If Spaced were just about the average lives of its characters, the show probably still would have been very funny, since the six cast members (seven, if you include Colin, Daisy's dog) are very funny on their own. But the non-character humor is just as much a part of Spaced's charm; watching Daisy try to concentrate while writing an article is funny enough, but add a Fantasia reference to the background, and it becomes hilarious.
Many of the references are explicitly stated by the characters, such as when Mike is interviewing with the army, and he is mentally telling himself to be like a fictional English soldier (only to get confused with the name, and begin thinking of himself as Andy McDowell, whose name is similar to the soldier's), or when Tim compares Twist to Cordelia Chase from Buffy and Angel. Other times, characters reenact sequences or inexplicably act in ways similar to popular films and shows, such as when we see Tim, dressed as a jedi knight, burning all of his Star Wars things due to his frustration with The Phantom Menace. One of the funniest reference gags took place in the pilot, as Tim and Daisy were exploring their new flat, and came a cross a pair of very creepy girls.
The point of these references is to emphasize the emotional impact of the situation the characters are facing. Their lives are otherwise normal, and it isn't enough to merely show reactions completely based in reality. Since Wright, Pegg and Stevenson Hynes grew up as nerds (not an insult, by the way), they choose to to make emphases through pop culture references as opposed to melodrama. Also, they're really funny.
The episode-to-episode plots of Spaced are about as thin as those of Seinfeld, but that is the point of each show. People didn't tune in every week to see the kind of adversity Tim and Daisy would overcome. They watched to see how their favorite movie, television show or video game would be honored in a hilarious way.
Anyone with an appreciation (or obsession) with popular culture owes it to themself to see Spaced. It was made by a group of people doing what they do best, and the quality is indicative of that.
Up next: The zed word...
2 comments:
What was the Fantasia reference? I'm sad to say that I've never seen the film.
When Daisy was trying to get some writing done, there were dancing pots and pans in the background set to classical music, reminiscent of the brooms in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".
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