屋事生非第一季

主演兼编剧西蒙：“作为一个观众，我如果被影视作品派了点儿活干，要自行建立事物联系，或者补充背景知识来理解剧情，总是会感到更满足。这就是后现代主义的乐趣所在。《屋事生非》中有巨量的引用，这就交给观众们一个任务：把点连成线。当你发现了一个梗，你就算还不知道它的来历，也会有种满足感。当然了，我们也没有把赌注全押在这些时刻上。如果你心领神会了，敬请享受；如果没对上眼，只把它们作为剧情一部分也没问题。”

原文链接：//www.vice.com/en/article/kwk3ga/oral-history-of-spaced-simon-pegg-nick-frost-edgar-wright-jessica-hynes-katy-carmichael

真实，温馨，可爱，原本试图翻译全文，但真的挺长的(。-ω-)zzz

Spaced was initially pitched as a cross between The Simpsons, The X-Files, and a mid-90s American comedy-drama called Northern Exposure. It didn't turn out like that at all, obviously, but that's OK, because what emerged instead turned out to be completely unique and has gone on to become a British cult classic.

It was a show about a group of erratically employed young people living in north London, when that was a thing erratically employed young people could still afford to do. Originally broadcast in 1999 and running for two seasons, it was a mix of stark realism—capturing the characters' job struggles, casual drug use, clubbing, pubbing, and PlayStation sessions—and post-modern surrealism, crammed with references and homages to icons of 80s and 90s pop culture.

Fifteen years since series two was last on air, the cast recall where it all began.

BEGINNINGS

Simon Pegg (Tim): Jess and I were singled out by a producer for a show we had worked on called Asylum. They said to us, "If you can think of a format we'd like to make a vehicle for you." Jess and I were a bit wet behind the ears, so we boldly said, "Oh yeah, we'll do it, but you've got to let us write it"—like we had any leverage at all. But they fell for it.

Katy Carmichael (Twist): I went to uni with Simon. Jess was a mate at the time, and my stand-up comedy partner. In meeting Simon it was as if she'd found her long-lost comedy other half. They have the same comedy DNA. They both just got each other, and so the writing partnership for Spaced was born.

Jessica Hynes (Daisy): I was living in my boyfriend's squat at the time. Simon had a degree from Bristol University and could spell; I had an electric typewriter and some fucking Tipp-Ex. I've still got the very first thing that was ever put to paper for Spaced, which was a Marsha monologue—that was the very beginning.

Simon Pegg: I was round at Jess's house writing, and Edgar [Wright] came around after he'd read a draft of the first episode. He had this book of storyboards, and we looked them and thought, Holy shit. He was speaking the visual language of what we were saying with text. It felt like such an incredible fit.

Edgar Wright (Director): What spoke to me about the scripts was how spot on it was about being 20-something in London and the huge gulf between the ambition of what you want to do and the reality of doing it and the procrastination and the laziness and the idea of having big ideas, but not having the drive to make them happen. That all felt very real.

ART IMITATING LIFE

Jessica Hynes: My life up until the point of when I started writing it, at 24, that was Spaced: living in squats, taking drugs, trying to find work, being out of work, trying to convince a landlady to give you a tenancy.

Katy Carmichael: We were Generation X: the slackers, the disaffected, directionless, free, and human. We were all in it together, and Spaced captures that time perfectly. There was something highly creative about all that lounging around and finding moments to connect and have crazy adventures.

Simon Pegg: When I was a jobbing stand-up earning £50 a gig, I was pretty much like Tim, hanging around in the daytime playing video games and smoking weed. That was my life. Spaced came from our own flat-share experiences, but also in the wake of Friends in the mid 90s there had been a few copycat shows in Britain that were supposedly about young lives, and we just didn't feel represented in those shows at all—they were all fairly attractive people hanging around in brightly lit wine bars, talking about shagging. We felt a bit affronted by that and wanted to write a sitcom that spoke to us on a much more intimate level than anything we'd seen before. For a while, Nick, Michael Smiley [who played Tyres], and I all lived together in Kentish Town. Nick just lived in the spare room, which we called the "crab pit."

