Spaced : pop-culture references

[hummingbird]

I’ve just been watching Spaced again for the n-teenth time, prompted by the trailers on Dave.
It seems to me that just when I think I’ve got everything that’s referenced in the show I seem to pick up on something else.

So I was wondering if anyone knows if there’s a definitive guide somewhere?

Topic

[Seb Patrick]

There’s a subtitle track on the DVDs called the Homage-o-meter that basically covers em all… But there is a certain joy when you watch a film for the first time then go back to Spaced and see a reference you’d never caught before…

[Pete Part Three]

Best Homage : The Empire Strikes Back

Worst Homage : The Matrix

[Ben Paddon]

The Matrix stuff was done before Everyone Else was doing The Matrix stuff. So actually it’s really rather clever.

[redhead85]

I LOVED the Matrix homage!!!

“The first rule of Robot Club is ‘you can’t talk about Robot Club’. The second rule of Robot Club is ‘you can’t talk about…’ oh sorry, no, it’s ‘No Smoking’.”

“Oh my god…I’ve got some fucking Jaffa Cakes in my coat pocket. Ayyyy! Hey Mummy…Hey Daddy…Let’s all play Kabbaddi.”

[Ridley]

I’m fond of the Jurassic Park “Clever girl”.

[Pete Part Three]

>So actually it?s really rather clever.

Not especially. About as “clever” as Meet the Spartans. A damn sight funnier maybe, but it doesn’t take much intelligence to take a recent movie and spoof it. The only thing that worked for me with what Eldon and Gattiss were doing was when they called on Brian.

In contrast to the majority of the parodies, it was completely overdone. It took over most of the episode, presumably because the film was so recent and had caught the imagination of Pegg, Stevenson and Wright so much.

[The PerformingMonkey]

Look! GI Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, He-man! Those shows existed!!!

[Seb Patrick]

The most overdone one was One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, I thought.

The Empire one was magical, though, and I’m not even a Star Wars fan…

[Seb Patrick]

Also: Bugsy Malone.

[Mr Flibble]

The Bugsy Malone one was brilliant.

[Nick R]

Not especially. About as ?clever? as Meet the Spartans. A damn sight funnier maybe, but it doesn?t take much intelligence to take a recent movie and spoof it. The only thing that worked for me with what Eldon and Gattiss were doing was when they called on Brian.

In contrast to the majority of the parodies, it was completely overdone. It took over most of the episode, presumably because the film was so recent and had caught the imagination of Pegg, Stevenson and Wright so much.

That one might have been overdone, but on the other hand, later in series 2 we get what must be one of the shortest Matrix parodies ever, where Mike fantasises about how to get past the lobby of Dark Star Comics (accompanied by a few twangs of “Spybreak”-ish music). Those few seconds might just be my favourite Matrix spoof ever.

[redhead85]

Erm…what other Matrix spoof was there? I thought the guys were indeed referring to the lobby scene (I love that one)

[Seb Patrick]

Gatiss and Eldon as the “agents” in ep one of series two.

I agree that it’s a bit overcooked, but it’s worth it for “It doesn’t say Brian on the door”, and Gatiss’ ludicrously bad-but-amusing delivery of “What… PUB?!?”

[redhead85]

Oh yeaaaaaaahhhh. Bloody hell, it’s been ages since I watched my Spaced DVDs…

[Pete Part Three]

>That one might have been overdone, but on the other hand, later in series 2 we get what must be one of the shortest Matrix parodies ever, where Mike fantasises about how to get past the lobby of Dark Star Comics (accompanied by a few twangs of ?Spybreak?-ish music). Those few seconds might just be my favourite Matrix spoof ever

Correct. That bit was awesome, totally appropriate and didn’t take over the episode.

[Dave]

Off the top of my head, my favourite is the Pulp Fiction one from Series 2, Episode 1. It’s not particularly subtle, but it’s not of a part of the movie that everyone else has parodied before or since.

[Seb Patrick]

For stuff like that it’s the touches of detail, too – in this case, the book that Mike’s reading.

[Dave]

Indeed

[Ben Paddon]

Not especially. About as ?clever? as Meet the Spartans. A damn sight funnier maybe, but it doesn?t take much intelligence to take a recent movie and spoof it. The only thing that worked for me with what Eldon and Gattiss were doing was when they called on Brian.

