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The IT Crowd - great british comedy!

edited May 2006 in Movies
I recently had the pleasure of seeing the first season of a british TV comedy series called The IT Crowd from Channel 4, and will recommend it to anyone who knows what a computer is.

The IT Crowd makes fun of nerds, but also has a lot of inside jokes that only geeks and nerds will recognize. The first season has 6 episodes, next season will be produced in early 2007.

I easily found and downloaded the episodes on the Gnutella network. Enjoy!

Comments

  • While it makes fun of nerds and geeks, it also makes fun of management and those users who would use a CD-ROM drive as a coffee cup holder.
  • Yes, that's right. The show is produced by Asha Atalla who was also behind the original The Office, so there are a lot of office jokes.

    I just found this site that has links to all the episodes on YouTube. At the moment the article with the links is in the middle of the front page..
  • Yeah, I saw this a long time ago. A few months? Yeah, I'm looking forward to the second season. Stupid British, making a 6 episode season of an awesome show. Asshats.
  • edited May 2006
    Trogdor, when you link to a blog post, make sure you link to the specific post rather than the general blog.

    Sounds like an awesome show btw.
    Post edited by Ametto on
  • I assume you mean navelfluff. Nothing annoys me more than a blog post that links to a blog post that links to an article getting to the front page on Digg.
  • Sorry about that Trogdor.
  • Really funny :) Thanks for posting it haha
  • The Brits only making short seasons is a good thing. They put in all the quality of an american season into just a few episodes and so each and every episode is awesome.
  • Lets not get pissy. British shows are as likely to fail as the shows from any other country. They just tend to come up with many more original concepts for shows.

    But The IT Crowd is great - I was downloading the episodes from the Pirate Bay as soon as Cory Doctorow posted about them on BoingBoing.

    One show I haven't heard much talk about is DarkPlace, a damned funny parody of 80s shows. It's set in a hospital that just happens to be built over a portal to Hell (or something). The bits where the 'writer' and 'actors' provide commentary about the show are generally hilarious. This Wikipedia article provides a better description, and there's also some clips on YouTube. Watch it, it's awesome.
  • Great, I must get all the DarkPlace episodes. Thanks!

    Thaneofcawdor is right: There are a lot of shitty british productions, and then it's a good thing they don't make more than six episodes. The point is that the production companies let the writers and producers work their magic without much intereference. The result being that some series are just fantastic, while others suck. It's the same here in little Norway, except more of the series suck.
  • Yeah, navelfluff. I don't think any of us here in the US have ever seen a television show or movie produced in Norway. Is there any really good stuff we are missing out on that we should go find and watch with subtitles?
  • Uhm, I really don't know if any TV series are released with english subtitles. The dramas are really bad, and the good comedys consists mainly of subtle references and parodys of current affairs, local traditions and word twisting. At the moment my favourite series is called 'Ut i vÃ¥r hage' (Out In Our Garden), but I really don't think there is any point for english speaking people to watch it.

    There is however a brand new movie you shuld look out for: Free Jimmy. It's a cgi animated film about a drug addicted circus elephant that runs away and is chased by by different groups with different agendas. It got international interest in the early stages of production, and as a result was made with english voices by famous actors like Woody Harrelson. I haven't seen it yet, but the man behind it (Christoffer Nielsen: author, director and art design) has made a lot of fantastic comics, and the movie have gotten fine reviews. Everything Nielsen makes is ugly, dirty and morbid, but still surprisingly funny. A cult movie and a must-see, at least on DVD! (A side note: his brother Joachim 'Jokke' Nielsen was one of Norways greatest rock poets who sadly died of an OD a few years ago)

    The original versions of Insomnia and Head Above Water were norwegian. I have heard that the english version of Insomnia was just as good as the original, but Head Above Water is best in norwegian (Hodet over vannet). It's a very entertaining, but quite unimportant movie.

    A classic is Pathfinder from 1987. It's a 1000 year old tale from the Saami people that live in north Scandinavia. It was shot outside in the winter with temperatures around -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, and in the Saami language. It's an action movie that is also realistic with good characters. I believe there is an international DVD release with english subtitles.

    A recent film is Naboer (Neighbours). I don't think it has an international release yet, but there should be one soon. It's an erotic thriller that is really intense and really nightmareish. Do not watch alone, and certainly not with a date!
  • Awesome, we'll definitely try to check those things out via Netflix or bittorrent.
    (Christoffer Nielsen: author, director and art design) has made a lot of fantastic comics
    Are there Norwegian comics that we should try to read also?
  • edited June 2006
    The closest I've come to seeing Norwegian television was The New Scandanavian Cooking with Andreas Viesta on PBS. Got to see some very tasty dishes. I almost watched a Norwegian cop movie once, but that sort of fell through.

    Most of my Scandanavian entertainment comes in the form of music. Dimmu Borgir and Mayhem ftw!

