Wikipedia cannily observes that:
The central comedic conceit of the series is that it portrays the rather ordinary lives of Daisy and Tim using overblown Hollywood blockbuster clichés.
This also applies to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz – Shaun is a loving genre tribute which also happens to be one of the funniest British films made in the past ten years, and Hot Fuzz applies director Edgar Wright’s extreme editing techniques to the banality of English village life. The characters of Spaced – it’s hard to remember that they’re only in their late twenties – are lost, unformed and unsure, with no real experiences of their own, so whatever happens to them in real life can only be processed by using a cinematic frame of reference. Notably when Daisy returns from her holiday in Asia she is invigorated by her actual life experience, which soon dissipates into apathy.
Any comedy programme which relies on easy recognition gags from a media-literate audience (coughFamilyGuycough) soon becomes quite boring, but the media references in Spaced are unusually dense and underplayed. Although many of the 14 episodes are devoted to extended homages and pastiches (most obviously One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and many, many Star Wars references) the series stands on the relationship between its two main characters. Unlike every American comedy series, it is never telegraphed right from the start that they were meant for each other, and there is even a joke in the first episode where they are apparently lying post-coitally on the floor… having finished unpacking. Although Tim and Daisy frequently annoy each other, there is none of the tedious meeting each other-hating each other-loving each other formula most romantic comedies follow. They get on from the start, they become friends, and eventually end up as… close friends.
The series is a tribute to platonic friendship, which admittedly was one of the strengths of Friends, despite the relationship fuckwittery which eventually made it such a drag. I am hard pressed to name a New Zealand comedy where you could tell that the characters actually cared about each other – maybe The Strip, which despite its faults had strong and sincere characters played by Luanne Gordon and Robbie Magavisa.
The desire by fans for a third series is understandable. The documentary Skip to the End has a charming if unnecessary coda where Tim and Daisy (still living in the same distinctive London flat) have apparently fallen in love and had a baby, but the second series ends properly and where it should have. Although the status quo of their directionless lives has come under threat, the characters have triumphed against the forces splitting them apart (a rare win). They have reached an equilibrium. There is a particularly effective shot of Daisy’s best friend Twist, always the most superficial of the characters, partying in Manchester with her exciting new friends. She pauses, and a look of great seriousness passes over her face, as she realises she is missing something. The final shot of Tim and Daisy has them sitting on a beanbag in front of the television with their dog. Daisy puts her head on his shoulder. Tim looks uncomfortable for a second and is about to say something – then rests his head on hers.