Nick Frost (Mike Watt): The crab pit was a promotion, too. I didn't have a room for a while, but then I was allowed to sleep in this freezing room full of stinking bags of shit that nobody wanted. There wasn't even a bed, just cushions wrapped in an old piss-soaked duvet, and then me on top of that, and then another piss-soaked duvet on top of me. I think what shames me now is that I brought girls back to that room. Those poor women. We had a great crew, and we hung out loads together, listened to music, went clubbing, watched The Simpsons, and smoked a ton of pot.

Edgar Wright: It was slightly less drugs and clubbing for me! I don't know if, at that point, I'd ever even smoked weed. I was living in an apartment in Islington that was very similar, and definitely remember wasting too much time on the PlayStation. I was more of a getting-drunk-in-Camden-and-going-to-the-movies sort of person.

CHARACTERS

Nick Frost: Mike was an amalgam of two guys I worked with in a Mexican restaurant. One was a cook who was a giant, but also a big baby; he'd get pissed, and, at 4 AM, he'd call his mom and she'd come out and get him to take him home. He sadly also had a penchant for Nazi memorabilia and hard punk music. He wasn't a Nazi—he was a nice guy—but he just owned things like a fucking Hitler Youth dagger. The other guy would bullshit us about his time in the Territorial Army and all the weird shit he would do to people, and I never believed him for a second. About two years ago, I picked up a newspaper, and there's a picture of David Cameron in Helmand Province, and standing behind him is this guy, stood there with a M4 carbine and body armor on—so it turns out it wasn't bullshit at all; it was all true.

Julia Deakin (Marsha): They said Marsha had had a bit of a checkered past, and I was exactly the right age to be a bit of an aging hippy, so had a lot to draw on from that side of things. I chose this weird voice based on my friend Danny, a bloke. There was no blueprint for Marsha—she didn't have to have to be that drunk, she didn't have to have that weird voice, she didn't have to look like she did; it was just something I wanted to run with.

Katy Carmichael: Twist is loosely based on a girl at college who was obsessed with fashion and would surreptitiously label check your clothes to see what you were wearing, compare thigh sizes, and make helpful comments about how you could improve how you looked. She was forever disappointed in the other students' sartorial efforts.

Jessica Hynes: Tyres was based on a guy I met in Bath when I was about 16 or 17. He was proud of being the first ecstasy casualty. He said something about the cartilage drying up in the base of his spine, and he used to do this thing where he would talk on a loop: He would tell the same story over and over again, and it would last about three hours. He was extraordinary, and Michael Smiley effortlessly channelled him.

Simon Pegg: Smiley is a brilliant actor, but we were all comics together back in those days, and he had this really bizarre dynamic to him—he was a cycle courier and a raver, so we thought he should just be that on screen for Tyres. He wasn't allowed to do it in the end, but the character of Brian was actually originally written for Julian Barrett and based on his character Victor Munro from Asylum.

Jessica Hynes: When writing Daisy and Tim, part of my subversive motive was to try and create two protagonists who were on an even keel, who were different genders but not in any way lesser or more interesting or more dynamic or more funny than one another.

THE PRODUCTION

Edgar Wright: People had no expectations for it because they didn't know who we were. I think as soon as we started editing it together, I was very excited about it. It felt really different; it felt out there. I think it was such a small budget show that nobody ever really passed too much comment from the network. All I remember is getting notes about language—that we could only say "fuck" twice and we could not say the word "cunt," and that was it. In a weird way, I prefer the restriction because it makes your "fucks" count if you only have two of them.

Simon Pegg: In the episode where we watch the three Star Wars films, we could use the ewok celebration music from the end of Return of the Jedi, but we weren't allowed to use the original, so we had to re-record it ourselves and sing it. So if you watch that episode and listen to that music, that's me, Jess, and Edgar doing ewok singing.

