THE IT CROWD

The IT Crowd is a British sitcom on Channel 4. The IT Crowd is essentially a comic series based around a small group of support workers in an IT department of a large corporation going about their lives. The sitcom stars Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade and Katherine Parkinson as the protagonists. The television series piloted in 2006, written by Graham Linehan, who also wrote Black Books and Father Ted which are Channel 4 programmes as well. 

For my analysis of The IT Crowd I watched an episode called 'Friend Face' which involves the characters using social media to meet new people and catch up with old 'friends'. The graphics used for the title sequence are retro, old style graphics which I think shows the identity of the show as quirky, original and obviously computer related. 

The sitcom has three stereotypical protagonists, two types of geeky guys, one (named Maurice or 'Moss') seems very intelligent, socially awkward and smart. The other (named Roy) comes across as the type of nerd who still is well educated in the world of computers but also seems to be more interested in getting a girlfriend and being social although he seems repellent to all women. The woman, Jen, is the relationship manager of the company. However she has no previous experience with any technology, and only got the job offer because of multiple lies on her CV. They all appear desperate for a relationship. 

This episode showed me that this series contains lots of irony, extremely sarcastic comments and very awkward moments, for example; Jen attends a party with a woman she once vaguely knew from school that she had recently come into contact with via 'Friend Face' a social network. She wants to appear sophisticated so she brings Moss along as her pretend husband to make her seem more successful. They constantly lie throughout the party when suddenly Roy, who had been on a date with a emotionally unstable woman who comes across as being rather obsessed with him, bursts into the party claiming to the crazy woman that Jen is the woman he loves. Moss and Roy then get into a fake argument about who loves Jen more and then say they should take the fight outside. However when they do step outside they just flash a quick look at each other and run off down the street away from the party. 

I think the audience for this sitcom is teenagers and young adults as they use some adult comedy and more grown up story lines. Young kids or older pensioners wouldn't specifically want to watch computer related comedy as they do not use it as much as teenagers or young adults. 

My opinion of the show is that it is alright. The episode I watched only made me genuinely laugh about once. The use of canned laughter I find quite irritating as, to me, it says that you should be laughing but you aren't which I just find awkward if I'm honest. The canned laughter doesn't completely put me off as I don't mind the use of it in some circumstances. The IT Crowd is lighthearted and comedic but not my cup of tea. ALthough it does have elements of quirk that blend into the identity of Channel 4 itself.