The IT Crowd

[Bobby Bear]

Initially, I hated what I saw of Season 1. It seemed broad, clumsy, and little else, really. No Father Ted, that's for sure. Season 2's premiere episode, though, "The Work Outing" (in which Roy has a toilet mishap at Gay! A Gay Musical) won me over. I've since caught up and become a fully-fledged fan.

Graham Linehan's brand of just slightly left of centre surrealism freshens up a tone that often leads to very forgettable, unfunny results. He also has a great knack for getting better results than he has any right to with modest budgets (Jen's mangled prosthetic feet after wearing those way too small shoes, for example.)

Season 4 started on Channel 4, last Friday. I recorded the episode, but haven't watched it yet. Is anyone else excited at the show's return and the prospect of more Matt Berry-based hilarity?

[Ed Hocken]

I look forward to watching another season on instant view. Loved the "Gay: A Gay Musical" episode.

"I'm disabled"

The American pilot has never seen the light of day.

[Bobby Bear]

Glad you dig it, Ed. I felt a little bad for foreign cats in that very episode when the joke was made about Heat magazine. It's such a funny, observant moment. Although it's explained enough in the writing (only a "gay" man would read such a trashy tabloid magazine) I don't know how much bits like that might not translate.

[Ed Hocken]

Yeah, the HEAT magazine went over my head. Unless that's some kind of teen magazine like Teenbeat over here.

I did enjoy the bit involving UK-made fire extinguishers.

[Captain Russ]

I just...I expected better from veterans of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.

(Good lord that sounds awful, but the comedy is a bit too broad for a hipster doucher McAnglophile like myself.)*


*Nothing to see here. Moving along to positive things. Like sunshine or reruns of Dragnet.

[Abraham Smashington]

TOO BROAD.

[Abraham Smashington]

And I fucking loved the first episode of season 1. Then the rest kept re-hashing the same boring jokes with a shitty laugh track. I AM A SAD.

[Ed Hocken]

Jesus man, a silly sitcom makes you sad?

[Abraham Smashington]

It does when it could be so much more.

[Ed Hocken]

It's a silly britcom. *shrug*

Hell, it's the only three camera sitcom I can say I've actually enjoyed in well over fifteen years.

[Abraham Smashington]

How I met Your Mother wants to talk to you and then wants to smack you in the face.

[Ed Hocken]

I would think a sitcom would have better things to do that resort to violence.

[Captain Russ]

Not if it involved the entire cast of Two and Half Men.

[Ed Hocken]

Well, anyone who that supports that show deserves a beating.

[Bobby Bear]

Yeah, the HEAT magazine went over my head. Unless that's some kind of teen magazine like Teenbeat over here.

I did enjoy the bit involving UK-made fire extinguishers.

Heat's, essentially, your bog standard "girly" tabloid rag. Filled with vapid pop stars who aren't even anything special and whoever the flavour of the month reality TV stars are. Having Roy become suspicious that Jen's date is gay (or just a little odd) because he reads it sounds like exactly the kind of broad joke that turned Rob and Russ off about the show, but it fits the tone of the show nicely. It's also very perceptive, because I'd immediately start questioning any man who reads it... for it is utter rubbish.

The "Made In Britain" stickers were, indeed, brilliant. That episode's filled with great little moments, but I always loved the bit where Chris Morris quips "nice screen-saver!" proving beyond all doubt Denholm is completely out of it.

Then the rest kept re-hashing the same boring jokes....

Before I became a fan of the show, I used to feel the same way. One of the most pleasantly surprising things I found during my retrospective was the moderation of jokes, though. Yes, a lot of humour revolves around famous character traits (Moss getting teased by the bullies in the park, Jen being treated like a lower class of woman) but the writing's strong enough to keep them fresh and it's careful to never over-use the exact same joke. The best example of which has to be the "have you tried turning it off and on again?" catchphrase. I (mis)remembered this being used ad nauseum, but it was actually used very sparingly, even becoming a clever little meta pun in later episodes.