Gify It Crowd on and Off Again

The Information technology Oversupply

TV program information
Director(due south)	Graham Linehan
Producer(s)	Ash Atalla
Writer(s)	Graham Linehan
Starring	Chris O'Dowd as Roy Trenneman Richard Ayoade as Maurice Moss Katherine Parkinson as Jen Barber Matt Berry as Douglas Reynholm
Music by	Neil Hannon
Original broadcast	February 3 2006 - September 27, 2013
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Running Time	25 minutes approx.
Created past	Graham Linehan
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Language	English
Original channel	Channel four

The IT Oversupply (pronounced either /ˈɪt/, equally in the pronoun, 'it', or as /ˌaɪˈtiː/, every bit in the It Department), too spelt The I.T. Crowd , is a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Channel iv sitcom written by Male parent Ted creator Graham Linehan and starring actors Chris O'Dowd every bit Roy Trenneman, Richard Ayoade as Maurice Moss and Katherine Parkinson as Jen Barber.

The testify revolves effectually iii friends and IT consultants at the fictional business Reynholm Industries: Maurice Moss, the uber-geek who collects wires and still lives with his mother, Roy Trenneman, a lazy Irishman who spends most of his workday eating junk food and reading comics, and Jen Barber, the technologically-retarded Human relationship Manager who lied on her CV in lodge to secure a position at the business. Equally of episode two of Series Ii, the bear witness also co-stars Douglas Reynholm (played by Matt Berry), the sexually-frustrated Head of Reynholm Industries who regularly uses his employees for his own sexual fulfilment.

The testify premiered on February 3, 2006, on Channel 4 and has run for four series, each containing six episodes each, making 24 episodes in full. Graham Linehan confirmed on Reddit that there would exist no fifth series, instead just one-off special to end the series, due to air in 2013.

1 Plot
2 Main characters
iii Cultural references
4 Production
5 Episodes
6 Distribution
- 6.1 Worldwide viewing
- six.2 DVD releases
  - half-dozen.2.1 Series Ane
  - half dozen.ii.2 Series 2
  - 6.2.3 Series Three
7 Reception
- 7.1 Ratings
- 7.two Censorship
- 7.3 Awards
8 Foreign adaptions
- 8.1 American adaption
- 8.two German adaption
nine Behind the scenes
10 External links

Plot [ ]

The IT Crowd is ready in the offices of the fictional London business giant Reynholm Industries, and follows the story of 3 colleagues and friends there, Roy Trenneman, Maurice Moss and Jen Hairdresser, who work in the muddied unkept IT Section in the basement, a vast contrast to the shining, modernistic architecture and stunning London views enjoyed by some of the college-ranking employees.

Moss and Roy are portrayed as socially-retarded "standard nerds" who spend almost of their fourth dimension reading comics, playing video games and uploading computer software. Although they are one of the driving forces of the company, the members of the section are ignored, driveling and considered second-class citizens by the some of the employees on the upper floors. Roy and Moss do seem laid back in their arroyo to giving Information technology back up, and ordinarily immediately say "Hello, IT, have you lot tried turning it off and on once again?" whenever the phone rings, which seems to set up the majority of computer problems at Reynholm Industries.

The newest member of the Information technology Section, Jen Hairdresser, is technologically-illiterate who lied her way into the position by claiming on her CV that she has had a lot of experience with computers, despite having to be told what a difficult bulldoze was. Her official championship is Relationship Manager, withal her attempts at bridging the very wide gap between the technicians and the business generally accept the opposite effect, landing Jen in situations just every bit ridiculous as those of her teammates.

Since Series Two, the show also features Douglas Reynholm, the sexually-frustrated son of Denholm Reynholm and heir of Reynholm Industries. Since Douglas'due south take over of the company, Reynholm Industries' profits have fallen considerably and but only managed to avoid going into debt in 2010.

Over the show'southward history, nearly all characters take adult in some shape or form. Roy, in one case the socially-inept geek who rarely left the basement in Series I, is at present portrayed in a more than social lite, and has had several girlfriends and seems much more socially able. Even Moss has been seen venturing out, although this is small in comparison to Roy's character development.

Main characters [ ]

Roy Trenneman (Chris O'Dowd) - a lazy, laid-back Irish gaelic support technician in the IT Department whose work twenty-four hour period consists of playing video games, indulging himself on sugar and crisps, and reading comics whilst doing the minimum amount of work possible. He will avert putting any effort into his job at all costs, and once even built a machine that would answer his phone for him. Roy is well-nigh famous for his catchphrase "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" and is unremarkably the just piece of advice he gives to the employees who telephone call for Information technology support.
Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade) - a technologically brilliant but socially unaware IT consultant who in his thirties however lives with his mother and collects wires. A "standard nerd", Moss is usually referred to by his surname and is the most hardworking of the staff in the Information technology Department, and is also the near experienced and the most capable of doing his task well. He puts a lot of effort into his job, notwithstanding, he does non get the credit which he deserves. Similar virtually of the department, he is ignored and disrespected by the employees who rank higher up him on the upper floors.

