Currently Watching: The IT Crowd

In my mind, when we first started these ‘Currently Watching...’ posts, the idea was to put a post together about our first impressions and what we were thinking about the TV Show at the time. Sounds sensible, right? So when I started watching The IT Crowd, I was starting to think about the post I would put together. But then I kind of binge watched every episode in less than 2 weeks. Oops. Let’s just pretend that I’m mid-series, humour me, if you will.

Back in 2006 when the series was first advertised, I knew this would be the comedy for me. I’m a bit of a geek and family, friends and colleagues turn to me for all sorts of IT advice, and I get irrationally irritated when the IT team at work would tell me ‘have you tried turning it off and on again?’. No, I haven’t, because the printer needs a new toner!

I don’t remember what episode I watched, but I didn’t take to it at all and never bothered with it, until last year when the final episode aired when I just so happened to have my friends over. They loved the show and demanded that we watch it, and I found the episode hilarious. It was my mission since then to actually get round to giving it a second chance.

If you've never heard of it before, The IT Crowd is a typical British comedy, full of moments that make you cringe. Roy (Chris O'Dowd) provides the worst IT support you've ever seen, and answers the phone with the greeting 'Have you tried turning it off and on again?' every time. Moss (Richard Ayoade) is a highly intelligent geek who doesn't quite understand how humans actually process. Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is their manager who knows nothing about IT, not even what it stands for! All in all, a great trio for a comedy set in an IT Department.

I've never had so much fun watching a bit of TV early in the morning before work! I don't normally laugh out loud when watching comedies alone, but this had me howling in places. My absolute favourite episode is the one where the three end up watching Gay, a gay musical, and Roy has to pretend that he's disabled. This escalates throughout the whole episode to the point where he ends up in a wheelchair on a disabled bus on his way to Manchester!

As much as I love it, I don't think The IT Crowd is for everyone. There are moments in another favourite show of mine, The Office, that make me cringe just a little too much to find funny, and anyone who isn't a fan of that would struggle with some episodes I think. For me though, this is the perfect balance of cringe and comedy. It's now a TV show that I'll put on in the background whilst doing something else, and actually find myself stopping what I'm doing to watch it. It's just that good!

I have to agree with everything you've said, including the wheelchair episode, that is by far my favourite.  I have never seen the UK or the US office so I can't compare but I might give it a chance if it's similar to this!

I've got to post this little montage of Roy for you all, he is by far my favourite character and these moments are just great: