"Spaced " to the US?

[doggans]

So, I finally formed semi-coherent thoughts on this, but they're too long and whiny to post all of them here. So my full thoughts are on my boring LiveJournal that nobody cares about, but to summarize, this won't work because:

• Unlike "The Office", the cultural references in the original "Spaced" aren't too local for us stupid Americans to understand (hell, half of them are "Star Wars" references), so the remake isn't nearly as justified.
• They didn't even bother telling Edgar or Simon about this, and probably not Jessica, either. Seriously, WTF.
• It's an obvious attempt to cash in on "Hot Fuzz", the successful "Office" remake, and the trend of sitcoms that desperately try to pander to the geek crowd.
• It's written by a guy who wrote for "Will and Grace". And the "Spaced" characters are more than just two-dimensional stereotypes, so he won't know how to write for them.

So, that's why I feel confident pre-judging the remake.

[starfighter]

    Another British show in the news lately as being adapted for an American version is "The Eleventh Hour" sort of scientific mysteries. Original series only had 4 eps, I believe, with Patrick Stewart and Ashley Jensen (Extras) as the leads.  I netflixed them and it was ok but that's about it.
       There is a long history of British shows being Americanized.   Many, many are flops but there has been the occasional success story like All in the Family and Sanford and Son.   The Office is just the most recent success.

     I think there were at least two attempts to adapt Fawlty Towers.  I remember seeing a little of one with Bea Arthur in the John Cleese role? Truly suck-erific.

[Tripe]

And I loved Sanford and Son almost as much as I loved Steptoe and Son. In fact I was once considering adopting a pair of male cats who'd been found in a junkyard. I was going to name them Harold and Lamont after the sons in the respective shows. One day I may still get a couple of cats and give them those names.

The thing is though both All in the Family and Sanford and Son were a while ago, the knack seems to have been lost of late (not counting competitive shows.

[pyro]

Wow....  My insanely great mood from the new Joel news got killed pretty quickly

[Petey Wheatstraw]

If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going to go vomit blood...

[bettertomorrowamy]

"When Isaac Vomits Blood", Fox's new wednesday night hit after the writer's strike takes effect.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

"When Isaac Vomits Blood", Fox's new wednesday night hit after the writer's strike takes effect.

I'd much rather watch that than a remake of Spaced. At least I'd be in it.

[jewishcarpenter]

"When Isaac Vomits Blood", Fox's new wednesday night hit after the writer's strike takes effect.

I'd much rather watch that than a remake of Spaced. At least I'd be in it.

No shit, I'd rather watch your show it would at least star the original cast.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

"When Isaac Vomits Blood", Fox's new wednesday night hit after the writer's strike takes effect.

I'd much rather watch that than a remake of Spaced. At least I'd be in it.

No shit, I'd rather watch your show it would at least star the original cast.

The Fox version of the show will feature Isaac Hayes.

[Taufiq2u]

The difference between British and American comedy is that:

In British humour surrealism is a main factor. The weirdest, most random type of humour is genrally funny in a British sense, and it's viewed as intelligent. But when an American tries surreal or random humour, it fails and i'd be viewed as dumb and stupid.

That's why Britain has weird sketch shows like Big Train, Mitchell & Webb, Jam and Monty Python while America has normally funny sketch shows like Saturday Night Live.

[Bob]

   
     I think there were at least two attempts to adapt Fawlty Towers.  I remember seeing a little of one with Bea Arthur in the John Cleese role? Truly suck-erific.

WHAT?!?!?!               

[pyro]

The difference between British and American comedy is that:

In British humour surrealism is a main factor. The weirdest, most random type of humour is genrally funny in a British sense, and it's viewed as intelligent. But when an American tries surreal or random humour, it fails and i'd be viewed as dumb and stupid.

That's why Britain has weird sketch shows like Big Train, Mitchell & Webb, Jam and Monty Python while America has normally funny sketch shows like Saturday Night Live.

But you missed Mr Show, Adult Swim shows, and I'm too lazy to think anymore....

[Tripe]

The difference between British and American comedy is that:

In British humour surrealism is a main factor. The weirdest, most random type of humour is genrally funny in a British sense, and it's viewed as intelligent. But when an American tries surreal or random humour, it fails and i'd be viewed as dumb and stupid.

That's why Britain has weird sketch shows like Big Train, Mitchell & Webb, Jam and Monty Python while America has normally funny sketch shows like Saturday Night Live.

But you missed Mr Show, Adult Swim shows, and I'm too lazy to think anymore....

Yes actually the defining factor in British sitcoms/sketch comedy is sadness/pathos. The humor is generally rooted in situations that, on reflection, are really quite depressing. American Sitcoms on the other hand are generally happy at their base.

The whole surrealism thing has more to do with the fact that many of the comedians of the '60s were influenced by absurdist theatre and they in turn influenced later sketch writers(both in England and in the US and Canada). And actually if you look at the work of Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson you can see a pretty obvious influence of Beckett on their work (especially in Bottom)

I realize that the above qualifies me for a place in Private Eye's psueds' corner, but sod it it's accurate even if it's all high falutin' sounding.

So to illustrate, here's a wonderful study in pure patheticness from Steve Coogan:

[yt=425,350]k_IoPAd_Yw0[/yt]
[yt=425,350]S_PRK40cwHI[/yt]
[yt=425,350]HZJsYn1e4tc[/yt]

[Rude]

...

It's About Time: 'Spaced' Coming to Region 1 DVD

You're heard me rave about the wonders of the British series Spaced; now hear other equally-unrelated but more notable people say the same! Previously available only in Region 2 format, the Simon Pegg/Jessica Stevenson/Edgar Wright sitcom is at last coming to U.S. shores July 22, now with extraneous commentary by Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Patton Oswalt, and Diablo Cody. I don't earnestly promote that many things, so take it to heart when I say if you haven't already procured the series by other means, take this opportunity.

Yeah... it's about time. But what the hell is up with all those random commentary tracks? Patton Oswalt? Fuck off.
Anyway, it's still good news! I can finally retire my old, trusty bootleg DVDs. w00t!

-Rude

[doggans]

I knew Tarantino, Smith, Hader, and Cody were all friends of Edgar Wright...didn't know about Oswalt, although from what I understand, a lot of his standup is pretty geek-centric (I'm not that familiar myself), so I guess it makes sense.