Favorite Characters: Mike Watt (Spaced)

 

I’ve already talked about Tim and Daisy relationship, and while both of them will most likely get their own post someday, today’s is about Tim’s best friend Mike.  He’s such a funny, outrageous character that it can be tempting to think of him as a mere cartoonish presence, but like everyone in Spaced, he mixes heart with the hilarity.

 

Mike seems to have two chief loves in his life:  Tim and the Territorial Army (the British army reserves.)  He eats, sleeps, and breathes soldierdom, always carrying at least one “security gun” with him and frequently dressing in combat gear.  When the gang plans an elaborate caper, Tim tells everyone the rendezvous time but needs to convert it to military time for Mike.  The only problem?  The Territorial Army will no longer have him.

 

Yep, the TAs ousted him after a slight incident involving a stolen tank.  Mike, then, is more than a soldier without a war; he’s one without an army.  While he makes do in his day-to-day civilian life – snapping off salutes, throwing himself ferociously into paintball, joining the Rough Ramblers (from what I can tell, a Cub Scout equivalent) – it’s clear that he’s desperate to get back in.

 

When he’s not treating London as his own personal foxhole, Mike is joined at the hip with Tim.  He enjoys many of the same geeky pursuits that Tim does, from Star Wars to Lara Croft, and is naturally at his happiest if he can incorporate tactical movements and violence.  His walkie talkies are ever at the ready for scheming purposes, and when he and Tim build a competitive battle robot, he treats it like a particularly lethal pet.

 

More than that, though, Mike is there for Tim in ways that his somewhat navel-gazing friend doesn’t always manage.  Whether he’s advising Tim to be cautious with his ex-girlfriend or helping him climb into an air duct, he always has Tim’s back (and that’s literal when they play paintball.)  His protectiveness toward and constant efforts to help Tim are as sweet as they are entertaining, and some of the show’s most surprisingly serious moments come when Mike takes Tim to task for not giving their friendship the proper attention.

 

I should mention there’s a distinct possibility that Mike is in love with Tim.  While there’s no woman he shows an especial interest in, he’s been known to appraisingly compliment Tim’s looks and has outright said, “I fancy you.”  I know that sitcoms are notorious for bromance jokes, but for whatever reason, the dynamic here feels a bit more earnest to me.  Maybe it’s Tim’s reaction to statements like this; he’s non-receptive but no more than mildly annoyed, and on the rare occasions when he’s the bromantic one (like saying, “Hey, babe,” when Daisy tells him his “boyfriend” is on the phone,) it feels overtly jokey in a way that it doesn’t when it’s Mike.

 

Overall, from a gender perspective, Mike is an interesting character.  He’s incredibly nerdy, uber-macho, and openly sensitive, which makes for a neat mix.  Any time his rough-and-tumble military exploits fall flat, it’s because he’s been ambitious and gung-ho beyond his ken, not because he’s generally incapable, and he slips as easily into geek references as Tim does.  All the while, he’s an emotional guy who doesn’t balk at talking about his feelings.  It’s not often that you come across a character like Mike on TV.

Relationship Spotlight: Daisy Steiner & Tim Bisley (Spaced)

 

Spaced has many assets, and one of its greatest is the friendship between Tim and Daisy.  The show’s kooky sense of humor and gift for homage make it stand out from a lot of sitcoms about 20-somethings, but these two are unique as well.  Few sitcoms hinge on a mostly-platonic relationship between a man and a woman, and I can’t think of any that are as delightful.

 

From the minute they meet, Daisy and Tim have an easy back-and-forth with one another, casually companionable.  It’s what allows them to become flatmates almost seen unseen, and it’s what helps them live together with relatively little drama.  They have, separately and together, relationship drama, career drama, and friendship drama, plus all manner of off-the-wall crises, but they don’t have many problems living together as near-strangers.  They’re pretty much instantly in sync, and their flat can be a reprieve from some of the other craziness in their lives.

 

This is no small feat, since their personalities are quite different.  At their core, both are equal parts dreamer and slacker, with personal issues that hold them back from achieving their goals.  This core, however, comes through to the surface in different ways.  Tim is fairly laidback; he likes to hang around the flat working on his comic book in-progress or playing videos, and his idea of fun is paintball and pubs.  That’s not to say he doesn’t care about anything – his ex is a hot-button topic, and people who praise The Phantom Menace in his presence do so at their peril.

