Left pane: Simon Pegg; Top Right: Simon Pegg as Tim and Nick Frost as Mike; Bottom Right: Jessica Stevenson as Daisy
Goooood lord! Is nothing sacred anymore?!?! US producers McG, Wonderland and Fox have teamed up with Will & Grace screenwriter Adam Barr to create an American version of Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (formerly Stevenson) and Edgar Wright’s British comedy classic Spaced. Spaced! What in all hells name are they thinking?!? For those that don’t know, and indeed don’t hold Spaced dear to their hearts like I’m sure many Finger Lickers do, Spaced is a surreal postmodern TV series that originally aired here in the UK in the late nineties.
Written by Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson the show followed strangers Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Stevenson) as they pretend to be a couple in order to secure a place to live. Directed by Edgar Wright the series was the launch pad for the likes of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and features much of the same postmodern, intertextual humour that’s present in their feature films. In short, this was an important TV show, not just for myself and my filmmaking peers, but also for British TV. It proved that we still have some fight left in us and that we could produce something of substance that spoke to a generation and was also hilariously funny.
However, the Spaced team only produced two fantastic seasons of the sitcom before moving on to new projects, for Pegg, Wright and Nick Frost (who was also in the series) it was Shaun of the Dead and an incredibly prolific and successful acting career awaited Jessica Stevenson. Ten years later… America decides it’s time for a remake. Simon Pegg, this week, made a statement about the American producers confirmation that a pilot has been green lit explaining his discomfort at not being consulted and his objection to his name being used in the production companies press release. But rather than speak for the man, here is the meat of what he had to say:
My main problem with the notion of a Spaced remake is the sheer lack of respect that Granada/ Wonderland/Warner Bros have displayed in respectively selling out and appropriating our ideas without even letting us know. A decision I can only presume was made as a way of avoiding having to give us any money, whilst at the same time using mine and Edgar’s name in their press release, in order to trade on the success of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, even professing, as Peter Johnson did, to being a big fan of the show and it’s creators. A device made all the more heinous by the fact that the press release neglected to mention the show’s co-creator and female voice, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson). The fact is, when we signed our contracts ten years ago, we had neither the experience or the kudos to demand any clauses securing any control over future reversioning. We signed away our rights to any input in the show’s international future, because we just wanted to get the show made and these dark days of legal piracy seemed a far away concern. As a result, we have no rights. The show does not belong to us and, those that do own it have no obligation to include us in any future plans. You would perhaps hope though, out of basic professional respect and courtesy, we might have been consulted. It is this flagrant snub and effective vote of no confidence in the very people that created the show, that has caused such affront at our end. If they don’t care about the integrity of the original, why call it Spaced? Why attempt to find some validation by including mine and Edgar’s names in the press release as if we were involved? Why not just lift the premise? Two strangers, pretend to be a couple in order to secure residence of a flat/apartment. It’s hardly Ibsen. Jess and I specifically jumped off from a very mainstream sitcom premise in order to unravel it so completely. Take it, have it, call it Perfect Strangers and hope Balkie doesn’t sue. Just don’t call it Spaced.— Simon Pegg, 2008
What sickens me most here isn’t the fact that these people are taking advantage of the creative teams prior naivety in signing the contracts, or that the parasitic production company is trading off Simon and Edgar’s good name. What really troubles me here is that they chose not to include Jessica’s name in the press release, an indiscretion that, as Simon points out, means the female voice of the original work is ignored. This is not only disgraceful and rude and disrespectful it also speaks volumes about the cynical nature of the LA marketing machine. Do you think the fact that Jessica is chiefly successful in the UK has anything to do with the oversight? I can see the PR meeting now, “Jessica who? What’s she done? Nah, haven’t seen it. Just put Pegg and Wright in the Press Release they had that big film last year right? Yeah great, keep them ditch the dame!” Morons! If they had any understanding of the original series they would know that the interplay between male and female characters and the inclusion of different thematic elements in order to appeal to both men and women is vital to its success. Yes the show was geeky, but somehow it attracted girls as well, you can’t tell me Jessica wasn’t the key to that attraction. Likewise, if they understood anything about the creative process they would understand that in collaborating Pegg and Stevenson poured much of themselves and their personal qualities into those scripts and that won’t be something they can recreate without including them again in the process.
All I can say is it’s a shame that the folks with the money are normally the folks that are so short sighted and as Pegg says it would have been a basic professional courtesy to have contacted them and asked for some input. Instead… here we are… only time will tell I suppose, but I’m feeling the Spaced team’s pain, as I’m sure do a huge amount of Spaced fans out there.
Want more? You can read the whole of Simon Pegg’s comments here.
Right that’s it from me Spaced fans, goodnight!
K