From left to right: Roy, Jen, Moss and Douglas
Jen Hairdresser (Katherine Parkinson) - the Relationship Manager for the IT Section who managed to lie her way into the job when she said on her CV that she had a lot of feel with engineering, despite having to exist told how to pronounce the word 'computers'. Jen considers herself the leader of the group despite having bereft knowledge of the computing world. Whenever Jen leaves Roy and Moss for whatever reason, the department is sent into anarchy and peace is not restored until Jen's render.

Douglas Reynholm (Matt Drupe) - the sexually-frustrated Head and possessor of the multi-billion pound business organization empire, Reynholm Industries. Douglas took over the company when his predecessor and father, Denholm Reynholm, committed suicide in 2007. Despite being an extremely rich and successful businessman, Douglas is oft prone to taking reward of his power past wasting the company's pension fund on such ridiculous things as putting gilded leaf in the water coolers and roofing the walls of his function in erotic art. Douglas has been accused on numerous occasions of sexual abuse, although each time he seems to worm his way out of prosecution.
Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris) - was the Head and founder of his eponymous business empire Reynholm Industries. He set up the multi-meg-pound concern with only a dream and £6,000,000. Still there were many irregularities in the business organization' alimony fund, so much so that in 2007, Denholm committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of the business' headquarters, leaving his simply son, Douglas, as head of Reynholm Industries.
Richmond Avenal (Noel Fielding) - the in one case gothic and vampiric hidden member of the IT Department, Richmond one time spent his days lurking in a hidden room behind the department, due to his colleague'southward discomfort of his dark personality. Richmond was brought out of isolation in 2005 by Jen Barber after she discovered the appalling conditions that Richmond was living in, however, he had gotten and so used to being trapped inside the tiny room behind the department that he was rarely seen leaving it. In 2008, Richmond was diagnosed with scurvy and had to exit Reynholm Industries. Around this time, Richmond began to turn away from his gothic lifestyle when he realised it wasn't making him happy. He afterward turned his back on the subculture and founded his own business, From Goth2Boss, which helps goths in the same position every bit him plough their lives effectually.

Cultural references [ ]

Several references to films, board and video games, Tv shows, bands and comic books can be seen in The IT Crowd, particularly in the poster-filled realm of the IT Department basement. Some of these references include amid others, Guitar Hero, The Godfather, Mustard, War on Terror, Inaugural and Guided by Voices. Although Graham Linehan wants the show to entreatment to both geek and not-geek audiences, the show'south dialogue occasionally contains in-jokes for viewers knowledgeable in such subjects. Some episodes as well contain parodies of films and Television receiver shows, for example, the episode The Haunting of Bill Crouse is a reference to the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House.

The main carte du jour for the DVD of Serial 1

In August 2008, having not had time to source the props himself, Linehan appealed to fans to donate items to use for Serial 3, to make the fix look like "a geek's Shangri-La". The Centre for Calculating History lent a collection of computers from the 1970s and 1980s. They included an Altair 8800, Oric Atmos, Amstrad CPC 464, Sinclair ZX81, Sinclair ZX Spectrum +ii, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, Atari ST, Sord M5, Acorn RISC PC600, BBC Model B, an Astro Wars game, circuit boards from a Wang VS mainframe and several shelves of old computer manuals. One manual with the letters MOSS on the spine sits on the shelf behind Moss. The primary stickers establish around the function include Electronic Borderland Foundation ("Fair Use has a POSSE", "MP3 is not a crime", "Coding is not a offense") and Open Rights Group.

Likewise as cultural references on the testify itself, several parodies of video games featuring the characters from the show equally players can be seen on the DVD menus for virtually all of The IT Crowd DVDs. These include such games as Knight Lore and Head over Heels on the DVD of Series Ane, Cypher Wing, Mortal Kombat, Tetris and Lemmings on the DVD of Series 2 and GROW CUBE, Doeo and Flow on the DVD of Series Iii.

Production [ ]

All episodes of The IT Crowd have been written past renowned Irish comedy writer Graham Linehan and produced past The Office producer Ash Atalla. Linehan did suggest that his sometime writing partner, Arthur Matthews, would help with the writing of Series 2, although this did not happen. However, Graham Linehan has expressed his interest in recruiting a squad of writers for the writing of Series Five and has suggested this team may consist of Linehan'south friends and colleagues Charlie Bergmann and Ali Carruthers, who co-wrote I'yard Alan Partridge alongside Steve Coogan and Armando Iannucci.

