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IT Crowd

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41 pointsgmosx57 comments

This is a very funny series. I've watched many episodes on 4oD (Channel 4's on demand service). One thing that's really worth observing is the collection of objects on the shelves of the IT department. There are many in jokes and great bits of hardware there.

Also, the actress who plays Jen is absolutely priceless in her delivery of many of the ridiculous things she has to say. Highly recommended.

Many of the items are lent by fans on the show and followers of @Glinner (the writer) on Twitter.

@Glinner wrote Father Ted and Black Books as well.

Father Ted = 5 x Black Books = 1000000 x IT Crowd

Father Ted is one of the greatest comedies ever made.

I was looking at Father Ted for the first time some months back on More4, and it seems very dated. I like Black Books a lot because of the wry humour. IT Crowd episodes are pretty random (especially series 4), but when they get an episode right, it's stunning.

There are some good, annotated photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoz/sets/72057594073886267/.

and the t-shirts :)

does anyone else not find the it crowd funny at all?

i have had it recommended to me over and over, but i simply do not find it funny at all. yes, it has geeky jokes, but as a comedy and an overall tv show is utterly appalling imo.

compared to something like black books, which is just brilliant

I find it fairly funny. But I watched some of 'black books' and just didn't get that at all.

Different strokes for different folks...

<insert non-IT person> doesnt know <insert IT thing>, lololol

it seems to be this joke over and over and over, i just dont understand ;[

The first series especially was more to do with office politics/stupid boss/etc. Moss is a fantastic character, Denholm as well. It's fairly tame and mainstream though so if you like darker/more cutting humour it's probably not for you.

Me. I saw the first episode and found it utterly unfunny.

I would rather prefer The Big Bang Theory.

http://www.pajiba.com/tv_reviews/the-big-bang-theory-review....

I think it is fair to compare both these shows, but we have to remember that they are funny on different levels.

I love both The IT Crowd and The Big Bang Theory, but their appeal, while somewhat similar, is inherently different.

I felt the same, basically. There were a few very funny episodes, but on the whole it was pretty much "meh". I think that it mostly pokes fun at the it people, so it's not laugh "with" it's laugh "at".

Yeah I'm suprised by the popularity too. The jokes are way too obvious, even for non-techies, and the characters are overdrawn caricatures.

You can't top the episode where Jen borrows the Internet for a presentation. Fantastic series.

Maybe you can't. But the first season was hilarious. All of it. This season is fine too. Mostly with the 'RAM Emergency' a couple of episodes ago.

— I'm sorry. There was a RAM Emergency. There was too much RAM.

And don't forget about crippling the internet by googling Google ;-)

This Jen (points to box), is THE INTERNET!

If you have access via an UK IP you can watch the series online: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-it-crowd/4od

It is also available for instant streaming on Netflix

For those of you who can't get 4od to work (i.e. me) or who're outside the UK, it's also available via BitTorrent and The Pirate Bay.

I don't understand why this is downvoted into almost oblivion - I'm in India, and the only reason I've watched the show and can appreciate the post and this discussion is because of the resources mentioned in parent.

I usually don't like british comedy series, that kind of humor rarely work with me. But this one, hilarious. The internet episode was great, i've also enjoyed the ones with the smokers, the electric pants, the "i'm disabled" one and one of the latest with those finance guys playing rpgs. Definitely thumbs up.

uncontested "trust me, if you type google into google you will break the internet"

Well, I'm not necessarily saying it's bad, but this kind of show isn't really my cup of tea. If anything, it seems to be perpetuating a crude stereotype of technologists, which doesn't really relate to my own experience.

this anti piracy spoof on it crowd is one of my favourite things ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALZZx1xmAzg

The first series was fantastic. Shame Chris Morris left :( 2nd and 3rd series are still good fun though. It's not got the bite it had though IMHO.

(Chris Morris on IT Crowd) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-QjskHTSf4

Yes. That made me cry with laughter. I worked at Interwoven where the CEO, Martin Brauns, was a big biker (and Iron Man participant). We sponsored Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France.

I was stumped for a second, then remembered. Brass Eye, brilliant!

Did you see that ludicrous display last night? What was Wenger thinking sending Walcott on so early?

-- best line ever

You know Arsenal, they always try to walk it in

And maybe the funniest episode: Season 2, Episode 1.

Part 1: http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/the-it-crowd-the-work-outi...

Part 2:http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/the-it-crowd-the-work-outi...

Fire, exclamation mark. Fire, exclamation mark... looking forward to hearing from you, best regards, morris mos. ... Wait, no, too formal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqQ6Z-HmAqY

From most of the comments, what I get is that people don't like British humor, because they are pros at making fun of everyone and everything.

