Spaced revolves around two idle twentysomething flatmates - immature skateboarding would-be comic artist Tim (Simon Pegg, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), and moody, responsibility-shy writer Daisy (Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson), and their self-induced lack of success in employment, relationships, and life in general. Together with their oddball assortment of friends and neighbors, Marsha, Brian, Mike and Twist, they exist in a world perched precariously on the edge of normality.
For years Spaced was a mythical series that I had only heard about through friends and people that emailed the site. People would ask, "Is Spaced coming to DVD? I heard the music is the holdup." That's about all I knew about it, until Shaun of the Dead became popular and people started saying "Oh, it's the guys from Spaced!" I eventually discovered more about the show, and decided it was something I should watch, assuming it was ever released. Well, here it is.
Disc 2 (2:53:53)
Back (24:03)
Change (24:15)
Mettle (24:24)
Help (24:53)
Gone (24:36)
Dissolution (25:51)
Leaves (25:51)
Video
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1), Spaced looks pretty good, though it's a bit soft. I'm not sure what they shot the series on (digibeta perhaps?), but I didn't notice any major flaws with it, besides being a bit soft. There's a "play all" option on the discs, which is nice because you're likely to watch more than one episode at a time.
Audio
Music licensing proved to be a big holdup for the release of this show, but apparently they managed to license every song in the show, and there are lots of them. I'm not a big music buff, but I recognized a lot of music used in the series, including the song used at the end of the series finale. The audio track, an English ProLogi mix, sounds good. There are lots of effects and music that come from the rear speakers, and the center channel, with the voices, sounds great. There are also English subtitles, in case you have problems with the accents.
Homage-O-Meter
This subtitle track will fill you in on all the references used in the show. Very handy to have!
Biographies
There are character biographies, as well as biographies for the cast and crew. These must have been created for the Region 2 release as the information is very out of date.
Trailers
A number of teasers and trailers for episodes of the show.
Out-Takes (22:18)
Some funny out-takes from both seasons of the show.
Commentary Tracks
The set includes all the old commentary tracks, plus the new commentaries recorded for this set. New commentaries feature Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Matt Stone, Diablo Cody, Bill Hader and Patton Oswalt. I was VERY happy to hear the tracks are uncensored, because, come on, Kevin Smith censored would suck! Most of the tracks are discussions, and not scene specific.
Daisy Does Elvis (1:02)
Daisy does her best Elvis impersonation.
Photo Library
A bunch of behind-the-scenes photos from the show.
Season 1 - Raw Footage (7:26)
Raw footage of some season 1 shots. Found on disc 3.
Season 1 - Deleted Scenes (14:55)
13 deleted scenes from season 1, available with, or without, commentary. Found on disc 3.
Season 1 - More Out-takes (4:53)
Ever more out-takes from season 1. Found on disc 3.
Season 2 - Deleted Scenes (18:12)
18 deleted scenes from season 1, available with, or without, commentary. Found on disc 3.
Season 1 - Raw Footage (6:31)
Raw footage of some season 2 shots. Found on disc 3.
NFT Q&A (58:09)
This Q&A, featuring most of the cast, was held late last year. There's some great material in here, even if the audio is a bit quiet.
Skip to the End (1:20:50)
An excellent feature-length documentary on the series. This thing is chock full of interesting interviews, and is the real gem on the DVD set.
"Spaced Jam" by Osymyso (3:13)
A great montage of video clips and music.
New Biographies
These updated biographies can be found on disc 3.
Summary
Well, that was a treat! Not only is the show funny, but this is a freakin' loaded DVD set featuring tons of commentaries, out-takes, deleted scenes, raw footage, biographies, photos, trailers, commentaries (so many they deserve to be listed twice), interviews and a kickass documentary! Wow!
So, is the show worth the hype surrounding it? Maybe, maybe not. I think a lot of the hype comes form the shear number of references to things that people enjoy, and everyone likes validation that what they watch/listen to/read is enjoyed by others. I think this is why Spaced achieved the level of fandom it has; geeks are loyal, and they'll support things that they feel support them.
I enjoyed this series a lot, and I'll recommend it to friends and family, and you as well. If you like sci-fi movies, or silly British shows, you owe it to yourself to buy this DVD.
