A
British Channel 4 sitcom. It has two
seasons of six
episodes each under its belt, and a third season is
currently in production.
The IT Crowd's tongue is consistently nestled in its cheek. It follows the misadventures of Reynholm Industries' tech team.
That's the sort of place this is, Jen. A lot of sexy people, not doing much work... and having affairs.
-- Denholm Reynholm, CEO
The series begins with hapless
bumbler Jen bluffing her way into a position as the Head of the IT Department, much to the chagrin of perennially under-appreciated nerds
Maurice Moss and Roy.
Hilarity most assuredly ensues as the team endures everything from
sympathetic PMS to the untimely
suicide of their larger-than-life boss.
The IT Crowd's attitude colors everything else that transpires during the show. It is sarcastic, flippant, often self-effacing and liberally laden with tech paraphernalia, from Creative Commons posters to pictures of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The actual jokes and dialogue are universally accessible; this show is not just for nerds.
Much tomfoolery comes from Roy's initial horror at having a non-technical boss.
Roy: We were just wondering now that you're 'the boss', would you like us to access the data supplier and connect you up to The Matrix?
Jen: You just made all that up.
Roy: You don't know anything about computers! ADMIT IT!
Jen: Will you stop trying to undermine me?! Now get in there and do some work to do with computers!
As the series progresses, tensions between the team decrease (nominally), and most of the humor is driven by Roy and Moss's social ineptitude and suffocating geekiness.
Moss: I can't go to prison, Roy! They'll rape the FLIP out of me.
Roy: We don't need no education...
Moss: Yes you do. You've just used a double negative.
The IT team is supported by a diverse cast of characters, both recurring and one-off. The CEO, Denholm's, successor Douglas is somehow even more
over-the-top than his
father, injecting every scene he's in with such extravagant melodrama that you can't help but laugh (or perhaps just sob uncontrollably). The show plays heavily on stereotypes: Moss is the
introverted nerd; Roy is the
surly, condescending support technician; Jen is the
clueless middle-manager; Denholm, the
vapid embezzler; Richmond, the
misunderstood goth. As mentioned before, the show really shines in its acting, execution and dialogue, which is always witty and unconventional.
Distribution
Each episode was initially distributed online to UK customers only, in DRM'd Windows Media format. Naturally, a show called "The IT Crowd" attracted attention from code monkeys everywhere, and the DRM was cracked to make the show available via BitTorrent in about five minutes. The DVDs are available on Amazon.com, and the torrents are probably still up today. It is unquestionably worth a watch.