Jessica Hynes: I helped work on the costumes and making stuff, and the set design—I remember saying to them, "No, Daisy has to have WD-40 on her dressing table," and, "Tim's room can't be neat, and it's got to look quite shit."

Simon Pegg: It felt like we were making what we wanted to make, and it was a very happy set as a result—especially the first season. We weren't being interfered with; we were making the show we wanted to make, and it made us laugh a lot. It felt like we were getting it right. We were of the mindset that we wanted the show to make one person's head explode rather than lots of people go, "Oh that's quite good." We just wanted the one person to be like, "Holy fuck, this is the best thing I've ever seen, and it speaks to me on such a personal level." That was more important to us—to be niche and precise, rather than bland and mainstream. I remember filming the scene when I shot the zombie's head off with a shotgun and saying, "This is going to be on after Friends."

DRUG USE

Simon Pegg: Whenever you used to see drug use on TV, there had to be some sort of punitive measure taken, even if it was just weed. We all used to come back alive when we went out clubbing, and we'd talk very fondly about those nights for months afterward. We didn't make a big deal about them smoking weed in the show; we just wanted to make it a regular part of their day. It was part of our daily life at that time, too. The clubbing episode, we never showed anyone popping a pill, it was just taken as read that they were all e-ing off their tits and having a wonderful time and they all came home alive and lived to tell the tale because the vast majority of people who would go out clubbing and take drugs at that time didn't die. One or two people did, and it was tragic—and the media rode that into the ground—but there was also this other side of things, which is that drugs can actually be quite fun.

Katy Carmichael: The clubbing scene just replicated what we were all doing on a Saturday night back then, except there were cameras there, hence its authenticity. I wore that very same fairy outfit to many a nightclub and went around granting people wishes with that wand.

THE POLICE

Nick Frost: In one episode, there was a flashback of Mike stripping an MP5 [submachine gun] blind-folded, so the prop department thought it would be a good idea if they gave me one to take home and practice with. I did the first scene of the day and then went home at about 11 AM. It was a really hot summer in Highgate. I opened the back doors and put on a tiny pair of house shorts and smoked a bong for like two hours and sat around watching telly, and then started playing with the gun and walking around with it, storming Simon's room with it and using rolled up socks as flash grenades. I then started having a go stripping it blindfolded and got pretty good at it. After about the fifth time of doing it, I sensed there was a person in the room, and as I looked to the back door, there were six armed police officers pointing their guns at me. I was actually very calm—which I thank the marijuana for—and I put my hands in the air and sat back in the sofa away from the gun. As soon as they saw me and my bloodshot eyes, they just started screaming and stormed the apartment. It was terrifying. My favorite bit of that story is that it took them about 45 minutes to work out my story was true, and then the mood became quite jovial when they realized they were just dealing with a fucking idiot. As they left the main officer tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Well done, mate—a lot of people piss themselves."

REFERENCES

Julia Deakin: I'm not a great film buff. A lot of the script, which was obviously references, didn't mean too much to me. Even when I was filming, I would be asking, "Why am I saying this?" I didn't know what the fuck the twins in the cupboard [a reference to The Shining] were doing, and I still don't. But I trusted them—the writing was so good.

Simon Pegg: I'm always much more satisfied as a viewer if I'm given some work to do and have to draw connections myself, or require some background knowledge to understand something. That's the joy of post-modernism. Because Spaced was heavily referential, it created a mission for the viewer to connect the dots, and you feel a sense of satisfaction when you get a reference when you haven't been told what that is. We never tried to rest everything on those moments, though; you could enjoy them if you got them, but if you didn't, they could just be enjoyed as a part of the fabric of the show.

