TV Series Review: “The IT Crowd”

The IT Crowd is a comedy series about the IT department of a business empire in the United Kingdom.

Set in the basement of the corporate offices of Reynholm Industries, The IT Crowd is a comedy series about a group of co-workers who get into many hilarious situations both in and out of the working environment. The IT, or Information Technology, department deals with the technological aspects of a company, such as computers and telephone services.

Although the series only last four seasons, each consisting of six episodes, it had a large following. After being nominated for seventeen awards, The IT Crowd won six, including a BAFTA award and an International Emmy Award. Before delving into the show, I was very skeptical to watch it. Every day, I would pass it on my Netflix account and say to myself, “Maybe next time Nicholas, I bet it’s not even good.” Well, the show itself proved to me that I was wrong.

As the show starts out, Jen Barber (Katherine Parkinson) is being interviewed by Denholm Reynholm (Christopher Morris) for a job as manager of the IT department. Up to this point, only Roy Trenneman (Chris O’Dowd) and Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade) have been the IT Crew over the past few years. Complications occur when Moss and Roy discover that Jen knows nothing of the computer world. One of the best lines in the entire series that Roy says, which also leads to a bet of 100 quid between Jen and Roy. The line being;

Roy: “Hello IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

In the fourth episode of the first season named, ‘The Red Door’ we were presented with The IT Crowd‘s resident ‘goth’ Richmond (Noel Fielding). Richmond was the only character to receive some form of development. The title is ‘The Red Door’ because of the finding of Richmond was Jen’s curiosity getting the better of her, leading to an analogy stating that opening the red door would be like killing the rain forest. Richmond was put in the room after finding the music stylings of the band, Cradle of Filth. Once a Reynholm Industries Executive, he was demoted to the cooling room to do a job that he doesn’t even know about. One of his trademark actions is when he has a flashback; he turns to the camera, puts his hands up, and stares into space, and tells a story. I found this hilarious and constantly do the same thing whenever I need to tell a story.

At the beginning of the second season, after a couple of police officers come to ask about an “irregularity in the pension fund” Denholm jumps out a window, which leads to a funeral. The acting boss wants to fire the entire IT department, but when Reynholm’s long-lost son, Douglas Reynholm (Matt Berry) comes back to take over as Reynholm Industries president and CEO. At the funeral  Jen takes up smoking once again in her life, leading to a Soviet Russia inspired skit in a later episode entitled, ‘Moss and the German’ where Moss meets a German cannibal who wants to eat him.

This show was outstanding with the large amount of jokes going around. One I liked the best was the sing-song version of the newest emergency telephone number, instead of dialing 999 in Britain (which is the equivalent to 911 in America) the new number is 0118- 999- 881- 999- 119- 725- 3. The show also presents many tee-shirts, worn by Roy, that I personally want in my closet.

The actors, Chris O’Dowd,  Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry are all just wonderful at their jobs. Before watching The IT Crowd, I first saw O’Dowd in the movie Bridesmaids. An amazing Irish actor, he is mainly a comedic influence of the British television circuit. In 2012, O’Dowd wrote and produced the Irish television show, Moone Boy. Ayoade’s character is a nerd, in every sense of the word, and he is used to playing these parts. He reprised his role as Moss in the American version of The IT Crowd which never made it past the pilot. In 2010, Ayoade wrote and directed the movie Submarine. Then in 2012, he starred alongside Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Jonah Hill in the action comedy The Watch.

Katherine Parkinson made her way through the British television circuit ranging from comedies to dramas in shows such as Doc Martin and Whites. She played the role of Kitty Riley in BBC’s Sherlock playing on her feminine characteristics more than she ever could in The IT Crowd. Matt Berry, commonly referred to as Britain’s Jack Black, was a hilarious influence of the show, latent with perverted lines and an overzealous sexual addiction, making him my personal favorite character. Graham Linehan, the writer and director of The IT Crowd, is the comedic genius behind twenty-two other titles including Father Ted and The MatchMaker. He also made appearances on the show every couple of episodes, playing random characters to move some story-line along.

The IT Crowd is one of my favorite shows, and taught me many things that I use in my life such as the flashback pose and British slang words like ruddy and flippin. I also want to get a lot of the merchandise, from Roy’s hilarious tee-shirts to Moss’ iconic glasses. Being one of my favorite shows, I believe that anyone who likes comedy would love this series as well.

Sadly, the only way to watch The IT Crowd in America is on Netflix.

For more information on The IT Crowd, visit IMDB or Channel 4.