I often think of this sketch on The IT Crowd at times like these!

That is funny stuff!

Pity me in the USA.

http://www.nbc.com/Fall_Preview/The_IT_Crowd/

Oh dear. At least Richard Ayoade is going to be in it and Jen is hotter. But no-one can replace Chris Morris.

Really? You think that generic blond girl is more attractive than Katherine Parkinson? You Brits really do have a prejudice against redheads, don't you?

Also, word is that the US version is not going to be developed after all. Too bad. Joel McHale is very funny. Maybe they got cold feet after "The Big Bang Theory", another geek-oriented show, got mediocre ratings. That probably has more to do with the fact that it's awful, though.

Not me. I think Katherine Parkinson's better-looking than the generic (I was going to say "generic American") blonde they've picked.

Mind you, I prefer brunettes...

Yes, Katherine is very funny and plays the role very well. But generic wins out on the looks front, sorry. Call me shallow if you must, I'm unlikely to meet either of them so it's all academic anyway.

Well- I'm glad the US version has been abandoned. Shame to say that it seems the UK version is also over. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)

I'm glad I have all of the original episodes on hand. I've watched them in consecutive order at least a half dozen times over the last couple of months and they've always brought a laugh.

Why? I've never understood why people are opposed to a new version of something. It doesn't diminish the original. And the new one might be good, too. It might not, and I have no problem with either comparing it with the original or calling the remake flat out bad, if that's the case. But, at least in US television these days, remaking a sitcom that was good elsewhere is probably a better idea than coming up with yet another reality show. (Not that those aren't being stolen from elsewhere as well.)

"They didn't destroy my books. They're right here on the shelf, and they're just fine." — Raymond Chandler, when asked about Hollywood adapting his stories

That'd be fine if people got the chance to be exposed to the undiminished original. This doesn't always happen.

Good sitcoms are very rare.
Good remakes also.

I'd just rather not see them fail. Call me a pessimist.

But Americans aren't going to be exposed to the British The IT Crowd dependent on whether or not the US version is made. BBC America does show a number of British TV shows (not exclusively BBC, notably) that aren't shown elsewhere. They showed The Office before the US version was made, for example. Coupling, too. They have not shown The IT Crowd to my knowledge. If they haven't by now, it seems unlikely to me that they would in the future.

So the possibles states of US viewers seem to be "already aware of TITC"; "not aware of TITC and will remain unaware"; and "not aware of TITC but will become aware when the US version is shown". It seems to me that the only outcome that will increase the likelihood of people to be exposed to the original is by showing the US version.

So your argument isn't that it shouldn't be made because the original shouldn't be touched, but that it's likely to be good and it would bum you out for it to be canceled, which (I'll admit) is highly likely.

That kinda-sorta makes sense.

Actually, I was going on the premise that they'd fail to make it *any* good at all.
I agree that it's a poor argument, so think of it more as an opinion. That definition fits my world a little better! lol

If they made an American version, I'd watch it. Yes, I would. 'Bad' or not.

Perhaps a better show to argue over whether or not a remake should be done is The Prisoner.

Any remake brings the concepts in general to a wider audience... and some of that audience is likely to learn about the original.
So, in that sense I don't mind remakes.
I'm not against them, you see.

With The IT Crowd, I could easily imagine the US producers going for 'the nerd genre', which is specifically *not* what the UK production goes for (and the subtle reason for its success, IMO).
"US productions lack subtlety" is a generalization I'm game to make.

I'd like to use the example of "Life on Mars." I have mixed feelings about the upcoming remake of this show.

The good:
- I'm sorry, but I was only able to understand half of the dialog of the British version. Of the stuff I couldn't understand, it was either because the accents were too think, they were using colloquialisms that meant nothing to me, or they were referencing 1970's England, which also meant nothing to me.
- ...That's about all

The BAD:
- The original, despite my troubles understanding it, is fantastic. So there's little room to improve with a remake.
- I worry that they'll try to make the American version too palatable for the US audience, and try to explain too much.
- It would be hard to top the music in the British version.
- Colm Meaney is the best replacement they could have found to play DCI Hunt, but I can't imagine anyone topping Philip Glenister's performance.
- I worry that they'll do the usual American thing and try to drag the show out as long as possible, and it'll get canceled before American audiences are given an explanation. US networks can't conceive of a primetime show that only lasts 20-24 episodes.

I'll probably watch the first couple episodes, but I'll be pretty biased, so it might not get through to me.


However, I did watch the first two episodes of The [British] Office, and just couldn't get into it. I think Ricky Gervais is brilliant, but I couldn't get into the show. Maybe it was the cultural differences again, but it just didn't work for me. The US version, however, I find hilarious.