Jessica Hynes: We are total film nerds, but we cover very different areas. Simon is Mr. Star Wars. I mean, I wouldn't even go there. You could ask him what the third fucking ewok from the left was called in some scene, and he'd know—he'd know the name of their mother. Our areas of film do crossover, though, especially the big classic stuff like Spielberg and the great 80s films. It became a nerd-off, basically. Although I have to say there was a time when I wanted to do this Goonies reference, and he was like, "Hmmmm…" Big mistake, Simon Pegg. Big mistake.

THE FUTURE OF SPACED

Julia Deakin: I'd do it all again tomorrow if they decided to bring it back. I've been acting 40 years, and Spaced is easily in the top three jobs I've ever done.

Nick Frost: I think, for me, it's done. I just don't know how you'd do it; we're all so fucking old and decrepit now. Maybe I could get out of it by saying Mike made it to Afghanistan, but he stepped on a mine out there or that he fell out the back of a plane.

Jessica Hynes: My door is always open. I mean, fucking hell, Jesus, who I am to say no? I don't want to make it awkward for them as they have really big careers, and I'm noodling about doing my own thing, but I know Simon and I's paths will cross again—our bond is deep.

Simon Pegg: We always wanted to do three series; we just sort of missed the boat on it. We would have liked to have done three and everyone's character have a third part to their arc, and certainly have Tim and Daisy get together in the end and it lead up to this wonderfully exciting and satisfying romantic conclusion, and for everyone in the show to have their moment—but it just didn't happen. It's a source of frustration for me, looking back, but it's something I'm incredibly proud of, and it makes me very happy to think we managed to pull off the three Cornetto movies [Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End], because I finally felt like I had finished something that I set out to do. The key factor is that we just don't live that life anymore. The truth of Spaced was that it came from a very real place and from our hearts and where we were in life. I don't think anybody would be remotely interested in a sitcom about a relatively successful film actor living in rural Hertfordshire.

Edgar Wright: I don't know. I think, for me, it would be a no. I think with Spaced it would be a bit of a lose-lose; I don't know if people would ever be entirely happy. Maybe if Simon and Jessica came up with a really brilliant script, but I just feel because we're all different people now it would be hard. Would you want to see those characters older, or is the beauty of the show in that the last time we ever saw Tim and Daisy was sitting on that beanbag in front of the TV with Colin, and to leave them there in this beautiful time capsule of that era? I would tend to say don't risk it. It's a beautiful 14 episodes, and maybe we could have done more at the time, but I'm very proud of what we did, and I don't really want to spoil it now.

Katy Carmichael: Maybe more time needs to pass before we get together again. Another 40 years, then an octogenarian Spaced Christmas special. I'd watch that. Twist with a Swarovski zimmer frame and a Prada colostomy bag, still hobbling around in platform heels but with varicose veins. Tim as a silver fox, perhaps. Daisy as a successful writer—her very own version of Barbara Cartland. Brian starts his own political party. Marsha still a landlady, but moved on from the vino to the gin. And Mike, a pipe and slippers pacifist in a nursing home.

看过《僵尸肖恩》的朋友或许对这部剧略有耳闻，毕竟两者创作班底基本一致。

导演Edgar Wright和编剧Simon Pegg也正是依靠《屋事生非》的成功才得以进军大荧幕，拍出了轰动全球的《僵尸肖恩》，甚至还因此获得了在罗梅罗大师丧尸系列完结篇LAND OF THE DEAD中客串僵尸的荣幸。

