8 TV Remakes That Pissed Off The Original Creators

One of British TV's best sitcoms, Spaced is these days regarded as a cult classic and helped put the likes of Edgar Wright, Nick Frost and show creators and lead stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (later Hynes) on the map. Without Spaced, there would be no Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, and Simon Pegg may not have become the megastar he is today.

Airing for two short but sweet seasons between 1999 and 2001, the show was picked up by Fox to be remade for American audiences in 2007.

Edgar Wright was initially approached to helm a US remake back in '99, but turned it down due his firm belief that it wouldn't work, because the joy of Spaced is that it's "people in North London acting out stuff from American films."

Pegg and Stevenson, meanwhile, weren't even approached by Fox about the proposed remake, which they both labelled as a "disrespectful" move. Pegg released a long statement about the show in 2008, where he proclaimed his anger over the studios using their ideas without their permission and banking on the success of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.

Both Pegg and Wright were also outraged by the press' failure to talk about Hynes' involvement in the original show, accusing them of neglecting the show's female voice.

When the US version was released as TV movie, Pegg called watching it a "painful experience."