The IT Crowd

For those who complain that "The Big Bang Theory" is too artificial and panders to mainstream audiences, there's a fantastic option for getting your geek/comedy fix in the U.K.'s "The IT Crowd". The sitcom, from writer/director Graham Linehan, is one of the funniest shows I've ever watched. In my opinion, sitcoms have always been a cheap form of laughs that cater to the lowest common denominator with themes reused over and over again for the same gags. But this one felt genuine and original with a fun twist on common life foibles as seen through the eyes of two antisocial computer techs toiling away in the basement of a major corporation. We introduced to their world in the beginning with the arrival of Jen Barber (Katherine Parkinson) when she's hired as the manager of Reynholm Industries' IT department. A computer- illiterate woman intent on faking her way to success, she meets Roy Trenneman (Chris O'Dowd) and Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade): the company's crack IT team. Over the course of four series (and a total of 25 episodes), the three of them will endure everything from cannibalism to viral menstruation as they attempt to break out of their sheltered world and, you know, do things grown adults are supposed to do. The show has a fun balance of humor that will appeal to the more geek-centric viewers while keeping most of it broad enough that anyone can find something hilarious. This show is everything I'm pretty sure "The Big Bang Theory" wanted to be.

What makes "The IT Crowd" so much fun? The characters. I freakin' love the characters in this show. All of them. The show manages to keep the roster down to a manageable four (five, when Richmond is around) to give each plenty of screen time for us to get to know them. Roy is the IT team's more… social…member, and that's not saying much. He has a general hatred for the common populace (which I can get behind) and finds most people to be blithering idiots, but he's also a lech who uses his position to try and troll the upper floors of the building for his next hot (unsuccessful) date. Chris O'Dowd (who I'd only previously seen in BRIDESMAIDS) injects the character with the perfect level of charm and exasperation. The fan favorite of the show is Moss and his endless list of eccentricities. He's a more prototypical nerd: hyper-intelligent, naïve, and utterly inept when thrust into social situations. He's the sort who'll faint at the thought of a woman opening discussing her unmentionables or find a website to aid in engaging in casual conversation with sport fans. Richard Ayoade is perfect in the role. Every time Moss is on screen, you can bet the best laughs will come from him. Fun fact: Ayoade was the only cast member to be ported over to the States to star in the American version and even he couldn't save the unused pilot from becoming an inferior copycat of the original that saw a fast, merciful death before reaching air. The final member of the IT crew is Jen. She's the "normal" one. She's got no computer experience (outside of checking her email) and she can actually engage in personal relationships. She's a manipulative go-getter who initially hopes her management role in the IT department could lead to bigger and better things. As Jen, Katherine Parkinson is the audience's vessel into this absurd show and the best moments are when it becomes apparent that she's become ingrained in the world of geek culture. The final character (or characters, I guess, since we went through two over the course of the show) is the big boss of Reynholm Industries. The first series featured Chris Morris as Deynholm Reynholm, a hyperactive man with a few screws missing and a passion for motivating his workforce. I honestly can't find the words to describe Morris's bizarre line deliveries and the quirks he brings to the character but they're awesome. Morris was with the show until the beginning of the second series when Matt Berry stepped in to run the company as Douglas Reynholm and we got a whole new level of insane. Rather than ape what made Morris's character of Reynholm so fun, Berry's Douglas is sexist (renowned for his collection of sexual harassment suits), melodramatic, and a total buffoon. While I can understand why people seem to love the character of Moss the most, I'm honestly torn between Moss and Douglas Reynholm as my favorite character in the series.

"The IT Crowd" is more than just it's fantastic characters. I was also impressed that its plot lines never seem to retread old sitcom ground. Each of the episodes felt more original than you're average TV comedy. Granted, most of the episodes are focused on the same thing: the IT crowd attempts to integrate/interact with normal people and it goes horribly wrong. The IT crew is invited to a dinner party at Jen's flat when her usual guests were unavailable. Roy establishes a bogus dating site profile to win a bet against Jen and prove that women only want bad boys. Moss and Roy become friends with a group of "real men" and bond over soccer, beer, and armed robbery. It's a common thread in the series, but it's not their only trick. Graham Linehan has got enough material that it kept the series fresh over the course of its four-series run. If I had to choose a personal favorite, I would agree with a good portion of it's fan- base and go with "The Speech", wherein Jen is award the title of Employee of the Month and must give a speech on technology to the company's shareholders. When Jen's ego inflates and the boys decide to have a little harmless fun with her acceptance speech, it's…well…it's just perfect. I can't recommend this show enough and only wish that it would've continued on longer than it did. Four series just wasn't enough.

The IT Crowd is an absurdist satire of office dramas, featuring those most indispensable of nerds, tech support geeks.

The first thing I noticed watching this series was director Ben Fuller's patience. He has a willingness to let a joke build that evades most television directors. Some jokes are set up in the opening scene and wait until the final segment for the payoff.

The show is further bolstered by great chemistry and timing between stars Richard Ayoade, Christopher Morris, Chris O'Dowd, and Katherine Parkinson. Each actor emits a brave willingness to take their characters to extremes for a laugh.

It's all helped a great deal, of course, if you have a vague notion computer technology and its various sub-cultures, but for the most part, the audience is along for clever dialogue-related humour, not in-jokes.

I think it has just the right amount of tech humor to stay true to its name, but anybody who's ever worked in an office of any kind should appreciate this show hugely. Big laughs for me every single episode... and I don't ususally laugh outloud. "Others" in the house made the comment of me really enjoying myself watching these crazy episodes. I've loved every episode through 5, though to be perfectly honest here and there I found myself wishing for more techie jokes, but i guess they can't chase away the non-techies just yet.

Personally, Moss is my fav. The voice, the look, his whole line of thinking. Way cool and ridiculous. Happily, all the other characters are top notch too. Very very refreshing and laugh outloud show. Don't miss it!

"The IT crowd" is an excellent comedy but requires the viewer to watch the second episode rather than base their judgement on the first episode then snub the entire series.

The first episode was a decent attempt to gain the viewers approval however, it was hyped far too much, which made the viewer think that "The IT Crowd" was the next best comedy. When the first episode ended, everyone was disappointed due to the lack of good jokes. There were moments in the first episode that somehow reminded me of the great mind of Graham Linehan who was the writer to "Father Ted" and "Black Books" due to random jokes such as the joke in the credits.

The second episode was almost redemption to the first as the cast and Graham Linehan ultimately revealed their true performance. It was almost surreal and had it's connections to "Father Ted" equally weirdness. There was uncontrollable laughter in a lot of areas of the second episode such as the stress class which delivered powerful comedy that would even make "Father Ted" mediocre.

I give this comedy a round of applause and wish for an encore.

I never meant to watch The IT Crowd, I stumbled upon it by accident when I was at a friends house and I decided to watch it as there was nothing else on and boy was I glad to have watched it! It was so funny, you must admire the emergency services scene! it was a total shame to have only 6 episodes in the 1 series! I hope series 2 comes out soon because this is by far the best series i have ever watched and will be my all-time favourite TV show ever! Moss is a great character and definitely suits the program well as his witty funny lines fits everywhere they are mentioned! "If there were such a thing as a drudgeon, that is what we'd be to them." Class ;) The IT Crowd is A perfect 10/10 a must see.