pegg
Simon Pegg’s newest project is the dodgily-titled Hot Fuzz, due from Working Title in 2007. A glance at the synopsis for the film elicits a resounding … meh. Still, the track record of the Pegg/Wright duo is stellar, to say the least.
For my Yank readers, actor/writer Simon Pegg and director/writer Edgar Wright are probably going to be most familiar from Shaun of the Dead, and Simon has had guest roles in a smattering of other international productions, including Band of Brothers and Mission: Impossible 3.
But for me — and for many of my British pals — Simon and Edgar are most admired for their truly awesome (and horrifically short-lived) UK sitcom Spaced, alongside the equally supreme Jessica Stevenson (who made a protracted cameo in Shaun).
Let me put it gently: Spaced fucking rules. Written by Simon and Jessica and Edgar, the “sitcom” is basically a massive geekout of in-jokes, hidden references, homages, and mimicry — not just limited to the dialogue and acting, but including the camera, lighting, and music as well. Sometimes the humour is entirely contained in a camera move, or the framing of a shot, a poking homage to some cult classic. Spaced is no ordinary sitcom, with the heavy use of Steadicam and contrasty lighting visually leading the way out of the cardboard studio sets of the conventional sitcom into much different territory. There’s no laugh track either, which means the comedy has to work doubly hard to get the viewer to laugh. But you laugh. Oh, yes, you laugh.
Sometimes the comedy is so subtle, so “inside”, that if you don’t know the film or show it’s referencing you’re completely lost. For example, there is an hysterical sequence in which Jessica’s character, Daisy, gets a new job at a taco joint, only to realize that all her fellow employees are just like the characters from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s handled so subtly that, if you haven’t seen Cuckoo or you don’t get why the silent Indian guy is so disturbing to Daisy, you just get lost. Of course, as the episode progresses, Daisy becomes more and more horrified as events in the taco joint play out like the movie.
And the Star Wars references. Oh, the Star Wars. Fear them, respect them, for they are legion. Simon is a big old classic Star Wars fan, and inside jokes, references, homages, and story arcs abound surrounding the movies. Pegg’s disillusionment with Lucas after the Phantom Menace debacle also plays a big part in the second series of the show, which opens with Pegg’s character Tim ritually burning all his Star Wars toys after being “betrayed” by Lucas for ruining his favourite series with Phantom.
There’s quite a few notable guest stars from the UK comedy scene as well. My favourite: Bill Bailey as comic shop owner (and Tim’s boss) Bilbo (yes, Bilbo), who must regrettably fire Tim in the second series when Tim reduces a boy to tears for innocently asking to purchase a Jar-Jar Binks doll.
Do these jokes sound stupid to you? If so, these aren’t the droids you’re looking for; move along, move along. If you’ve been giggling and squirming in your seat throughout this post, I think it’s time you took a peek at this show. Unfortunately, if you’re in the States, things get tricky. If you have a DVD player and TV set capable of playing Region 2 PAL discs, you can pre-order the re-release of the collector’s edition complete series at a very reasonable price from Amazon.co.uk or HMV or one of the other online retailers. If you don’t, you might try a Torrent search or something similar, though wouldn’t it be nice to lend your support to the artists by purchasing it?
We’ll see if Pegg and Wright keep up the side when Hot Fuzz releases next year. In the meantime, we can continue to appreciate them (and Jessica Stevenson) for the geek masterpiece that is Spaced.
(We will return to normal American English starting with the next post …)