple of nominations at the BAFTA TV Awards.Spacedwas not only the beginning of the now popular team of Wright-Pegg-Frost, but it also marked the beginning of other collaborations between Wright and the cast, and manySpacedactors have appeared in some of Wright’s movies.
Shaun of the Dead
Why Spaced Only Lasted Two Seasons
Spaced Ran From 1999 To 2001
Despite its success,Spacedonly ran for two seasons, ending in 2001. Edgar Wright toldEsquirein 2019 that one of the reasons they didn’t make a third season ofSpacedwas becausethey had grown out of being those characters. Wright describedSpacedas an extension of him and the cast, reflecting what they were experiencing at the time, thus making it a lot more personal. AfterSpaced, Wright moved on to the big screen withShaun of the Dead, bringing Pegg and Frost with him, and he hasn’t returned to TV ever since.
An American Remake Of Spaced Was Canceled After Negative Reaction From The Show’s Creators
Thankfully, The American Version Of Spaced Never Happened
With no plans for a third season ofSpacedand with Pegg, Wright, and the rest moving on to bigger projects,Spacedalmost got an American remake. In 2007, it was revealed that Fox had announced plans to commission a pilot for an American version ofSpaced, and the news was negatively received by fans and the cast and crew ofthe original show. During aSpacedreunion that same year, Wright revealed he had been approached about an American remake years before, but feltSpacedcould never fit American TV.
What further stopped the remake from happening was that neither Pegg, Hynes, nor Wright were approached when the American remake was announced in 2007.
Wright was also told by producers thatthe American remake ofSpacedwould have to make some changes to the show, such as taking out Mike’s affinity for weapons, all the swearing, and drug use, all of these key elements to the characters, their stories, and the show’s comedy. What further stopped the remake from happening was that neither Pegg, Hynes, nor Wright were approached when the American remake was announced in 2007, and so the project never happened.
