SPACED? Not That Great

With the release of SPACED on DVD in America, I decided that now was the time to finally watch this show. All of the right people were saying all of the right things about it, and with new commentaries by Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, it felt like a sure thing. Unfortunately, it's not.

While the show is by no means bad, it lacks substantial value. It feels like it's constantly two or three steps away from greatness. I kept on waiting for it to take off and realize its full potential, but it never did. It didn't even really come close.

While I appreciated all of the geek references, it felt as though most of them existed solely to be appreciated.

A lot has been said of the show's visual style. Edgar Wright's direction has been praised for being much more ambitious than the average sitcom. While that's true, his ambition outweighs his talent. Most of the crazy whip pans and scene transitions don't work. The style draws so much attention to itself that it's distracting more than anything else.

Recently the creators of SPACED freaked out when word leaked that McG was developing a remake of the show for American television. One of their complaints was that they had not been consulted. This is understandable. Another was that the show came from a very personal place.

Well they've also said that they always hoped that the show would connect with viewers on a personal level. In that respect, it was a success. McG is a geek, too. He's a producer on both THE O.C. and CHUCK, two shows which interweave their geek references into something more. He's also a better filmmaker than Wright, despite what people say. It's too bad we'll never get to see his take on the series.

As for not being consulted, I'm curious as to how much discussion Wright has had with Stan Lee in regards to his upcoming film, ANT-MAN...