The IT Crowd

[Nix]

It's alright. The screensaver gag had me laughing. No great british dynasty of comic genius though. Although saying that, give it time, I suspect better things to come from it.

 

[Dinomania]

Anyone having trouble viewing episode three? Due to do mini-followup-review about the show but I'd like to have seen the third one before I do.

It's not going to get the most glowing of reviews from me - occasionally funny but I really wanted it to be more geeky and less stereotyped, but hey...
...I did like the email-thing last week mind. I'm guilty of sending off emails and then just sitting back and waiting for something to happen myself...

 

[BengalBoy]

I think if you work in a typical IT department, you appreciate how funny it is.

 

[mortals]

I was amazed at how rubbish and inacurate this show was, especially from the hype.

Here's some background about myself: I am 24 and have been a computer engineer/geek since I was 16, when I joined a support company as a apprentice. I have experience in working on the road, in the workshop and also on phone support. (basically what the IT crowd is meant to portray?)


mini review of the IT crowd

Affter watching the IT crowd on Channel4, there seems to be mixed feelings. Some people say it's brilliant, I'm not sure if I was watching the same program?. There was about 1 funny part in the first one, where the woman was pretending to talk on the phone and the bloke says he came in to plug in the phone. This was soon spoiled as they used the same 'joke' when she was pretending to use her computer.

Taking a few things from what I've read:

Geeky References:
There seem to be little real life geeky references. With a mass of information available to the writers to research on the internet I would expect a lot more, The only way you knew it was to do with computers was the title of the show and the few old computers they had lying around in the basement. The only other 'geeky reference' seemed to be the RTFM T-shirt.

Support Calls:
This joke was overdone around 1997? with the video of the support engineer smashing his pc up, the recording of calls where there is a complete novice on the other end of the phone etc. I know some will relate to it but it is not 'that funny'.

Geeks Portrayed As Being Social Outcasts:
It seems that the geeks are portrayed as total outcasts, firstly by being put into the basement (another inaccurate representation, most IT support people are based in a main office next to the networking HUB/Patch/Servers etc) but as if that is not enough they seem to have no social skills at all (you would have thought the very fact they have to talk to people on the phone and face to face when fixing their pc's they would be pretty social).
I think it plays on a lot of unfair things: people who like to use emails rather than use the phone, surely this isn't something to laugh about and is as justified as laughing at someone who has a disability??

Insulting Geeks:
Ok, This is one thing which annoyed me the most and I know a lot of other geeks feel the same, There is a difference between being funny and going over the top. The show is inaccurate in its portrayal of geeks with what seems no knowledge of anything relating to them, creating a wrong image of them and potentially changing the stance of people, creating yet more possibility of insults and even worsening bullying in schools. The show is advertised as family entertainment, yet is written with no discretion towards the group it portrays.

Overall I think the IT crowd was illogical (IT engineers/geeks are very knowledgeable), not funny, included bad acting and was insulting. The studio audience seemed to be laughing at strange points and were sometimes the only thing which distinguished anything as being a 'joke'.

 

[Datamonkey]

it was alright, hope it gets better.

Some slight humor in there.

As for the red dwarf comparison on the first page, not a chance. I and loads of people i know were glued to the big red d from day one!!

This im not fussed if i see it or not.

 

[Manlove is my forte]

I didn't think much of it, most of the jokes were pradictable. There were some glimpses of genius but they were few and far between (mostly these glimpses were bits that should have been fillers not punchlines but due to the lack of material they were the punch line).

The funniest bits were also part of the previews.

IMO Have you turned it off an on is an accurate depiction. Its the first thing I try (because it works)

I think they have too few characters that are containing too many steriotypes. It would have been better to have 3-6 techies with less screen time but each showed different fassets of geek culture.

It should have been more geeky and more jokes that the computer literate would have understood.

Its a comedy by numbers program. I wanted to like it and I wanted it to be great but it just wasn't that good. Hopefully it will get better, but I hear it gets worse.

 

[Datamonkey]

Mortals, calm down dude.

Sounds like to me you have take a bit of the show to heart!!

I work in IT support and yes on some of our client site's in london and various locations in the country mainly in government buildings the IT is dumped in the dungeon. And again some of these people only talk to you when they have an IT problem lol. So that side of the show i find quite amusing.

Btw dude, Geeks were classed as social outcasts if you go back about 10 years ago. This has changed a lot more now.

but then you can say well who isnt classed as a social out cast? Mates of mine hate skaters and such, and treat them as social out casts.

I am an IT manager and boucer, whats that make me? a geek with attitude lol.

 

[Belmit]

I was amazed at how rubbish and inacurate this show was, especially from the hype.

I'm from a very similar background and job but I found it fairly amusing. Too many people seem to want the show to be something it's not, rather than taking it for what it is. The networks team (not Helpdesk, granted) where I work actually do work in the basement in a room almost identical to the one in the show, with old PC equipment stacked everywhere that will never see the light of day again.

You could pretty much swap the word 'geek' for the word 'priest' in your main titles there and be talking about Father Ted. I don't believe Father Ted has created a stereotype for all priests everywhere.

I'm not having a go, it just seems that there's a lot of people trying very hard to put the show down when it really isn't all that bad, they just approached it with the wrong attitude. Of course there are people that just plain won't like it and that's fair enough, but just because it doesn't fit with your experience of I.T. doesn't mean it should be dismissed as unrealistic.

 

[mortals]

I'm from a very similar background and job but I found it fairly amusing. Too many people seem to want the show to be something it's not, rather than taking it for what it is. The networks team (not Helpdesk, granted) where I work actually do work in the basement in a room almost identical to the one in the show, with old PC equipment stacked everywhere that will never see the light of day again.