The Information technology Oversupply was filmed at Teddington Studios for Serial One but moved to Pinewood Studios for the filming of Serial Two, Three, and 4. The bear witness was besides filmed in front of a live studio audition, which many people consider an old-fashioned concept. Graham Linehan did this deliberately, to challenge the idea that this mode of making sitcoms was dead and that wing-on-the-wall or mockumentaries were more modernistic. Linehan has said that "I trust my instincts, so I'm going to exercise it my fashion and hope people come to me".

Episodes [ ]

Main commodity: Episode Guide

In all at that place have been four serial of The IT Crowd, each containing six episodes each, giving a total of 24 episodes with at least one more than series of six episodes commissioned for 2011. In 2009, rumours surfaced suggesting that a Christmas special of The IT Oversupply was to exist filmed and set for Christmas 2009. Chris O'Dowd, portrayer of Roy, confirmed that there were plans for a Christmas special and that filming would begin in Summer 2009. However, no special episodes appeared in the December schedules. On December 18th, Graham Linehan confirmed via Twitter that there would not be a Christmas special.

In a showtime for Aqueduct 4, all episodes of the outset series were available for download via the channel's website a week before the episodes' initial broadcasts. Downloads were only available for UK and Ireland viewers and were supplied in Windows Media Video format. All episodes were encoded with DRM restrictions with the exception of the first ii episodes.

All episodes are bachelor on Channel 4's "4 on Demand" (4oD) service available on Channel 4's website. The episodes of Series Four were available for viewing on 4oD a calendar week before their TV broadcast, although this was only available to logged-in and registered viewers, different most of 4oD's post-broadcast output.

Distribution [ ]

Worldwide viewing [ ]

The Information technology Crowd is broadcast in its host land, the Uk, on Aqueduct four. The show is also available for viewing in Australia on ABC equally well as ABC2, and as well broadcasts on UKTV. In the Czechia, The It Oversupply aired on stations Česká televize and HBO. In Denmark, the prove airs on Goggle box 2 Zulu while it is shown on Comedy Central in the Netherlands. The IT Oversupply was besides aired on GTV in Bulgaria in July 2008 while the offset series was aired on Comedy Fundamental Germany in September 2009.

In the United states, the show has been aired on IFC and the offset four series are available from the DVD mail Netflix. Canadian channel G4 Canada ran the show during their Adult Digital Distraction segment in July 2007.

DVD releases [ ]

Serial One [ ]

The start series of The IT Crowd was released in the United kingdom every bit "The IT Oversupply - Version i.0" on November thirteen, 2006, by 2 Entertain Video Ltd. The DVD contains all six episodes accompanied by 2 commentaries, one by Graham Linehan solitary and one by Graham Linehan, Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson. The disc also includes a deleted scenes and outtakes extra, a mockumentary by Ken Korda (played by comedian Adam Buxton) and Graham Linehan'south one-act horror short film, Hullo Friend.

Many of the disc menus parodied many 8-bit games. The many of the menus were designed to resemble ZX Spectrum, although the episode menu parodied Knight Lore and Head over Heels.

A Region 1 (American) release of the DVD was delayed due to a delay in the circulate of the American adaptation. MPI Domicile Video released the DVD on March 31, 2009. The American version does not comprise the audio commentaries which are plant on the British version.

Series Two [ ]

The second series of The Information technology Oversupply, "The It Oversupply - Version ii.0" DVD was released in the United kingdom on 1 Oct 2007, along with a box set of both the outset and the second series. Amusement retail chain HMV released an exclusive express edition version featuring a set of four postcards in the style of popular viral photos such as Ceiling True cat, which was renamed in the boxset as Ceiling Goth.

While the Series One DVD parodied 8-bit games, the Series Two DVD parodied 16-bit games. The main menu resembles Null Wing, the episode menu resembles Mortal Kombat, the settings carte du jour resembles Tetris and the extras menu resembles Lemmings.

A hidden competition was planted onto the DVD disc, with the prize existence a Lamborghini laptop seen in the evidence. Several clues were hidden on the disc which somewhen led to three JPG pictures of the main characters holding easter eggs and a text adventure game. Contestants had to send a complete gear up of answers to an accost which was subconscious. The competition was and then difficult that the closing date was extended until eventually a complete set of answers was sent in and the prize was won.

Series Three [ ]

The third series of The Information technology Oversupply, "The It Crowd: Serial 3", was released on March 16, 2008. Once again, the DVD parodied various video games. The chief carte du jour resembles Abound CUBE, the extras men resembles Doeo and the settings bill of fare resembles the online shooting game Tactical Assassin. A box gear up of all series was also released on the same date, every bit well as a limited edition box fix in which all DVDs came in a box which resembled the net seen in the episode The Oral communication.