If you don't believe me, go find a relatively comprehensive rhyming slang dictionary.

How to break the internet (from the head of IT):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQUWUfmR_I

ps. I bet this must be a highly downloaded show ;-)

I think geeks would also like the BBC series Saxondale or the Mighty Boosh. I have been an anglophile for many years now and the creative ideas that come from the BBC are very impressive.

I second the "Mighty Boosh". Cartoon Network's Adult Swim had edited versions, but you must watch the originals to experience the Boosh.

Also, Maurice from 'IT Crowd' is a reoccurring character on the Boosh. He is one of the shaman, Saboo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recurring_characters_fr...

"Oh, a little day trip around The Crunch. We can all go as tourists."

so all geeks look for in tv shows is vaguely IT related jokes?

No.

There's lots of detail in this show. Firstly there are three characters: the incompetent head of IT, Moss who is very, very nerdy and Roy who seems like a classic IT person. You have three very distinct characters to start with that are easy to identify with.

Jen is attractive in a way that is likely to appeal to IT folk. She's slightly clumsy and inept, and not too pretty, so that makes her desirable. She's geeky without realizing it. I realize that may be horribly judgmental to say 'not too pretty' and I'm sure that actress would not want to hear that, but I'm sure part of her appeal is that she's not some plastic model type, but a real woman.

Then there are stories which revolve around life within a large office without the heavy, ponderous 'humour' of The Office. The show is lighthearted and the situations slightly ridiculous.

Finally, there's the IT aspects where the most outrageous things happen. People here have cited Jen 'breaking' the Internet by Googling Google. But there are many others and they lampoon both people's perception of how IT folk behave, and the same people's lack of IT knowledge.

So stereotypical characters, clichéd dialogue, and plot lines on an intellectual level with soap operas?

You may not agree, but I, for one, find it to be unoriginal drivel that swindles a profit from internet subculture.

It's TV. I have low expectations.

there is brilliant TV: Mad Men, The Wire, Band of Brothers, Deadwood...

those are all dramas, big budget dramas too. I have yet to encounter a 30 minute comedy I would consider brilliant. But this show gets chuckles and the jokes are easy enough for most people to understand, even my non-IT wife understood the Googling Google joke.

No, Arrested development is not brilliant in the same way as The Wire. In fact, nothing is as brilliant as the wire; TV for me was ruined after the wire concluded.

IMHO Brilliant Comedies: 30 Rock, The Office, How I Met Your Mother & It's Always Sunny in Philly

Community is awesome but very early, too.

I am picturing po-faced cowboys of the period watching Deadwood and then whingeing that the dialog isn't realistic.

I agree. It's easy humor. I've worked with a guy that lived in Antarctica for years, a mad dandy, a chef and wine specialist, and a bunch of people who've built interesting and cool things people use every day.

The IT Crowd seems to think that computers don't contribute anything to the world (meanwhile most of the audience is spending their time on a PHP based graphing app) and that 'IT wonks' don't do anything cool.

This is wrong. Half the stuff that most people say changed the world in the last 10 years was made by computer geeks.

The show is a (British) sit-com, so the stereotypical characters and cliched dialogue are part of the sit-com package.

FWIW I find IT Crowd funny, but it's not on my 'must have' list. - Office, Green wing, Alan Partridge, blackadder, brasseye, day today, extras, league of gentlemen, psychoville, police squad, 30 rock, etc would all be above it.

IT Crowd is great, but I wish it was a bit more cutting/daring rather than settling into a formulaic sitcom.

yes, totally. it's no spaced.

Yeah I forgot about things like spaced. I just like my comedy a bit more cutting witty obscene bizarre etc rather than "This is a funny situation isn't it". The IT crowd has been a mixed bag for me, moments of genius mixed with whole episodes of 'this is a sitcom for really old/slow people who need their jokes explained over an entire episode'.

spaced is in a different league. As is Father Ted. etc.

No, the jokes are a lot deeper than that.

More to the point the actors are excellent comedy actors - their comic timing is very good.

So; vaguely IT related jokes done very well :)

I find IT Crowd to have good actors but an unremarkable script. I think that technology jokes are easy pickings - they're so rare that geeks wet themselves if someone drops the word firewall in a sentence....

Yes... partially agreed. I think the acting makes it extremely watch-able. And there are some excellent episodes (for example; "The Internet" is a nice little circular jab at non-geeks & geeks alike or in the latest season I was quite tickled by the Countdown episode)

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