Ouch! I think that's a gross generalization. I think the networks here throw far too much at the wall, so there are certainly dozens (if not hundreds) of examples to support your statement, but there are, IMO, very many exceptions.

That's okay. They're reshooting the entire US LoM pilot with all new actors except the lead: Squarejaw McStoneface.

I'm inclined to say that the US LoM will suck because of what I've seen of the casting and other production issues. But that doesn't mean that they couldn't make one.

They should really make US scifi/fantasy shows as miniseries anyway. They invariably get canceled before they've gotten anywhere. The one exception being The X-Files which should have been canceled long before it ended.

Oh, God yes. That should have had a five season run. I have another enormous complaint about that show but I won't derail the thread any more

All you IT Crowd fans, have you seen the *amazing* l337 subtitles on the first season DVD, first episode? They are just so hilarious and worth buying the DVD for on their own.

Does anyone have any opinion on League of Gentlemen (a UK sitcom)? I saw it briefly recommended in someone's forum post on IMDB's IT Crowd pages.

I'm going to give the UK IT Crowd a shot likely next week since there's not much of anything on TV right now. Except Weeds which I have to get online to watch (new season won't be on here for a few months).

I watched it a few times. For about five minutes each time. I didn't like it. It feels to me like it's that extreme quirky British humor, except without the actual, you know, humor.

I loved the LoG when it was a radio show. Didn't really get the TV version in the same way. It is yet another show that started on BBC Radio 4 and made its way onto BBC TV later.

I seemed to remember asking this question quite a few years ago (when they were still popular) and getting a pretty uniform negative response. Some bits were funny, some weren't. Maybe you had to be british to 'get it'.

Any recommendations for other funny british comedies then? I used to love Red Dwarf, Allo Allo and Keeping Up Appearances (in moderation).

BTW, slightly off topic (what isn't?) but does anyone have any idea why a UK series (aka "season") is only 6 or so episodes long? I could understand if there were 3 or 4 series per year, but no one ever does that.

Spaced, The Peep Show, Father Ted.



I've always put it down to a number of things:

- more UK comedies have story elements that span episodes and such story arcs seem to naturally fit into half a dozen or so episodes
- there tends to be only one or two writers on UK shows, rather than a team. Churning out 13 or 26 episodes in one go for one or two people is a bit of a challenge
- budget. When you make a series for UK TV you maximum guaranteed target audience is a fifth of what it is in the US, so I think the budgets available to put together a series are less
- we tend to end a show's run when it is sensibly finished, as compared to US shows where new writers are rolled on season after season to drag it out for 10 seasons, I'm looking at you Friends !

I should also say that in the UK we also have plenty of series of shows that have a dozen episodes in them, but they tend to be reality shows and the like that you won't have seen in the US. There are also some shows that churn out two 12 episode series a year, much like the US ones. I tends to be comedies and dramas that only get 6/8 episodes, which are probably the ones that get exported to the rest of the world more.

Coupling, which I think Bitt mentioned further up this discussion. Series 1 & 2 are my favourites.

The Worst Week Of My Life. It is one of those comedies where you can see what's (probably) going to happen next, but skillfully done in such a way that you cringe slightly as each episode's tale of woe unfolds. Sarah Alexander from Coupling is the leading actress.

Gavin and Stacey is highly acclaimed. I can envisage non-Brits missing some of the quick-fire remarks in this (as a Brit I often need a 10-second rewind on some stuff myself!).

i don't know the proper reason, if any. It seems that's always been the case. Maybe that's the reason why uk shows rarely get cancelled mid-season. I heard interviews where writers have said they've simply said they'd managed to get the story across in 6 ep's.

And, clearly, some of that has to do with a history of being more-or-less uninterested in ratings. Obviously the BBC has always wanted people to watch it so that it can keep its ... commission(?), but the desire to drag out a popular show to get every ounce of life out of it wasn't there.

Obviously there are ratings issues in the UK now, what with the commercial competition, but, still, that's how TV grew up in the UK.

Any actual Brits, please correct me if my viewpoint is invalid.

my two favorites are Peep Show and The Mighty Boosh. The latter being a tad Marmite (You either love it or hate it).

Of things not already mentioned that I've seen on BBC America, I enjoyed The Robinsons and Hardware reasonably well. Only a handful of episodes each, AFAIK, though. Not Going Out is bad. (I don't think that's a subjective opinion, honestly.) I didn't like Little Britain, either. Same as LoG. Oh, The Thick of It was awesome. I mostly liked Extras. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Black Books
The Book Group (is a bit of a strange one)
Teachers
Shameless (comedy/drama)

First 3 at least are no longer running.

I rate Top Gear as "comedy" since it's largely staged.

While not a funny British comedy, as you requested, I enjoyed immensely watching many documentaries on the Industrial Revolution hosted by Fred Dibnah.
Wonderful stuff.