 

On the other hand, Daisy is a would-be go-getter.  She’s always cooking up ideas and throwing herself into them before discarding them halfway through.  Whether it’s hosting a party, getting a pet, or planning a big night out, Daisy isn’t content to sit still for very long.  None of her plans fully hatch, however; due to disinterest or distraction, or because she realizes it’s not turning out the way she wants, they’re forever losing steam.  (Part of this tendency comes from her dread of working.  A lot of Daisy’s ideas come about in hail-Mary attempts to avoid her typewriter.  Interesting that, while Daisy appears to be the more industrious one, it’s Tim who we regularly see at work on his comic book.)

 

Despite these differences, they make a good pair.  Daisy can get Tim to try new things he wouldn’t ordinarily bother with, and he can get her to relax when she’s too worked up.  When they argue, it’s clear how well they understand each other – Tim recognizes that Daisy’s fear of failure is what keeps her from writing, and Daisy sees how Tim’s relationship with his ex-girlfriend causes him to sabotage new prospects.  They know these things about one another, and what’s more, they’re not afraid to get in each other’s faces in their respective efforts to look out for their friend.

 

That, and they’re just fun.  They have movie marathons and fake gun fights (epic ones, I might add,) and when it comes to concocting schemes, both are inventive and generally game.  I like that they’re protective and supportive of one another, and I love the way each sincerely tries to make the other happy.  The final scene of the series makes me “Aww” like a dork, and I’m not even ashamed of it; Tim and Daisy are that cool.

Spaced (1999, 2001)

 

This oddball Britcom reminds me a lot of Community.  For one, it’s about the close relationship of a disparate group of socially awkward weirdos.  Stylistically, it creates an ambitious surrealism that always zigs when you think it’s going to zag.  Also, it’s about as nerdy as you can get without actually being a sci-fi or fantasy show, and it’s chockfull of exuberant, loving homages.

 

The quirky show has a surprisingly sitcomish plot.  London 20-somethings Tim and Daisy meet shortly after twin breakups that result in the loss of their respective homes.  In desperation, they pose as lovers to secure a flat that’s only let to “professional couples.”  As such, there are some fake couple shenanigans, but really, it’s just a backdrop to facilitate something a lot more fun.

 

Both Tim and Daisy are charming messes.  Tim is an aspiring comic book artist badly dinged up by his ex-girlfriend, and Daisy is a would-be journalist who’s seemingly allergic to sitting down at her typewriter.  They make an immediately entertaining team, goofing around and getting into/out of outrageous situations.  Additionally, Tim’s best friend Mike, a gung-ho ex-Territorial Army member who once stole a tank and tried to invade Paris, is a loyal, lovable loon, and the ensemble is nicely rounded out by tortured artist Brian, boozy landlady Marsha, and haughty  fashionista Twist.

 

The show employs a heightened-reality style that includes fantasy sequences, amusing hard cuts, and savvy use of music.  In that sense, besides the aforementioned Community comparison, it’s also like a less polished version of early Scrubs.  Over the course of two short seasons (only 14 episodes – darned British), we see work woes, relationships, modern art, clubbing, and dognapping through the lens of its cracked sensibility.  And the geek references – goodness gracious, the geek references!  From the spot-on Star Wars send-ups to Tim’s abiding love for Buffy, this show is a nerd smorgasbord.  What’s more, all the references come from a clear place of love.  Even when fun is poked at Tim’s geekier tendencies, the jokes only land as well as they do because we’re in on them, because we identify with Tim.

 

Spaced, from what I can tell, was the first major collaboration between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, best known for their films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, and so on.  (Pegg, by the way, was in “The Long Game” in series 1 of Who and has more recently appeared as Scotty in the new Star Trek movies.)  As Tim and Mike, their hilarious best-friend repartee is evident from the start.  Also noteworthy is Jessica Stevenson (another Who alum: Nurse Redfern in the John Smith two-parter from series 3) in her endearingly goofy performance as Daisy.

 

Besides providing top-notch acting, every episode in the series is written by Pegg and Stevenson.  Frequent Pegg & Frost collaborator Edgar Wright directs, deftly mimicking action, horror, and sci-fi genre tropes as needed.  Fun characters, hysterical performances, amusing dialogue, smart style, and heartfelt nerd cred?  This is so my show.