Pegg and Stevenson pitched the show to LWT as 'a cross between The Simpsons, The X-Files and Northern Exposure', with Northern Exposure's frequent fantasy sequences being one of the key influences on the show's creation.

Edgar Wright cited The Simpsons, The Young Ones, and the whimsical dream sequences of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin as stylistic influences on the series.

The series is dense with pop culture references to science fiction and horror films, comic books, and video games; the Series 2 DVD introduced an alternative subtitle track called the 'Homage-o-meter' listing every reference, later added for Series 1 as well.

2000 AD artists Jim Murray and Jason Brashill created the artwork for Tim's comic 'The Bear' and other incidental artwork seen in the show, and Tim's boss Bilbo wears a 2000 AD T-shirt while lecturing him about Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

A Guy Pratt remix of the A-Team theme song, played at the end of the episode 'Epiphanies', became a fan favourite but was never officially released commercially.

Music rights issues long delayed the show's DVD release in Region 1 (US/Canada); a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment reportedly fell through over music rights, despite the raised profile from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

The Region 1 DVD released in 2008 featured an all-new commentary track with Wright, Pegg, and Stevenson joined by special guests Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Diablo Cody, Matt Stone, and Patton Oswalt.

Fox announced in October 2007 that it would produce an American remake pilot of Spaced, nicknamed 'McSpaced' by Wright due to director McG's involvement, but the project was scrapped in May 2008 after negative reaction from the original creators and fans; none of Wright, Pegg, or Stevenson were ever consulted about it.

Edgar Wright argued an American remake made no sense thematically, since part of Spaced's charm was Londoners acting out scenarios from American films, and noted that US producers said they would need to remove the drugs, swearing, and have Mike's character lose his guns.