In contrast to the majority of the parodies, it was completely overdone. It took over most of the episode, presumably because the film was so recent and had caught the imagination of Pegg, Stevenson and Wright so much.

At the time it was chuffing brilliant, but it’s a little painful to rewatch now because a) Matrix parodies have been done by every bugger out there a thousand times over, and b) It’s so dated, likely a result of Matrix parodies having been done by every bugger out there a thousand times over.

Besides which, it wasn’t so much a parody of The Matrix as it was an appropriation of the character of Agent Smith. Very little about the story itself was Matrixesque – it was just those characters. So, yes, the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next” episode is more overt in nature.

That gag with the Indian at the end of the OFOtCN episode, though, remains my favourite joke in Spaced.

[ChrisM]

I quite liked the ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest’ parody in Spaced.

>That gag with the Indian at the end of the OFOtCN episode, though, remains my favourite joke in Spaced.

Indeed. Finding out he was actually the son of the guy who did it in the original movie (working in Britain on the theatre version apparently) was brilliant too!

[Ben Paddon]

Definitely. Added dimensions to the joke, did that.

[Dave]

Is Jabba the princess?

[si]

I love the Star Wars references in Spaced, and yet I haven’t seen any of the Star Wars films in well over twenty years. Odd.

[Dave]

Have you seen the prequels?

[si]

Note the use of the word ‘ANY’ there.

[Dave]

A New Yope?

[si]

ITV are showing all six movies in Episode order starting today. I’d watch them, except that

a)They’ll be full of ads; and

b)There’s a break three quarters of the way through for the news.

Epic Fail.

[Tarka Dal]

Bless you Si. I like how those are your only reasons.

[hummingbird]

Which, of course, has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that watching I through III will make you want to poke your own eyes out and set fire to your head?
They have that effect on me.

[Tarka Dal]

That’s your midichlorian count playing up that is.

[Plastic Percy]

I believe on the commentary for the series 2 DVD, Pegg and Stevenson mention how they did filmed the Matrix parody before spoofing the film became popular, so when it was released other shows had already done it and they just looked like they were following the crowd.

Damn good movie and TV series though. John Simm’s cameo was good in the first episode (was he a household name by this point? It was about 2000/2001 they filmed series 2 so he’d done ‘Human Traffic’ and ‘Clocking Off’ and was just about to appear in ’24 Hour Party People’)

[Carlito]

I remember him from Men Of The World, which was mid 90s sitcom also starring the dude from Shameless and the bitchy barmaid from Corrie.

[Carlito]

“How can I hold my head high, avoiding the cracks in the pavement?”

Good tune.

[si]

I remember Men of the World, and I knew it was John Simm, but nothing else about it apart from it being about two blokes in shirts in a flat.

[Carlito]

It was on around the same time as the similar but far superior shows Game On and Men Behaving Badly, so didn’t fare too well in comparison.

[si]

Weren’t they Estate Agents or something?

[Carlito]

Possibly, my memory doesn’t stretch that far. Travel agents maybe? Would tie into the title.

[si]

Ah yes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_of_the_World

[Carlito]

Wow. Written by Daniel Peacock?

Mental Mickey!

[Tarka Dal]

> the bitchy barmaid from Corrie.

That’s not narrowing it down much!

[Carlito]

The real nasty one who run away with Bet’s lorry driving boyfriend Charlie.

She was also in Life on Mars and that school drama on BBC one at the moment….

I could of course look it up…

Eva Pope. Tanya in Corrie. Now in Waterloo Road. That’s my research for the day done.

[Tarka Dal]

I actually knew who you meant. I was just being picky :P I had no idea the other one was in Shameless though.

[Mr-Stabby]

>?The first rule of Robot Club is ?you can?t talk about Robot Club?. The second rule of Robot Club is ?you can?t talk about?? oh sorry, no, it?s ?No Smoking?.?

That could have been funny for me, but the bloke they got to do it was a lousy actor so ruined it for me.

For me it was Peter Serafinowicz saying ‘At last i shall have my revenge…’ in his Darth Maul voice. Comedy gold!

[Pete Part Three]

>That could have been funny for me, but the bloke they got to do it was a lousy actor so ruined it for me.

Leave him alone; he co-wrote Hyperdrive.

Oh no, wait…

[Author]

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