A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic .
28-545: According to different sources, the term slacker dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early to mid 20th century, when Sudanese labourers protested their relative powerlessness by working lethargically, a form of protest known as "slacking". In the United States during World War I , the word "slacker" was commonly used to describe someone who
56-847: A Before Sunset / Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? kind of way". However, in April 2007, Wright confirmed that the show no longer had any possibility of returning in any form, as the actors were all now "too old", and he and Pegg feared it would ruin a good thing. In August of that same year, Wright told Rotten Tomatoes that "there's not going to be a third season, it would be silly now" but that they could "do something that sort of like catches our heroes ten years later." During an interview with The Guardian in July 2013 promoting The World's End with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost, Pegg stated: "Whenever we get asked about... another series of Spaced ... one of
84-586: A cup of tea and decides to take the gang clubbing. Spaced was nominated in 2000 and 2002 for a British Academy Television Award for situation comedy. Jessica Stevenson won the British Comedy Award in 1999 and 2001 for best TV Comedy Actress. Simon Pegg was nominated in 1999 for the British Comedy Award for Best Male Comedy Newcomer, and the series was nominated that same year for the British Comedy Award for Best TV Sitcom. The show's second series
112-430: A group of teenage delinquents as "slackers". It gained subsequent exposure from the 1989 Superchunk single " Slack Motherfucker ", and the 1990 film Slacker . The television series Rox has been noted for its "depiction of the slacker lifestyle ... of the early '90s". Slacker became widely used in the 1990s to refer to a type of apathetic youth who were cynical and uninterested in political or social causes and as
140-505: A job interview at a classy women's magazine ("Flaps") and Brian has an invitation to a new art show by Vulva ( David Walliams ), his former partner. At the art show, Tim's hallucinations of zombies cause him to punch Vulva in the face before fleeing. The episode concludes with Daisy's idea for performance art, a parody of Bruce Nauman 's work "Clown Torture", which leads Tim to remark that it is obviously harder than it looks. Tim's bicycle courier friend Tyres ( Michael Smiley ) pops round for
168-443: A lodger after Marsha's daughter Amber Weary "flies the nest". The series largely concerns the surreal and awkward adventures of Tim and Daisy as they navigate through life, come to terms with affairs of the heart, and try to figure out new and largely unproductive ways of killing time. They repeatedly clarify that they are not a couple to everyone but Marsha, but despite this, romantic tension develops between them, particularly during
196-420: A number of occasions, one episode centring on its use. Tim and Mike take speed on one occasion, and it is implied that Tim, Mike, Daisy, Twist and Brian take ecstasy while clubbing. Individual tracks that were particularly featured in an episode included " Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby ?" by Louis Jordan, "Smash It" by Fuzz Townshend , and " The Staunton Lick " by Lemon Jelly . A Guy Pratt remix of
224-541: A stereotype for members of Generation X . Richard Linklater , director of the aforementioned 1990 film, commented on the term's meaning in a 1995 interview, stating that "I think the cheapest definition [of a slacker] would be someone who's just lazy, hangin' out, doing nothing. I'd like to change that to somebody who's not doing what's expected of them. Somebody who's trying to live an interesting life, doing what they want to do, and if that takes time to find, so be it." The term has connotations of "apathy and aimlessness". It
252-465: A young professional couple in order to meet the requisites of an advertisement for a relatively cheap flat in the distinctive building at 23 Meteor Street, Tufnell Park , owned by resident landlady Marsha Klein. Also in the building is Brian Topp, an eccentric conceptual artist who lives and works on his various pieces in the ground-floor flat. Frequent visitors are Daisy's best friend Twist Morgan and Tim's best friend Mike Watt. The latter ends up becoming
280-676: Is Doused in Barrel of Paint". The term was also used during the World War II period in the United States. In 1940, Time quoted the U.S. Army on managing the military draft efficiently: "War is not going to wait while every slacker resorts to endless appeals." The shift in the use of "slacker" from its draft-related meaning to a more general sense of the avoidance of work is unclear. In April 1948, The New Republic referred to "resentment against taxes levied to aid slackers". An article tracking
308-637: Is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson , and directed by Edgar Wright , about the comedic, and sometimes surreal and action-packed, misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley, two twenty-something Londoners who, despite only having just met, decide to move in together after she gives up on squatting and he is kicked out by his ex-girlfriend. Supporting roles include Nick Frost as Tim's best friend Mike, Katy Carmichael as Daisy's best friend Twist, Mark Heap as lodger Brian who lives downstairs and Julia Deakin as landlady Marsha. The first series of
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#1732868784913336-543: Is also used to refer to an educated person who avoids work, possibly as an anti- materialist stance, who may be viewed as an underachiever . "Slackers" have been the subject of many films and television shows, particularly comedies. Notable examples include the films Slacker , Slackers , Clerks , Hot Tub Time Machine , Bio-Dome , You, Me and Dupree , Bachelor Party , Stripes , Withnail and I , Old School , Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Trainspotting , Animal House , and Bill and Ted as well as
364-425: Is much more glamorous. It doesn't make any sense. I remember that the producer at the time said, 'Yeah, we'd have to change a few things. We'd have to take out the drugs and the swearing, and obviously, Mike can't have guns.'" Neither Wright, Pegg, nor Stevenson were at any point approached regarding the proposed American remake, which Wright had dubbed "McSpaced", due to the involvement of film director McG . Wright