看过《僵尸肖恩》再来看这部，多多少少会找到熟悉的感觉，如出一辙的视觉效果、搞笑手法和几乎相同的演员班底，前者简直就是后者的电影版。

故事开始于一家咖啡厅。

古怪失恋漫画家提姆小金毛和慵懒无业作家戴茜偶遇。

都在寻找合适房子的他们一拍即合，假冒成夫妻租到了一套非常划算的公寓。

这幢公寓从搬进来就充满着诡异气息。

比如橱柜中突然冒出的双胞胎姐妹；

楼上时而传出的激烈争吵声；

古怪又怀春的老房东；

奇葩的行为艺术画家……

再加上蒂姆与戴茜各自的好友，以及无时无刻不在为“作战准备”的军事狂等。

这样一帮人凑到提姆与戴茜身边自然闹出不少笑话。

例如从他们搬进屋子的第一天，老房东与画家便不请自来，一个抽烟叹气，絮叨自己女儿多叛逆，另一个畏畏缩缩四处偷瞄。

关键这俩人之间似乎还有情况，房东时不时地就会抛个媚眼……

蒂姆深感怀才不遇，便转头沉迷游戏。

生化危机玩上瘾了，看谁都像僵尸，一拳揍趴了嘲讽画家的男子。

画家一边感慨人生，为蒂姆的仗义感动，蒂姆一边晕晕乎乎拽着大家躲“僵尸”。

戴茜自诩是作家，却永远在打字机前坐不够两分钟，不承认自己逃避工作的她将原因归咎于环境的改变，所以决定办个派对，

结果唯一的好友小歪一来就安慰她：

“戴茜，不要觉得自己像个又胖又丑的废物！”

蒂姆与军事狂的友谊从少年时代就开始了，由于蒂姆的失误，不小心让军事狂摔伤了眼，导致没办法成为正规陆军，这件事一直是蒂姆心里一根刺。

于是乎，在两人相约打真人CS的时候，他们现场来了个真情告白……

军事狂替蒂姆挡“弹”，倒下的一瞬间，蒂姆跪地大哭，嘴里不住喊着“不要，不要！”

剧集中有很多梗，都超级好玩。

就像不少剧迷留言赞同的一样....

虽然剧中很多搞笑无厘头的事情，但也不乏温情。

戴茜遭遇面试屡屡被拒，还被真男友甩，伤心欲绝的她决定养一只小狗陪伴，

一向怕狗的蒂姆虽然嘴上说着讨厌狗，希望它消失，可在狗狗真的跑丢后也是第一个主动站出来焦急寻找的。

蒂姆无法走出失恋的影子，在前女友再度约他时，戴茜怕他受伤，哪怕被蒂姆冷言冷语对待也要劝阻他回头，

而蒂姆在见到女友的一瞬突然心中一片清明，明白究竟对他好的那一个是谁，果断选择放下前女友。

蒂姆会在朋友面前维护戴茜，戴茜也会暗搓搓吃蒂姆前女友的醋，两人在相处磨合中也渐渐产生了不一样的感情。

《屋事生非》每一集乍看上去都荒诞冷幽默，但实际上都在暗讽现实。

生活并没有那么多美好，快乐结局也都是神话，不过好在还有身边那一帮值得珍惜的人，在逆境中寻得一丝慰藉，找到一些快乐。

除此之外，这部剧最吸引人的地方还是它独特的视觉风格和对流行文化的频繁引用。

初看剧集时肯定会觉得相当新鲜，因为那些频繁快速的镜头剪切和不断加入的闪回、插叙在传统情景喜剧中都是极为罕见的。

剧中每一位都有鲜明的性格特点，这些异趣味十足的特色使得《屋事生非》本身也成了英国情景剧经典之作，感兴趣的朋友可以去看看。

点赞是个好习惯哦！

S1E7末尾，Tim和前女友Sarah约着见面，在Sarah来之前，Tim在座位上写诗：

I've held you in my arms a thousand times Closed my eyes and known we would always be together I smiled at you through all your many lies unknowing and unthinking that eternity would be never As distance dulls the memory and bitter history grows hazy I realize my one true love is in fact a girl called...

最后一个词还没写完就被Sarah的到来打断了。按照这里隔行押韵，应该是交叉韵abab：times/together/lies/never/hazy/…，所以末尾填上的词应该是Sarah；但是，也可以只看末尾两句的押韵，即应填上Daisy。

最终的答案是什么呢？Tim拒绝了Sarah复合的请求，在吧里和Daisy随着音乐起舞——As distance dulls the memory and bitter history grows hazy/I realize my one true love is in fact a girl called Daisy.