You could pretty much swap the word 'geek' for the word 'priest' in your main titles there and be talking about Father Ted. I don't believe Father Ted has created a stereotype for all priests everywhere.

I'm not having a go, it just seems that there's a lot of people trying very hard to put the show down when it really isn't all that bad, they just approached it with the wrong attitude. Of course there are people that just plain won't like it and that's fair enough, but just because it doesn't fit with your experience of I.T. doesn't mean it should be dismissed as unrealistic.

I think it has/had potential to be funny but it's just so stupid and over the top. It's not really a good portrayal of any type of IT person.

As said above, there are so many other things about geeks etc which could be picked up on, much funnier things than the illogical rubbish they seem to find funny.

I was surprised that they had no discretion, being they advertised it as family entertainment.

Most of the stuff has been overdone before tbh, the fact people relate it to father ted being one aspect which can only lead to its downfall.

 

[BengalBoy]

I was amazed at how rubbish and inacurate this show was, especially from the hype.

Here's some background about myself: I am 24 and have been a computer engineer/geek since I was 16, when I joined a support company as a apprentice. I have experience in working on the road, in the workshop and also on phone support. (basically what the IT crowd is meant to portray?)


mini review of the IT crowd

Affter watching the IT crowd on Channel4, there seems to be mixed feelings. Some people say it's brilliant, I'm not sure if I was watching the same program?. There was about 1 funny part in the first one, where the woman was pretending to talk on the phone and the bloke says he came in to plug in the phone. This was soon spoiled as they used the same 'joke' when she was pretending to use her computer.

Taking a few things from what I've read:

Geeky References:
There seem to be little real life geeky references. With a mass of information available to the writers to research on the internet I would expect a lot more, The only way you knew it was to do with computers was the title of the show and the few old computers they had lying around in the basement. The only other 'geeky reference' seemed to be the RTFM T-shirt.

Support Calls:
This joke was overdone around 1997? with the video of the support engineer smashing his pc up, the recording of calls where there is a complete novice on the other end of the phone etc. I know some will relate to it but it is not 'that funny'.

Geeks Portrayed As Being Social Outcasts:
It seems that the geeks are portrayed as total outcasts, firstly by being put into the basement (another inaccurate representation, most IT support people are based in a main office next to the networking HUB/Patch/Servers etc) but as if that is not enough they seem to have no social skills at all (you would have thought the very fact they have to talk to people on the phone and face to face when fixing their pc's they would be pretty social).
I think it plays on a lot of unfair things: people who like to use emails rather than use the phone, surely this isn't something to laugh about and is as justified as laughing at someone who has a disability??

Insulting Geeks:
Ok, This is one thing which annoyed me the most and I know a lot of other geeks feel the same, There is a difference between being funny and going over the top. The show is inaccurate in its portrayal of geeks with what seems no knowledge of anything relating to them, creating a wrong image of them and potentially changing the stance of people, creating yet more possibility of insults and even worsening bullying in schools. The show is advertised as family entertainment, yet is written with no discretion towards the group it portrays.

Overall I think the IT crowd was illogical (IT engineers/geeks are very knowledgeable), not funny, included bad acting and was insulting. The studio audience seemed to be laughing at strange points and were sometimes the only thing which distinguished anything as being a 'joke'.

well i im also 24 and iave worked in an IT office since 19. I find a lot of it is very accurate.

 

[mortals]

Mortals, calm down dude.

Sounds like to me you have take a bit of the show to heart!!

Btw dude, Geeks were classed as social outcasts if you go back about 10 years ago. This has changed a lot more now.

That is the point I was trying to make really, things have changed. Where 10years ago no one would admit to being a geek etc, nowadays it's pretty much accepted. I just hope this doesn't bring it back to how it was, causing hatred and bullying towards geeks. I know a lot of geeks in the past had such a hard time from bullying etc

Seems like the show is 'lets pick on the little guy'

 

[JollyGreen]

I think they missed the mark on the geek thing, they're supposed to be awkward in social situations and extremely introverted, but to have that AND them being complete moron's just makes the show too cringeworthy for me.

 

[Hate]

included bad acting and was insulting

Yeah, like other comedies aren't insulting to other groups of people...

Yes, its rubbish and is not an accurate portrayal, but its light hearted entertainment (I too have over 6 years experience of being part of the "IT" crowd)

 

[mortals]

well i im also 24 and iave worked in an IT office since 19. I find a lot of it is very accurate.

would you say you were a geek?

It seems to me the users of computers think it's funny to laugh at the support staff, maybe they should look at some of the ways users are portrayed like "you have to turn it on" etc.

I'm not sure which parts could be accurate.

 

[rker83]

It is a bit rubbish but amusing, i found.
I have already been recognised as being "EXACTLY THE SAME" as one of them by both my mother and a few so called mates, they're accountants so they can shut the hell up. lol

Shame there is no more depth than a dryed up paddling pool to the show, would have been better with a few geek jokes. I suppose its more for the "normal people" of the world.

 

[robertgilbert86]

Hahah, I thought it was well funny, the sureal bits are the best (you can tell its from the makers of father ted).
Garth Marenghi's is great too, was surprised to see 'Dean Leaner' on it lol

The second ep is funnier than the first defo

 

[Dinomania]

Still trying to access the 3rd episode - anyone having any luck?

 

[manveruppd]

Tried to download ep 3 last night and today and media player can't connect. Anyone else had problems?

 

[mortals]

seems like they haven't got the 3rd one up yet, despite advertising a 'online premiere'

loads of peeps posting on the forums asking the same.

 

[ramirez]

In my missus' school they call the IT department 'middle earth'