392-602: The A-Team theme song, featured at the conclusion of " Epiphanies ", was a fan favourite , but was never made commercially available. In 2001, a soundtrack to the first series was released in tandem with the first series' release on DVD and videotape. A second soundtrack was not released, although the series' official fan website has an episode-by-episode list of music featured in the second series. After taking some speed , Tim has spent all night playing Resident Evil 2 and Mike has accidentally travelled to Sheffield . Daisy has
420-502: The "Definitive Collectors Edition" boxed set introduced a similar subtitle track for Series 1. 2000 AD artists Jim Murray and Jason Brashill provided the artwork for Tim's comic The Bear , as well as other incidental artwork for the show. Tim's boss Bilbo wears a 2000 AD comic T-shirt whilst lecturing Tim about Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace . The series is also noted for its regular recreational drug use references, from its title onwards. Tim and Daisy smoke cannabis on
448-602: The evolution of the meaning of the term "Slacker" in defamation lawsuits between World War I and 2010, entitled When Slacker Was a Dirty Word: Defamation and Draft Dodging During World War I, was written by Attorney David Kluft for the Trademark and Copyright Law Blog. The term achieved renewed popularity following its use in the 1985 film Back to the Future in which James Tolkan 's character Mr. Strickland chronically refers to Marty McFly , his father George McFly, Biff Tannen , and
476-468: The reasons we're not going to do it is because we couldn't possibly write it with any degree of truth now, because that's not where we are or who we are any more. I always find it's better to write from a perspective of truth." Fox announced on 29 October 2007 that it would commission a pilot for an American version of Spaced , a project they then scuttled in May 2008 following a generally negative reaction from
504-508: The release of Spaced in Region 1 (U.S. and Canada). Despite the raised profile resulting from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (film collaborations between Pegg and Wright that performed well in the Region 1 countries), no DVDs surfaced between 2004 and 2007. In an interview, it was suggested a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment failed to come to fruition over the music rights. Wright announced
532-596: The release of a Region 1 Spaced DVD release on 22 July 2008, which included an all-new commentary with Wright, Pegg, and Stevenson, as well as special guests Quentin Tarantino , Kevin Smith , Bill Hader , Diablo Cody , Matt Stone and Patton Oswalt . Supplemental features included the original commentaries, the Skip to the End documentary, outtakes, deleted scenes, and raw footage. Since
560-488: The second series. The show has a distinctive cinematic style set by Wright and is shot with a single camera . In addition to borrowing liberally from the visual language of film it has particular stylistic mannerisms, such as the recurring device of scene changes occurring in the middle of a pan. The series' atmosphere is also established by the use of a particular flavour of contemporary dance music on its soundtrack. Northern Exposure 's frequent use of fantasy sequences
588-449: The series' creators and fans of the original show. Wright was initially approached about an American version after the first series was broadcast in 1999, and felt an American remake was impossible due to the series' fundamental theme. "Same reason it couldn't be a film," Wright said. "Part of the charm of 'Spaced' is, it's people in north London acting out stuff from American films... you know, Hollywood in, kind of, suburbia... American TV
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#1732868784913616-411: The show's end, cast and crew associated with Spaced have been quoted with differing opinions as to whether a third series would be produced, with their most recent statements reflecting a consensus that the show has concluded and will not see a third series. Edgar Wright initially was "torn" about making more Spaced , saying "we have genuinely talked about it and have some neat ideas that could work in
644-586: The show, comprising seven episodes, premiered in the UK on Channel 4 on 24 September 1999, and the second and final series, also consisting of seven episodes, started on 23 February 2001 and concluded on 13 April. Both series were nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy . Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley are two London based twenty-somethings who meet by chance in a café while both are flat-hunting. Despite barely knowing each other, they conspire to pose as
672-445: The television shows Freaks and Geeks , Spaced , and The Royle Family . The Idler , a British magazine founded in 1993, represents an alternative to contemporary society's work ethic and aims "to return dignity to the art of loafing". UK">British The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Spaced Spaced
700-468: Was "one of the key influences" in the creation of the show, and Pegg and Stevenson pitched the show to LWT as "a cross between The Simpsons , The X-Files and Northern Exposure ." The series is dense with references to popular culture, including but not limited to science fiction and horror films, comic books, and video games. The Series 2 DVD release introduced the "Homage-o-meter", an alternative set of subtitles listing every reference and homage;
728-481: Was nominated for an International Emmy Award in 2001 for Popular Arts. Spaced Series 1 and 2 were both released on DVD in the United Kingdom. These were followed by a boxed set which collects the previously released single-series DVDs, adding a bonus disc with a feature-length documentary, Skip to the End , behind the scenes of the show, as well as a music video by Osymyso . Music rights issues long prevented
756-470: Was not participating in the war effort, specifically someone who avoided military service, equivalent to the later term draft dodger . Attempts to track down such evaders were called slacker raids . During World War I, U.S. Senator Miles Poindexter discussed whether inquiries "to separate the cowards and the slackers from those who had not violated the draft" had been managed properly. A San Francisco Chronicle headline on 7 September 1918, read, "Slacker
784-421: Was upset that "they would a) never bother to get in touch but still b) splash my and Simon's names all over the trade announcements and imply that we're involved in the same way Ricky [Gervais] and Steve [Merchant] were with The Office ". Pegg and Stevenson also complained of the "lack of respect" demonstrated by the creators of the proposed American series, who left them out of discussions as well. Wright
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