Reception [ ]

Ratings [ ]

The premiere of The Information technology Oversupply on February 3, 2006, gained 1.8 million viewers, which was described as "disappointing". Yet, Graham Linehan has since said that he stays hopeful that this prove will become more popular as his first hit sitcom, Male parent Ted, gained similar viewing figures on its opening night, and went on to win several awards.

Linehan'south theory proved correct, as on the premiere of Series Four on July 30, 2010, the evidence gained 2.17 million viewers, the show'southward current record.

Censorship [ ]

The IT Crowd does contain some balmy swearing in Series I, Ii and Four, usually the discussion "shit" and contains some mild sexual references, merely because of the use of the word "fuck" once in episode 2 of Series One and several times in Series 3, the show is given a certificate of xv's in Britain and Ireland. However, swearing in the show is exceptional, with the exception of once in Series Ane near all uses of the word "fuck" up to Series Three are bleeped.

In Australia, the bear witness is given a certificate of "M", which means that show is suitable for mature but relatively young audiences, while in Germany The IT Crowd is given a certificate of 12's.

Awards [ ]

2009 - Won Best Situation Comedy at the BAEFTAs
2009 - Katherine Parkinson won Best Comedy Actress at the British One-act Awards
2009 - Graham Linehan won All-time Script for Tv at the 6th Irish Flick and Tv Awards
2008 - Won Best Sitcom at Rose d'Or Awards
2008 - Won the Internation Emmy Award for Comedy
2008 - Nominated for Best Situation Comedy at the BAEFTAs
2007 - Won Comedy of the Yr at the Comedy.co.u.k. Awards
2007 - Nominated for Best State of affairs Comedy at the BAEFTAs
2006 - Won Best New British Sitcom at the One-act.co.uk Awards

Foreign adaptions [ ]

American adaption [ ]

A airplane pilot of an American adaption of The IT Crowd was fabricated and an unabridged series was ordered by American TV channel NBC. Richard Ayoade reprised his function of Moss, with Joel McHale as Roy, Jessica St. Clair every bit Jen and Rocky Carroll as Denholm. A pilot was filmed at Universal Film Studios in Jan 2007, Graham Linehan acted equally executive producer along with Steve Tao, with David Guarascio, Moses Port, Joe Port and Joe Wiseman as the writers. The script was well-nigh identical to the script of the first episode of the British version, Yesterday's Jam, with only a few small-scale differences being made. An unabridged series was ordered and advertised to air in Fall 07-08.

However, in September, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the show had not gone into production and the serial was canceled, despite some scripts beingness written. The reason for the cancellation was because the prove "didn't quite spark" with Ben Silverman, the NBC chairman. The airplane pilot, however, is all the same available on Youtube and several other sites.

On July 30, Graham Linehan revealed that an American adaption of The It Crowd was going to be made.

High german adaption [ ]

A German language version of the prove, entitled Das iTeam - Die Jungs an der Maus (The iTeam - The Boys at the Mouse, "Maus" is also a slang term for a immature woman), was commissioned, starring Sebastian Münster as Tom (Roy), Stefan Puntigam as Gabriel (Moss), Britta Horn equally Sandy (Jen) and Heaven du Mon as Bornholm (Denholm). The set of the German language version was noticeably much darker than the British version and too had dissimilar camera angles. Originally chosen Das iTeam - Dice Jungs mit der Maus (The iTeam - The Boys with the Mouse, a pilot was made entitled Brötchen vom Vortag (Yesterday's Bread Rolls). Over again, the first episode was extremely like to its British counterpart, Yesterday'south Jam, with virtually an identical script. The episode was aired on Sabbatum.1 on Jan 4, 2008. The episode received mostly negative reviews from online forums and blogs, criticising the quality of the translation and the poor performance of Stefan Puntigam.

A second episode was aired on January xi, entitled Stressige Zeiten (Stressy Times), which again was virtually identical to the second episode of the British version, Cataclysm Jen. The episode received the same criticism and the series was dropped.

Backside the scenes [ ]

There is much speculation as to whether the "IT" in the prove'south championship is pronounced /ˈɪt/, as in the pronoun, 'it', or as /ˌaɪˈtiː/, as in the It Department. Graham Linehan has revealed that this was done on purpose.
The IT Crowd is the 3rd successful sitcom by Graham Linehan, afterward Father Ted and Blackness Books. This is too the first sitcom Linehan has written lone, equally he wrote Father Ted with Arthur Matthews and Black Books with Dylan Moran.
The technical term for the show's catchphrase, "Have y'all tried turning it off and on once more?", is power cycling.
An online video game, based on the series, is playable on Channel 4's official website here.

External links [ ]

The IT Crowd on Channel four
The IT Oversupply on Wikipedia
The IT Crowd on the IMDb
Spotter The IT Crowd on Channel iv's 4oD

daviessatterign.blogspot.com

Source: https://theitcrowd.fandom.com/wiki/The_IT_Crowd