Fox To Remake Simon Pegg's 'Spaced'

Fox has ordered a pilot for an American version of the British sitcom Spaced, which was created by and starred Simon Pegg -- Star Trek's new Scotty.

Spaced featured Pegg and Jessica Stevenson as two London twentysomethings who manage to get a cheap apartment by convincing their landlady they're a married couple. The show was known for its frequent references to pop culture, in particular to science fiction and horror films, and was nominated for both a BAFTA and an Emmy award.

The show was created by Pegg and Stevenson, along with director Edgar Wright. Wright later directed Pegg in the zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, which gave Pegg international recogntion. The fame from that role led to Pegg being cast in J.J. Abrams Mission: Impossible III, which in turn helped Pegg land the role of Scotty in the new Trek film.

Variety reported the American version of Spaced will be developed by Will & Grace alum Adam Barr, and noted that the involvement of the original creators was "still unclear." This raised the ire of Edgar Wright, who wrote on his official blog, "the interesting part of that is, no-one has been in touch with me at all. Haven't deigned to get in contact. So my involvement is indeed very unclear."

Wright added that Pegg hasn't been contacted by Fox, either. "I don't really want to get involved at all," Wright wrote, "but it infuriates me that they would a) never bother to get in touch but still b) splash me and Simon's names all over the trade announcements and infer that we're involved in the same way [Ricky Gervais] & [Stephen Merchant were with The Office. Also, it's worth stressing that I will not be profiting from this reversion, nor do they have to get permission from me to make it."

Depending on whether Fox likes the pilot of the American version, the series could end up on American television as early as next season. For Variety's original article, please follow this link, while Wright's response to the news can be found here.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!