A friend of mine thinks Mighty Boosh is one of the funniest things in existence. All I've seen from it is the Old Greg skit, which I found funny and deeply, deeply disturbing... then it confused me...:)

If you like Spaced and Teachers, try Green Wing

How did I manage to forget Green Wing

Hmmm- news of the day to the opposite effect:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/13/itcrowd_series_three/

Looks like we'll get a chance to see how they do with it!

That's what I thought, but I think they mean the original series has been sold, not the format.

I'd be inclined to agree with that assessment. The US version had been slated to be on the NBC network, which is one of the four major broadcasters in the US, and moving it to IFC, which is a small-viewership basic cable channel that most people are unfamilar with, is not impossible, but it doesn't make much sense. If you hear something about it being sold to the USA network, that would be a likely move; some of NBC's second-tier/niche programming goes there.

I'm always late turning up at the party but it looks like the UK is getting Series 3 of The IT Crowd, excellent... http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/I/itcrowd/news/news.html

Just noticed that this thread was part of this discussion but it now appears to be in it's own thread.

Purely OOC, why was a new discussion topic spawned?

Whoa. I missed this post the first time around.
I don't really know WHAT I think about this.
The original was fantastic and basically a self-contained movie stretched over a season.

I just don't know whether I want to love or hate a re-make.

I do suspect that my fondness for the Lotus Seven has its roots in this show....

I wonder what the new opening sequence will be....

I know what you mean about the Super 7, Mike. Same story here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRPDO63rI1E

...and bouncing off of that segue...
http://www.gizmag.com/caterhams-new-superlight-r300/10338/

Just found this review of S3Ep1.
No date, though, so I'm not sure exactly how current it is.

Why is it that so many articles on the internet neglect to include their publishing date??
grrr.

edit:
I'm about half-way through the interview with the creator/writer that is linked at the bottom of the review. Really worth the click and time to read!
edit2:
the wikipedia article is also a fun read-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_IT_Crowd

FWIW, S3E1 was broadcast on Channel 4 on Friday 21st Nov '08

Ah! Thanks for that. I figured the news must be fairly fresh.
I'm very excited about the third season!

I liked the episode and felt that everyone pretty much remained in character, despite what one review claimed.

My complaints are still the same as season 2:

-The laugh track is annoying
-The lighting in the IT department is too dramatic (this ruins the IT/office effect somewhat)

Absolutely brilliant, the 1st series was just as I'd imagined it in the radio version, maybe the best radio to TV conversion I've seen.

There's a decent sitcom on starring Hugh Dennis at the moment; Outnumbered on BBC2.

Most of my comedy intake is Radio 4.

I'd be interested to see what you think about the subsequent series. I liked the change of setting but I think it put a few of the original fans off a bit.

I thought the setting was really cool, there was a lot more pointless swearing/lewdness though. The wife doesn't get it at all, she likes the talking moon though.

The biggest recent disappointment on R4 was Dirk Gently, Hugh Enfield was so wrong for it.

As of the second episode of series 3, my two complaints about the first episode are now gone. The laugh track didn't detract from what was going on and the set lighting is much more natural and believable.

So far I've seen the first three episodes of series three and have enjoyed them immensely.

I just saw ep4 last night and (as usual) laughed and laughed and laughed.

Reviewing earlier episodes, though, I have to agree that sometimes the laugh track is a bit much.
Not quite as evident as if I watch a sitcom from the 70's or 80's, though.

I watched episode 6 last week. And.... Is that it? Another typical short 6-episode series?

Do the networks in the UK not make any money from these series? If they do, then why don't they produce more than a month's worth of new episodes per year?

I'm sure any fan could do with 20-something episodes if the writing stays up to scratch, but 12 would be acceptable.

Personally, I think there's plenty of subject matter to do 12-20 without it ever getting boring. So many story lines of the current season are ripe for expansion. Or you get a hint of a possible new story in one episode only to never have it materialize later.

So, who do we have to bribe for more IT Crowd episodes? Can the Queen do anything about it?

Red Dwarf is coming back to UK TV for two episodes... here.



Sorry. I know that site is UK-centric but I'm sure it won't be long before the other international broadcasters are pumping it out.

I'll just watch them the day after they air in the UK. The Internets are good for a lot more than news.

Though I do believe they'll be coming to Canada very soon, as I heard this news last night from my wife - who heard it on, of all places, the radio.

My ultimate wish would be for them to return to the setting and format of the first series. The show unfortunately took some wrong turns in later series and wasn't nearly as funny (I've watched all 8 series).


EDIT: And it turns out this was announced back in September 2008 on the official Red Dwarf site.

The series has been on PBS here in the US. Not recently.

Here again with an update via Slashdot.

AMC Releasing a New "The Prisoner" In November