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IT Crowd (UK) Coming Back For Season 4

sammyF70 writes "Every geek's favourite non-sci-fi show (the original UK one, not the abysmally bad German and US remakes) is coming back for a fourth season! According to the IMDB's message board, it should be on the air 'Juneish.' While you wait, you can check out what kind of vintage hardware will be on the show this time, and remember: if you illegally download movies, you will face the consequences!"

31 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. I'll be sure to set the VVCR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    By which I mean the RSS'd BitTorrent client, and the batch script that passes its products to Handbrake, then loads the transcoded files into iTunes.
    Also, the batch script that restarts iTunes at 5am to force it sync with the iPad and hacked iPod touch attached.

    1. Re:I'll be sure to set the VVCR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ah yes, the simplicity of the Mac.

    2. Re:I'll be sure to set the VVCR by mikael_j · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sounds more like a typical *nix user setup, you did know that OS X is a UNIX system, right?

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    3. Re:I'll be sure to set the VVCR by Hurricane78 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Pff.

      mldonkey -[query]-> eztv.it -[RSS]-> disk
      fcron -u p2p -[run]-> (dlrss.bash -[RSS]-< disk) -[new torrents]-> mldonkey
      mldonkey -[mail:done]-> me@(sleeping)
      me@(woken up) -[watch:new files]-> homeCinema=(projector + dolby digital 5.1) -[epic]-> WIN

      Better than any TiVo :)

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
  2. There isn't one by mccalli · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was part of the audience the other week for the filming of the last episode for this season. The laughing? It's real, and this season round some of it will be from me.

    Though obviously it takes a long time to film and so things don't flow as seamlessly as the TV episode itself, and perhaps they reuse laughs from one take over the top of acting from another take...it's still actually real. The writer came out to the audience and specifically talked about laugh tracks - he said he filmed in front of a live audience so that a) he was sure enough things were funny and b) because the actors could spark off the reactions.

    I'm not going to give anything away about it, but we saw two episodes - one already filmed and edited, the other was being filmed on the night. They are both great, so tune in and have a watch this time.

    Cheers,
    Ian

    1. Re:There isn't one by Rising+Ape · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Laugh tracks are done because laughter is a communal thing - other people laughing at something can make you find it funnier than it otherwise would be. So it's not to tell you that it's funny, it's to make it funnier.

      Of course, none of that excuses bad laugh tracks, or ones done to try to disguise a poor quality programme.

  3. Well... by dingen · · Score: 4, Funny

    At least it's funnier than The Big Bang Theory.

    --
    Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
    1. Re:Well... by physicsphairy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, but that is also true of just about any other show, including those that appear on CSPAN.

    2. Re:Well... by dangitman · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, real geeks use FriendFace

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    3. Re:Well... by sammyF70 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You mean, like this?
      IT Crowd is more centered on life at the office than TBBT, and is fairly indiscriminating about who it pokes fun at. Sometimes it's the geeks, and sometimes it's the rest ( see the "Jen, this is the internet" episode). I guess whether you find it funny or not depends a lot about whether you ever worked in such an environment or not. I did, and I love the show for its over the top depiction of stuff that I did experience (or did ).

      --
      "DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
  4. Always amuses me... by 91degrees · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That so many people seem to think there's some sort of objective measure for what is and isn't funny.

    Some people like it. Some people don't.

    1. Re:Always amuses me... by Kenz0r · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're wrong! That's not amusing at all!

      --
      +1 Funny Signature
  5. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I watched one episode of this garbage when it first came out. A few weeks later I accidentally watched a small portion of another episode. Never again. The first one was dire and the second was just as bad.

    One-dimensional, cliched characters that portray IT people as social inadequates. Tacky sets and embarrasingly bad plots (well from a sample size of 2) and utterly forgettable dialog. No thanks.

    They should cut out the jokes and content and just make it a long list of references to things that make the viewers feel intelligent. They could call it "xkcd: The TV Show".

    9:30pm xkcd: The TV Show
    Ep. 4 "More White Knightin'"
    Jen says something intelligent and profound so that
    the female viewers will want to have sex with the
    writer. Moss mentions Maxwell's equation.
    Writer: Randall Munroe Subtitles 888

  6. WIsh the show had more bits like that piracy ad by timothy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    a) Though it's case-by-case, I've liked more sit-coms than it's smart to admit. British ones, esp.

    b) As I just wrote in another comment, laugh tracks are obnoxious, but eh, I overlook them generally. When I was small, I thought that they were all recorded from the "live studio audience," but that's just what they *want* you to think.

    c) There's a lot of workplace humor in The IT Crowd that rings true (slightly exaggerated if at all - like managers who don't actually understand the thing they're supposed to "manage," and huge, often willful communication gaps between departments), but I also like the more over-the-top absurdities, like the soul-searching goth (Mason? might have the name wrong) who lives in the back room.

    d) All that said, I wish they worked in more wacky sketch-like stuff like the piracy ad linked in the post.

    timothy

    --
    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:WIsh the show had more bits like that piracy ad by mccalli · · Score: 3, Informative

      b) As I just wrote in another comment, laugh tracks are obnoxious, but eh, I overlook them generally. When I was small, I thought that they were all recorded from the "live studio audience," but that's just what they *want* you to think.

