Before they brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright developed a short-lived TV series that would become one of the best sitcoms at the time. Spaced, as the project came to be known, is a genuinely creative, screamingly funny and easily quotable half-hour of television that deserves to be seen — and loved — by far more people.

The series focuses on Tim (Pegg) and Daisy (Jessica Hynes), two strangers who pose as a “professional couple” in order to rent a flat. Living in a world that isn’t quite normal, Tim and Daisy, along with their friends and neighbors Mike, Twist, Marsha and Brian endure a series of misadventures and absurdities ripped straight from the annals of pop culture.

Heralded as comic genius by none other than Kevin Smith, Judd Apatow, and even Quentin Tarantino, Spaced is a fast-paced and heavily allusive sitcom for the inner nerd in all of us, playing fast and loose with film, video game and comic lore. Although the focus is mostly on the science fiction and horror genres, anything and everything is fair game in the Spaced universe, from Star Wars and Jurassic Park to Pulp Fiction, Woody Allen films, and even trends in pop culture and modern art.

The humor of the show is unique in that it isn’t so much a parody of beloved films like the early work of Mel Brooks, but is instead a sort of retooling of situations, so that each excursion comes off more as homage rather than as satire. What makes Spaced so brilliant, however, isn’t in its surplus of allusions and in-jokes, but in its execution of them. Lesser projects would present only a string of gags and simply ask the audience to name the reference; not so with Spaced, which, through an adroit mixture of clever plotting and skilled direction, manages to neatly weave each allusion into the general and specific arcs of the episodes and even the series as a whole.

Like Arrested Development, another under-watched sitcom in its day, Spaced benefits greatly from sequential and repeated viewings. This is not to say that a single episode can’t stand alone, because each one easily could; however, running jokes and subtle callbacks present in each episode that would otherwise go unnoticed shine very well if the episodes are viewed in order a second or third time.

A criticism some may have of the show is its rapid pacing and barrage of references, particularly in the first season.

Viewers who can’t keep up with the episode, or are unacquainted with the countless filmic allusions, may find themselves missing punchlines or puzzled at what could seem to be random tangential vignettes. This could initially make Spaced seem to be a niche favorite, appealing only to fanboys, fangirls and lovers of British humor, but few others.

However, anyone looking for something different and vastly superior to the American comedies of the same era will find plenty to enjoy in Spaced. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a Trekkie or just a lover of oddball humor. Don’t be surprised when you find yourself reciting one of the show’s many quotable lines.

Spaced can be checked out from Odegaard Library under the call number DVD WHV 001.

Reach reporter Robert Frankel at weekender@dailyuw.com.