    EDIT: Question: Lutefisk. I had it once, when my grandmother made it, and it was absolutely atrocious. Do people really eat that shit?
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • OK, more good stuff from Norway:

    Movies:
    I should correct myself: Pathfinder is not actually an action movie. It' s more like drama with some action, and a good portion of it is really kind of slow. It portrays the Saami peaceful way of life and the calm and beauty of the nature in northern Norway. It is a great movie, just don't expect action from beginning to end.

    Comics:
    I don't know of any serious comics that is in world class. It seems we are better at comedy. I recommend any comic by Christopher Nielsen (I wrote his name wrong in the last post), although I know many people don't like them because of all the drugs and misery in most of the stories.
    Two strips I like have become popular abroad: Pondus and Nemi. There is a daily Pondus strip in English at the Opera web page. You can probably find Nemi in English somewhere too. I think the goth girl Nemi will find many fans among American geeks, although she is technophobic.

    Music:
    Norway is a nation of rock & roll. I'm not into the black metal scene, but some of the Norwegian bands are big abroad. There are some really good party music and live acts like Turbonegro, Gluecifer and Animal Alpha. The Norwegian pop and dance music is mostly crap or uninteresting, the Swedes are better at that genre.

    Lutefisk:
    A Danish immigrant I know put it well: 'I love all the Norwegian culture and food, but lutefisk - that's just too ethnic!' :-D
    Yes, we eat lutefisk, mostly on special occasions. Many eat lutefisk at Christmas eve. It is however not easy to make it really good, and the not-so-good lutefisk could scare any first timer.
    I love lutefisk, I really do!
  • edited June 2006
    *wheee googledance*

    English nemi
    http://nemi.thtn.com/home.php

    EDIT: Upon inspection, its just the words, they aren't photoshopped in. Its also interesting that it uses a bash.org~esque system
    Post edited by deaf-mute on
  • There are arguments for and against the short season thing that we have over here. Yeah I suppose you could say that we cram lots of quality into those six episodes (mainly we cram crap into them, you only get the good stuff in America), but where we suffer is in the area of character development. Take Friends as an example. Love it or hate it, we had hundreds of episodes that allowed the writers to create intricate and complicated personalities for the characters. Imagine how much simpler things would have to be if you tried to get the same amount of development in to six episodes.

    It also means that we have to come up with far more ideas for tv shows. If one idea only fills a time slot for six weeks instead of 24 then something new has to be made. That means we end up with so much pathetic crap! The BBC is the worst offender. Failing them giving us new crap, we tend to get repeat after repeat of old crap. We even have BBC run satalite channels that show the same six episodes of the same three or four series over and over again. Then they have the nerve to say that Bit Torrent hurts DVD sales. No, if a show is always on, I don't need to buy the DVD, it will be on tv again in six weeks!
  • I have recommended the norwegian/saami movie pathfinder. I just read in the newspaper that there is a american remake to be released this autumn! Here's the trailer.

    I have two comments:
    1. The remake is a completely new movie with almost no resemblance to the original 1987 version. The original is about a couple of small nomad saami groups being terrorized by a mythical people called the tsjudes, and a lot of the movie basicly explores the beautiful but dangerous nature and winter of northern Norway. The new movie is about vikings terrorizing native americans in the jungle, and it seems to be mainly fighting action.
    2. As an archaeologist I have to say: Apart from the fact that a few vikings reached North America and built a small settlement, this movie has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the real, historical vikings. It looks more like Conan meets LOTR orcs. This movie is gonna make the terrible The 13th warrior look like a good viking documentary in comparison.

    The remake seems like a great popcorn movie, and I'll definately see it. Just don't confuse it with the original, or the historical vikings.
  • Does anyone has an idea when is the second season coming out?

    Also I can't believe people on digg just discovered this.
  • I think they start recording in april, and air it in autumn. I read that somewhere a last week.

    The American version is also on it's way.
  • I have no faith on the american version. The only good translation was The Office.

    I had such a high hopes for Coupling but it was garbage.
  • I has being kicked up by NBC, I pray to the heavens that they don't mess up this one. NBC keeps buying good british shows and totally destroying them, good samples are: couple, and teachers ... :(
  • I has being kicked up by NBC, I pray to the heavens that they don't mess up this one. NBC keeps buying good british shows and totally destroying them, good samples are: couple, and teachers ... :(

    Do you mean that they have picked it up? I have never heard of Couple or Teachers, but The Office has turned out great.
  • Yes, thye have picked it up, you are right, how coul I have forgoten about the The Office, I still have some hope for this one then :D , and I am sorry I mean Coupling :P
  • Coupling was doomed because of the subject matter.

    The Office worked because it translated so well and it has a great cast.

    One of my favorite BBC shows is Father Ted which I first found on BBC America. I have since purchased the DVDs.

    Father Ted is one of those shows that would not make it in America if it was done the way the Office was done (news cast/new scripts).
  • The Office was my favorite show about a year ago. It's still good, but I don't care whatsoever about Jim/Pam/Karen. At all. I could watch a full episode of Dwight and be perfectly satisfied.
  • It is finally out, I can't believe it after  such a long wait, and it was so worth it :D
  • Anyone who likes IT Crowd should check out "Black Books"...another great Brit show.
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