SuhailiThe I.T. Crowd
March 1st 2008 06:55
Created and directed by Graham Linehan (co-writer of Black Books and Father Ted), The I.T. Crowd centres on Roy (Chris O'Dowd), Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade) and Jen (Katherine Parkinson), the three of whom make up Reynholm Industries' entire Information Technology department.
Jen is an upwardly mobile, career-minded girl who has an astonishing propensity for lying if necessary to achieve her goals. She is also absolutely smitten with the Ally McBeal-style unisex bathrooms that Reynholm Industries displays.
Roy is almost the complete opposite of Jen - a slobby nerd who remains uncaring in his job as an I.T. Technician as well as most other areas of his life. However, he does show true competency when and where he needs to.
If Roy is a nerd, then Moss is a geek. Brilliant with all things technical and utterly inept in any social situation, he even wears the stereotypical bow tie-and-short-sleeved-shirt combination and still lives with his mother.
The series opens with Jen bluffing her way through a job interview with Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris), a director of the company. Despite the fact that she knows absolutely nothing about computers, Denholm assigns her to manage the I.T. department, seemingly at random. This decision is made much the dismay of the resident technicians, Roy and Moss.
Initially, Roy and Moss take an exception to Jen because of her technical illiteracy but, like all nerds, they are prepared to turn a blind eye to most of it because she is "of the female genre". A tentative truce is called when Jen saves Roy from being beaten to death by an irate client armed with one of their own shoes and, as dysfunctional as they are; they begin to learn how to co-exist in not-quite-harmony.
The I.T. Crowd is hilarious and anyone who knows someone in Information Technology or who is passionate about all things computer-y will see just how accurate Linehan has been in reproducing this subculture.
Having said that, the show does have lulls in among the laughs - moments where the viewer is acutely aware that, although a funny has been made it's not the one that will have you in fits of laughter. Watching the show from the first episode on, it's apparent that the writer wasn't entirely clear on the characters before the cameras were rolling and because of this, the show really only hits its stride in the second episode.
For all that there are times when a joke falls a little short of the belly-laugh-target, The I.T. Crowd is certainly worth checking out as it is one of the best T.V. comedies to come over from Britain in recent years. It showcases a humour reminiscent of Black Adder and combines it with a slick writing style that many will recognise from Black Books.
The DVD (subtitled Version 1.0) manages to make up for some of the show's problems with rather amusing commentaries and subtitles in normal English as well as a '1337' option which is full of little jokes for the nerd-ier members of the audience. All-in-all, I would say it's well worth having a look for and comes very highly recommended with a rating of four and a half thumbs up.
Jen is an upwardly mobile, career-minded girl who has an astonishing propensity for lying if necessary to achieve her goals. She is also absolutely smitten with the Ally McBeal-style unisex bathrooms that Reynholm Industries displays.
Roy is almost the complete opposite of Jen - a slobby nerd who remains uncaring in his job as an I.T. Technician as well as most other areas of his life. However, he does show true competency when and where he needs to.
The series opens with Jen bluffing her way through a job interview with Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris), a director of the company. Despite the fact that she knows absolutely nothing about computers, Denholm assigns her to manage the I.T. department, seemingly at random. This decision is made much the dismay of the resident technicians, Roy and Moss.
Initially, Roy and Moss take an exception to Jen because of her technical illiteracy but, like all nerds, they are prepared to turn a blind eye to most of it because she is "of the female genre". A tentative truce is called when Jen saves Roy from being beaten to death by an irate client armed with one of their own shoes and, as dysfunctional as they are; they begin to learn how to co-exist in not-quite-harmony.
The I.T. Crowd is hilarious and anyone who knows someone in Information Technology or who is passionate about all things computer-y will see just how accurate Linehan has been in reproducing this subculture.
For all that there are times when a joke falls a little short of the belly-laugh-target, The I.T. Crowd is certainly worth checking out as it is one of the best T.V. comedies to come over from Britain in recent years. It showcases a humour reminiscent of Black Adder and combines it with a slick writing style that many will recognise from Black Books.
The DVD (subtitled Version 1.0) manages to make up for some of the show's problems with rather amusing commentaries and subtitles in normal English as well as a '1337' option which is full of little jokes for the nerd-ier members of the audience. All-in-all, I would say it's well worth having a look for and comes very highly recommended with a rating of four and a half thumbs up.
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Comment by Jarrah
Back to the Eighties
But, we waited so song for series 2, and they only made a couple of episodes!
Love the new boss though. Classic.
- Jarrah
Back to the Eighties
www.backtotheeighties.net
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