The IT Crowd

Did You Know?

• The show's title sequence was produced by Shynola.
• Creator Graham Linehan wrote the series after a PC Tech with poor people skills made a house call.
• The first series was recorded at Teddington Studios, and subsequent series at Pinewood Studios.

Series overview

The IT Crowd takes place at Reynholm Industries, a fictional British company located at 123 Carenden Road in Central London. The IT support team works in a dingy, cluttered basement, contrasting sharply with the modern architecture and views enjoyed by the rest of the organisation. The company's actual business is never clearly defined; running gags suggest it has bought and sold ITV, operates a chemicals laboratory, and manufactures an unnamed product.

In one episode, Denholm Reynholm claims the company has acquired mobile phone carriers and television stations to form the largest communications empire in the UK, though the truth of this within the show's world is ambiguous. Roy and Moss, the two technicians, are socially inept geeks, described by Denholm as standard nerds. Roy's support techniques include ignoring the phone and using reel-to-reel recordings of stock IT suggestions such as, Have you tried turning it off and on again?

Moss possesses deep technical knowledge but struggles with practical problems and social interaction. Jen, the department head, is completely non-technical, having bluffed her way into the role by claiming experience with computers. She redefines her position as Relationship Manager, but her efforts to bridge the gap between the IT team and other employees often lead to absurd situations.

Broadcast and release

The IT Crowd found audiences around the world. Australian viewers could catch it on ABC1 and UKTV. In Bulgaria, GTV started showing it from July 2008. Comedy Central Germany began running the first series in September 2009.

Estonian audiences saw it on ETV. Poland had it on Comedy Central Poland, TVP2, and Fox Comedy. Czech Television and HBO broadcast it in the Czech Republic. It aired in Denmark on TV 2 Zulu, and in the Netherlands on Comedy Central.

Canal+ carried it in Spain. New Zealanders watched it on TV One. In the Republic of Ireland, it appears occasionally on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player. Across the United States, IFC aired episodes, and all four series plus the special are available on Tubi TV and Pluto TV, as well as for purchase on the iTunes Store.

Canadian channel G4 included it in their Adult Digital Distraction block in July 2007, and reruns later aired on BiteTV until that channel relaunched as Makeful in August 2015. In Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, I.Sat broadcast the show. Mexico’s Canal 11 has carried it since 2010. Spain’s Canal 3xl also aired it in 2011.

Channel 4 commissioned a fifth series for 2011, but it was ultimately shelved. Creator Graham Linehan cited conflicting schedules, budget needs, and the impracticality of a virtual writers room—built using Basecamp—which he found too stiff and businesslike, making everyone self-conscious. Still, a farewell special was eventually filmed in June 2013, after Linehan and the cast had completed other commitments.

Reception

The first season of The IT Crowd received a Metacritic score of 67 out of 100 based on eight critic reviews. Its Channel 4 premiere drew 1.8 million viewers, a figure BBC News called disappointing. Creator Graham Linehan said he was playing the long game, pointing out that Father Ted’s first season also went largely unnoticed before building an audience and winning awards. The series four finale, broadcast on 30 July 2010, hit a ratings high of 2.17 million and performed strongly in its time slot.

The show has collected awards from BAFTA, the International Emmys, the Rose d’Or, and the fan-voted Comedy.co.uk Awards, along with a British Comedy Award and an Irish Film and Television Award. In 2006, it was named Best New British Sitcom at the Comedy.co.uk Awards, beating 16 other nominees. The following year, it won Comedy of the Year at the same awards, out of 100 contenders. It was nominated for the 2007 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy alongside Green Wing and Pulling, but lost to The Royle Family.

In 2008, it took home the International Emmy for Comedy and the Rose d’Or for Best Sitcom. It lost the 2008 BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy to Peep Show, competing against The Thick of It and Benidorm. The show won Best Situation Comedy at the 2009 BAFTAs. That same year, Graham Linehan earned Best Television Script at the Irish Film and Television Awards, and Katherine Parkinson won Best Comedy Actress at the British Comedy Awards.

At the 2014 British Academy Television Awards, Parkinson won Best Female Comedy Performance, Richard Ayoade won Best Male Comedy Performance, and Chris O’Dowd was nominated in the same category.

Adaptations

An American version of The IT Crowd was almost aired by NBC in 2007–08, starring Richard Ayoade reprising his role as Moss, with Joel McHale as Roy, Jessica St. Clair as Jen, and Rocky Carroll as Denholm. A pilot was filmed in January 2007, and a full series was ordered and advertised for 2007–08, but a September 2007 report in The Hollywood Reporter stated the show would not reach production as it did not quite spark with new NBC chairman Ben Silverman.

The pilot was leaked online in 2012. In October 2014, NBC announced another pilot, produced by Bill Lawrence, which also did not make it to air. In January 2018, a third attempt at an NBC remake was confirmed, with Graham Linehan involved as a writer and executive producer, but no further developments have been announced. A German version, originally titled Das iTeam – Die Jungs mit der Maus, was changed to Das iTeam – Die Jungs an der Maus at the last minute.

The first episode aired on 4 January 2008 on Sat.1 and received mainly negative receptions, criticised for poor translation, direction, timing, and performance.