Spaced... any hope of an R1? (1 Viewer)

[AlexF]

We've managed to get Red Dwarf, the Dr Who stuff, the Office, Vicar of Dibley, Blackadder, and other such wonderful British series over here on DVD... what about Spaced?

It was a fantastic series (I've only seen the first 4 episodes or so) and featured the guys from Shaun of the Dead. Also, R2 got a _fantastic_ special edition recently. What I'd like to know is...

What are the chances of us getting that special edition over here in North America?

 

[TedT]

Don't know, but region-free players are super cheap these days!

 

[Rick P]

and they just made a 'definative' three disc set over there.. with many outtakes and such... take the plunge!

 

[JohnAP]

I've heard good things about this series. Perhaps with the critical success of Shaun of the Dead, someone will think about it, A&E perhaps?

 

[Christopher Jay]

I'll bet you cash on the barrelhead that music clearances will keep this series from ever having an intact R1 release. So many of the episodes integrate different songs into the stories - from Fatboy Slim to Mercury Rev to Belle & Sebastian (even a few cues from one of the SCHULMADCHEN REPORT films!)- that a release with the music replaced or cut out would be a major compromise. As it is there's one song that was in the broadcast that didn't make it to the R2 DVD. (I'm blanking on which song it is, but Edgar Wright mentions it in the commentary.) I think it's too iffy to wait for another release; the 3-disc R2 edition is really as good as it gets for TV box sets.

 

[Kenny Neal]

Christopher is right-- the music clearances will keep Spaced from region 1, unfortunately (All Seeing I's version of The Beat Goes On was the one track that didn't make it on to region 2 release).

Spaced was what finally made me go region-free. There were always plenty of other-region releases I wanted, but Spaced tipped the scales. I recommend to anyone that they bite the bullet and do it as well-- I was able to get a region-less player and the the Spaced three-disc set for about $100 shipped.

 

[AlexF]

Thanks for all of the comments. I may have to move to a region one player. next -- to find out what is decent.

Kenny Neal: $100 for both of 'em combined? that's a great price.

Time to begin the hunt methinks.

 

[Christopher Jay]

A cheap region-free player that does PAL to NTSC conversion well (like the Malata DVP-393A) can regularly be found on eBay for a BIN price of

 

[Rick P]

wander down to your nearby Walmart/Target and snag up a Philips 642, does lovely PAL>NTSC for ~$60...

and... it's a LOCAL store

(only region-free britcom people will get that one )

 

[Kenny Neal]

Yup, the 642 is a great way to go. I've seen them at Target as well.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Another thing that will probably keep "Spaced" from getting a US DVD release: it's not a big "powerhouse" Britcom in PBS syndication (is it even OFFERED to the PBS stations by BBC Worldwide? I've yet to hear of a US station carrying it).

It seems that the American wing of the BBC are only committed to releasing Britcoms that have had some kind of PBS syndication history (though there are exceptions like the B/W Benny Hill, but Benny Hill was famous enough to justify the release, probably).

I agree with the others: don't wait around. If you want it, go region-free and buy it now.

They mention the Philips 642. Basically, any currently-available Philips machine will do the job. They are easily hacked with a simple remote control sequence (that only has to be keyed in ONCE) and the decks are cheap enough. I bought my Philips 726 two or three years ago for $70. It was a LOT cheaper than my Sampo and at least it does the widescreen conversion correctly!

 

[Kenny Neal]

The Trio channel ran it once or twice, but yeah, that's hardly high-exposure.

 

[Adam_A]

I imported Spaced from R2 a while back and it was well worth it. I don't think Spaced is going to see an R1 release any time in the near future as evidenced by the way BBC Video treated The League of Gentlemen here. (BBC Video also releases Channel 4 shows in the US e.g. Father Ted.) I also think that there are many other shows that would sell well in R1 like One Foot In the Grave and Jonathan Creek that BBC is more likely to release first, and since those haven't happened yet, Spaced is probably even further away.

 

[Tim-H.]

I caught a bunch of episodes on Trio, and I think I'll have to go for the R2 set.
Just ordered the Malata DVD-806RF from HKFlix.com and this might have to be top of the list. Thanks for the XploitedCinema.com info. (And the Philips 642 info-too late for me but I'll pass on to some friends!)

 

[Bob clamer]

I too would love to get this set in Region 1. Maybe after Hot Fuzz comes out and is as successful as Shaun was maybe something will happen.

Does Sony make a region-free player? All my HT components are Sony.

 

[Kenny Neal]

Few players are region-free out of the box (or advertized as such), but many have "hacks" which are basically button sequences entered via the remote that render the player region-free. Google around a bit to find lists of players and if they can be altered (not all can).

 

[Bob clamer]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out.