      See above. The laughing is real, is recorded in the studio and well...I was alive the last time I checked.

      Cheers,
      Ian

    2. Re:WIsh the show had more bits like that piracy ad by mccalli · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Glad to be wrong on that front, though if there's also selective recording / replay of the audience reaction, then I consider myself at least partly right ;)

      One thing that surprised me was the difference between takes. There'd be different styles, sometimes different dialogue (a lot is improvised, at one point Chris O'Dowd was clearly just making it up on the spot and reducing the writer to fits of laughter let alone us in the audience) - the point of the scene stays the same but there's much more variation than I was expecting to see.

      Perhaps, if they do cut'n'paste laughter from take to take, that's why it sometimes seems out of place? There were a couple of takes I can think of that were for a purely technical reason (shadow was falling in the wrong place) and they repeated that three or four times. Perhaps if they use laughter from take one where it's fresh to us, but then use video from take four where it's technically right then that's why it sometimes sounds out of place. I've no definite knowledge they're doing this, but it would seem to make sense.

      Cheers,
      Ian

    3. Re:WIsh the show had more bits like that piracy ad by Patch86 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My dear mum went to see an episode being recorded just a few weeks ago. She said that the compère had to ask the studio audience to laugh less, as they didn't want it to sound like an over-the-top laughter track. She said that it was indeed that funny; the audience were in hysterics.

      I enjoy the show; its pleasantly surreal, and makes a few low-key geek references which are worth appreciating. Its not my favourite, but I still watch it when its on.

  7. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Of course the characters are one-dimensional and cliched. IT Crowd pokes fun at the stereotypes (and not just at the ones about the computer nerds either.) So you don't like over the top British humor. I feel sorry for you.

    Forgettable dialog? Have you tried turning it off and on again? You wouldn't steal a car! Peter File. There are some police men here, they say they need to speak to you about irregularities in the pension fund. Memory IS RAM! I have it on good authority: Never ever type Google into Google! This, Jen, is the internet.

  8. Re:There was a german remake? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    There was "Das iTeam - Die Jungs an der Maus", which was a crappy shot-by-shot remake. It was really bad.

  9. Re:There was a german remake? by sammyF70 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here is a sample.

    --
    "DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
  10. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Brilliant. If I had to guess, I'd say you were offended by the programme's portrayal of "IT people as social inadequates", which perhaps means you missed the point a little

  11. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

    So they tried turning the show off and then on again?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  12. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by dangitman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I watched one episode of this garbage when it first came out. A few weeks later I accidentally watched a small portion of another episode. Never again.

    If you have no sense of humor, why were you watching a comedy? I mean, how can anybody not enjoy the character Moss? Forgettable dialog? Yeah right. "You there, computer man. Fix My Pants." is not forgettable dialog.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  13. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by johny42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One-dimensional, cliched characters that portray IT people as social inadequates.

    I'd say The IT Crowd takes these cliches to absurd levels, which actually makes them less cliche and more just parody. I believe that if you see through it, they actually make fun of the cliches you mention it, instead of embracing them.

    Now, if you want to see real cliched characters (and storylines), try watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory.

  14. Well, my favourite... by 91degrees · · Score: 3, Informative

    Assuming we're talking about comedies that are somehow geek related and aren't sci-fi, would be Spaced.

  15. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is that a WHOOSHing sound that i hear?
    Why yes, yes it is.

    The whole point of the show is to poke fun at clichés and 1D character personae.

    Surely you weren't offended by the portrayal of IT types as idiots?
    Tacky sets? That was only the basement set, which was a mess on purpose due to being built around the personality of the characters.
    It showed other IT people as perfectly normal people going about their day as well, in perfectly decent sets in office buildings.

    You can't form a solid opinion on something with such a short exposure time to it, which you admitted.
    All shows also have their "bad" episodes too. Of course, the level of badness is defined by the viewer.
    People like some humor, some hate it, blah blah etc.

  16. Re:4 series to poke fun at stereotypes? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Call the whambulance: 0118 999 881 999 119 725 3

  17. Re:Every geek's favourite non-sci-fi show ? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not if he's watching Big Bang Theory.

    --
    echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
  18. Re:What is IT? by dangitman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I am starting to notice is that when I talk about IT, I am talking about programmers, developers.

    That's interesting, because the very last thing I would think of when confronted with "IT" is programmers and developers. When I hear "IT" I think of mindless middle-management and bureaucracy. It's such a meaningless term. It could mean anything from an abacus lubricator to a librarian.

    Why would a programmer want to be associated with such a term? Programming has much more in common with mathematics and writing. After all, it is the mastery of languages and numbers. It deserves a much higher station than "IT."

    IT is basic janitorial work.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  19. Re:Favourite? hardly, it's awful by Cylix · · Score: 3, Funny

    The presenter certainly didn't convey the context in which those quotes are memorable.

    However, based on your responses I'm not sure what you would find humorous.

    We'll look into finding some of the comic strips from the free prizes in cracker jack boxes.

    It's good to start slow and gradually work up to substance.

    --
    "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
  20. USA Version by radioid · · Score: 3, Informative

    Thank god they didn't air the American version of the show.