McSpaced and all that

As you may have heard, there been a bit of a hoo-ha over the American remake of Spaced.

For those of you who don’t know the context I’ll fill you in: Spaced was a sitcom that appeared on Channel 4 in 1999 and 2001. It was written by and starred Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (now Hynes) and was directed by Edgar Wright, who went on to make Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with Simon and Nick Frost (also a cast member). I could wax on for hours about it’s influence on modern sitcoms, it’s hilarious and wonderful characters, it’s superb direction… but I won’t. It’s just very, very good. Watch it. I’m serious.

Anyway, plans were made a while back to remake the programme in the US. This is saddening, not to mention pointless, but not actually surprising. Spaced is so good that it was only a matter of time before someone saw it’s potential to be put through the wringer, altered beyond recognition and prostituted to Americans in fruitless attempt to recreate the magic of the original.

It has been appropriately nickednamed McSpaced by the internet.

The fuss that’s being made is due to the fact that none, I repeat, none of the original production members were contacted for their input, approval or even thoughts on the project. They were not aware of it until it was annouced to the public. Of course, it wasn’t strictly necessary. Not strictly. The rights were not owned by Edgar, Jessica or Simon, of course. It’s just common courtesy.

Basically, Simon Pegg wrote a big post about it on his fansite, ad he can express what’s going on much more eloquently that I, so I’ll just copy/paste it here:

I had hoped I would only have to do this once. Despite, feeling extremely disgruntled by the whole affair, I never wanted the issue of the Spaced remake to turn into a public slanging match. I intended my original statement to be a definitive outline of my position on the whole thing. I have hardly mentioned it publicly since, with the exception of a few interviews during my Run Fat Boy Run press when I was drawn into discussing the subject, most notably on EW.Com. These few occasions are negligible compared to the amount of times I have deflected the issue toward my original comments. The Observer Newspaper in the UK chased me for an interview which I did not give. They ran the article anyway, using passages from my statement, in lieu of exclusive content. However after comments made on Hollywood Deadline by someone who may or may not have been Robert Green from Granada USA, I feel I should respond to the criticism leveled at me personally, as an emitter of “bullshit”. The post insists that we have been repeatedly “reached out” to and have petulantly rebuffed their attempts at communication like spoilt children. For the record these attempts to reach out were only ever made after the announcement in the trades and indeed after production had started on the pilot episode. That we are being blasted for not accepting these attempts at communication so long after the damage had been done is ludicrous. I don’t think I can put it better than Sarah, a poster over on the Hollywood Deadline talk back.

“Green’s comments are akin to taking a shit on someone’s doorstep,
then getting all hurt and aggressive because the owner of the house not
only complains but also doesn’t help clean up the mess.“

The incredibly offensive insinuation that those who have expressed their sympathy and concern are cum gargling “idiots” represents extraordinarily misguided aggression by the the poster, whether it be Robert Green or not. The internet, with the establishing of Spaced-Out.org.uk and latterly Peggster.net, Frostitution.net, Edgarwright.co.uk, Jessicahynes.co.uk and others, have been largely responsible for bringing together a huge international community of Spaced fans, many of them in areas where the show isn’t even available on domestic DVD. The defensive response to this situation has been amazing. At best it has been hugely empathetic, light hearted and heartfelt, at worst it has engendered unseemly anti-Americanism, from narrow minded people who equate US television with poor quality, inexplicably failing to recognize the sheer historical weight of outstanding American televisual output, which I for one, consume avidly and with a sloppy chin. Despite the latter’s unwelcome presence in our corner, the support from you “website idiots” has been extremely touching, to say the least.

Edgar has had a conversation with McG. I have phoned him a few times and to be fair, he has returned my calls, but after missing each other several times and the ball once again in my court, the wind has somewhat disappeared from my sails. I’m not sure what I have to say or indeed what can be said at this stage. The fact is, the Spaced remake went into production without our knowledge and that was upsetting. It is as simple as that. Now we are being criticized by the perpetrators of that upset for expressing regret. Even now, there has been no apology, only excuses.

This issue has only ever been about courtesy, never about money or credit. Also, how can anyone claim that Spaced is something we want left in the past, when we have spent the last few years trying to secure the release of the DVD in North America, Canada and other territories and the last few months compiling new artwork and commentaries to give the release some extra Spaced specialness. Also, despite time and circumstance conspiring against us, we have never categorically ruled out the possibility of more. Tim, Daisy, Mike, Brian, Twist, Marsha and Colin all have destinies locked in mine and Jess’s collective grey matter, who’s to say they won’t some day be played out.

If you’ve skipped to the end, here’s the simple summation. Somebody stamps on your foot then complains when you say ‘ouch’? To adopt a little “website idiot” parlance, WTF?

Simon Pegg

I’ll continue to post up stuff about McSpaced whenever anything happens, and I’ll probably review it when It’s out, if I can watch it on the internet somewhere.

In the meantime, remember: Say No To McSpaced!