The IT Crowd - Complete Series 1-4 Box Set [DVD]

Take two hopeless I.T. nerds (one a slob and one a bespectacled social misfit), and add one pathologically lying people expert. That's the setup for "The IT Crowd," a fun little workplace sitcom that sits on the other end of the comedy spectrum from "The Office" -- in particular, hardcore farce. These four seasons are crammed full of pure weirdness and mild surreality, starting with simple workplace comedies and then piling on the weird.

As the story begins, Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is hired by the deranged CEO Dernholm, whom she has told that she knows plenty about computers. Unfortunately, he doesn't plan to have her working on the levels that are full of "lots of sexy people, not doing much work, and having affairs." So he sends her down to the I.T. department, a filthy basement occupied only with "standard nerds" -- an embittered slob named Roy (Chris O'Dowd) and socially oblivious Moss (Richard Ayoade).

Despite the fact that they keep the company from imploding, nobody appreciates them ("Have you tried turning it off and on again?"). Initially the guys loathe Jen and vice versa, but gradually they start to appreciate one another. And as the series goes on, the trio of awkward weirdos has to deal with countless strange occurrences, problems, disasters and the occasional criminal undertaking.

"The IT Crowd: Series 1-4" has a few bumps in the road ("The Haunting of Bill Crouse" way overextends some of its jokes) but is overall a pretty solid sitcom -- think a more farcical version of "The Office" with a dash of "The Mighty Boosh." It even has Noel Fielding as the supremely freaky goth that lives down in the basement like a vampire (mostly in the first two seasons).

And it's got some great running jokes like Douglas Reynholm's ("I don't think I've ever looked in this drawer... WOW, a gun!") and the idiots who call IT because their computers are unplugged. But each episode has its own running gags: toe-deforming shoes, iPhones, bottom-kissing, "manly" behavior, flaming bras, erotic calendars and Douglas offending the top five major world religions. And the dialogue is a big oozing bundle of hilarity ("My trouser hams are not for sale sir!").

The core three actors are all brilliant at their very different characters -- Parkinson (who looks like a slapstickier version of Gillian Anderson) is wonderful as a pathological liar and girly-girl with the worst office on Earth. O'Dowd is deliciously sloppy and resentful about the way the rest of the employees treat him (a necessary evil), and Ayoade is gloriously monotonic and clueless about real life.

It has a couple weak episodes, but "The IT Crowd: Series 1-4" is the funniest Britcom in years -- and thankfully, it's still going strong.

Graham Linehan surely must be one of the most talented comedy writer/directors of recent years. Father Ted, Black Boooks and then this - top quality stuff and good enough to keep you crying with laughter.

I can remember that the first series got a rather tentative write up when it was first aired, and in an interview on the 3rd DVD even Linehan admits that the 1st series didn't quite hit the mark. I can't see it myself - the 1st series is as funny (or better) as its successors and benefits from a fair degree of freshness - it's hard to find any reason to criticise it. Perhaps the rather conventional sitcom settings that Linehan produces in his comedy might seem rather unadventurous to the more demanding audience members, but the writing is what makes this so special. Linehan also seems to have a knack of bringing high quality performers into his productions and O'Dowd, Ayoade and Parkinson work wonderfully together. They are well supported by a number of other actors, including Noel Fielding who plays the gloomy goth Richmond and Chris Morris and Matt Berry who play the trio's successive (and appalingly overbearing) bosses. If I'm honest, S4 seems to tail off a littel and it isn't quite as funny as its predecessors but it's still pretty good and it's well worth having the full set, if you haven't already got the earlier series (where have you been?).

There are a few extras, including outtakes, deleted scenes, set tours and the like and the Ken Korda (Adam Buxton) documentary on the first disc had me aching with laughter. Perhaps the best thing about these DVDs is the menu system which are based on popular computer games. I won't spoil it for you but it's well worth taking the time to watch the menus which have a life of their own.

This stuff just doesn't get old.

"Prepare to put mustard on those words, for you will soon be consuming them along with this slice of humble pie, that comes direct from the oven of shame, set at gas mark 'egg on your face'."

The total package in these DVDs gets better with every season and adding season 4 to the mix just makes it better than ever. The evolution of the menus across the seasons has been meticulously planned as a tribute to various gaming genres, and includes self contained games and quizzes themselves.

Each DVD also comes with extensive and entertaining special features. Graham Linehan's audio commentary and writing tips are particularly worth listening to.

The addition of the mock "Dungeons and Dragons" to the box set is really just the icing on an incredibly rich cake.

Of course the main reason to buy this is to get the shows, and you will not be disappointed. Each season has it's highlights and season 4 is no exception. While there may not be many episodes per season, especially compared to American shows, each episode is finely crafted for a maximum of laughs.

Highly recommended.