The IT Crowd – Season Two

Well, let’s face it … it was a disappointment. Not only did season two NOT do anything that writer Graham Linehan claim it was going to do in the commentary tracks (plural) of season one, but it utterly failed to deliver even on the most basic expectations of its own premise. It was … oh, I don’t know … almost like Graham was too pre-occupied making some other show in another country like America to be bothered with writing something worthwhile. (Yes, that’s a joke. Development of the US It Crowd is well underway and will, no doubt, remove any qualities from the original series worth seeing.)

But, still it wasn’t as bad as say … the American version of the Office. The beauty or should I say simplicity of “the IT Crowd” is the surrealistic tone of the show and sometimes that still shines through quite well in season two. It seems, as with Black Books, Linehan has trouble sticking to the reality of his premises and that is his virtue. Sometimes it is his weakness, but mostly a virtue. Let’s face it, how many geek/IT jokes can you squeeze out before it gets tired or worse, hateful?

So, instead of reprising the set-up of the IT department as social outcasts, the first episode finds them all off on Jen’s date with a man who may or may not be gay. He knows people in a musical … called “Gay” … and by the end of the episode sees Roy in a wheelchair being hauled off to Manchester with gay cripples, Moss working as a bartender in the theater, and Jen’s potential date admitting he’s gay and saying, “I thought it would work … since you look like a man!”

The other stellar episode is “the Dinner Party” where Jen has to invite the IT department gang (including the goth Richmond) to replace three men for her couples dinner party. Each is paired up – Richmond is paired off successfully with a rather socially awkward woman who makes comments on how socially awkward things are, Roy with a super model who’s been in an horrific car crash, and most strangly, Moss with an alocholic lush who is so convincing as a divorcee that Moss thinks he needs to divorce her (despite the fact that he isn’t married.) Richmond has a tremendously funny spider-man moment and Jen’s new boyfriends turns out to be named – Peter File – with rather hilarious consequences.

But, in the end, the series of six ended and it seemed like it wasn’t really over. Worse, there isn’t any assurance that there will be a series 3. Like Coupling before it, there is a suspension of activity surrounding the program due to the possible success of an American(ized) version … which is just simply not going to go in the same direction. In fact, the entire premise will no doubt ground the show back to “let’s make fun of geeks” and leave the surrealness on the floor. Richmond certainly won’t be in it. And, even though Richard Ayoade has been brought over to play Moss, this too totally reeks of the dreadful “Red Dwarf” pilots attempted in the U.S. … I predict an instant death, mostly because even the few sentence description on the NBC site doesn’t seem to understand the point of the program

http://www.nbc.com/Fall_Preview/The_IT_Crowd/cast_credits.shtml

And, this is sad, because we’ll have to wait for Graham Linehan to come to his senses again and write a series three of the “good” version …

Random Task

Well, the weekend was a bit lame. I watched the first few James Bond films and they are fun. I will admit that I have mixed feelings about the franchise. Even the first few films, while great, are a sometimes too outrageous to believe. Not just the outrageousness of the plots and gadgets, but the sexism. I realize that these films were meant to be viewed as “adult” but they seem as adult as cartoon women in comic books. It’s a special brand of male chauvinism that comes from adolescent fantasy.

Admittedly, I will watch Bond movies when I just don’t want to do anything at all and can’t bother to think. There is a reassurance in them for children of the 70s. Those ABC Sunday night movie events are a part of the landscape of my childhood. I remember sneaking out to the hall and watching the premier of “You Only Live Twice” in the early 70s (being past my bedtime) and loving the whole gyrocopter sequence. Or later actually sitting through the whole of “Goldfinger” and being certain that it was the greatest film ever made. It really isn’t, but it is good. I still can’t sit through “Diamonds are Forever.” I have no idea why. Sean is back, but the film just seems so at odds with the James Bond culture.

Doctor No – 8
From Russia With Love – 9
Goldfinger – 10
Thunderball – 6
You Only Live Twice – 7
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – 5
Diamonds are Forever – 4

“How Do You Want Me” – watched this short-lived late 90s series starring Dylan Moran. Wow, just so dreadful and hard to sit through. It just wasn’t funny and the sort of dry, dead humor that centers around the main character going through pure Hell. It was produced with such on odd sensibility. They clearly didn’t know what to do with Dylan Moran (who is, in my opinion, one those unique comedy voices that come along every generation), the sound track (and ghostly harmonica and toneless dreadful theme tune), and just a general malaise about the whole piece. Even though it was only 6 episodes, it felt like struggle to watch.

“The IT Crowd” – after that I rewatched the episodes of season 2 thus far and I have to say … it’s still really great. Sure, it’s a sitcom and is very silly sometimes, but there is something really likable about all the characters (especially Moss and Richmond.) I laughed and laughed. I then rewatched the season one dvd and laughed and laughed. Frankly, the real sad part of this show is knowing that there will be an American version (like the Office) that will completely erode the original.

But, this cheered me up a lot on Sunday and I was feeling a bit more normal.