"Hello. IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again? Well, is it plugged in?" - Roy (Chris O'Dowd) to every person who calls IT
The IT Crowd: Version 1.0: The Complete First Series DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Jen (Katherine Parkinson) needs a job. Any job. She's even willing to...let's say "spice up" her resumé by claiming to be proficient in computers. While interviewing at Reynhold Industries, the company's mercurial president, Denholm (Christopher Morris) asks about her computer experience. She replies that she knows lots about computers-the mouse, the keyboard, the screen. That's enough for Denholm, who quickly appoints her Relationship Manager of the IT department. She is now officially part of The IT Crowd: Version 1.0: The Complete First Series.
At first, she's delighted, but then she finds out that rather than working in the company's swanky digs, her office is in the dank basement. And then she meets her co-workers. Roy (Chris O'Dowd) is a t-shirt wearing slacker who is prone to getting beaten up, bumping into furniture, and otherwise causing damage to himself. Moss (Richard Ayoade) is a humorless, fuzzy-haired nerd who sprays water in his ear when it gets overheated. She eventually encounters another employee, Richmond (Noel Fielding), a Goth who is confined to a dark room where he does...something. He's not quite sure.
They might not know it, but this crowd is made for each other, practically competing to reach the heights of stupidity. Jen buys a pair of shoes that are three sizes too small, leaving her feet gnarled and deformed. Moss starts a fire with a soldering iron and can't remember the number for Emergency Services, so he reports the fire via email. He wears protective headgear to peel an orange, and helps Jen avoid an annoying suitor by telling the company that she is dead. Roy goes out on a date with poop on his forehead. And when "Aunt Irma" visits Jen, Roy and Moss develop sympathy PMS.
The IT Crowd is often outrageously funny, combining the humor of The Office's skewed vision of workplace banality with the slapstick camaraderie of Seinfeld. The characters are broadly drawn yet believable.
NBC is planning a US version of The IT Crowd. Let's hope they get it right. The Office made a smooth jump across the pond, but the network's incarnation of the sublime Coupling was a dud.
The six episodes that make up The IT Crowd: Version 1.0: The Complete First Series are presented on a single disc. A standard keepcase slides into a cardboard sleeve, which features a group shot of the cast.
The menus are brilliant. They mimic an old school, Atari 2600 video game, and are easy to navigate. There is almost as much entertainment value in the menus as in the show itself. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there is no scene selection menu.
