The IT Crowd - Season One

Impressions before seeing it
I've already seen season one. This was a DVD rewatch.

How was it?
Why does this show only do 6 episodes a season? It's too brilliant to be short.
It's a sitcom about nerds and for nerds so I have to take a moment to say that this show came out before The Big Bang Theory and in my humble opinion is far superior. There are similarities, especially in the three main characters (the exceedingly nerdy one; the calm, almost-cool-but-still-a-loser one; and the cute girl who enters their territory and changes their everyday routine), but when directly compared I think The Big Bang Theory has been watered down in order to be more accessible to the general public. I think it takes a really big nerd to truly appreciate The IT Crowd. I mean if you just look at the DVD, it has menus parodying old Atari/Commodore games, and even more brilliantly it contains L33T subtitles! Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the nerdiest reference Bang makes is showing the characters playing Halo.

Anyway, back to the show itself. The IT Crowd was created and written by Graham Linehan, who also created Father Ted (which I'm also a big fan of), and the resulting zany British humour is why I am able to forgive the laughtrack (which I am not a big fan of). I love the running gag about most I.T. problems being solved by restarting computers, and how the technicians are such slackers they intentionally wait a while before heading up to fix a problem. I also like that the female gets to be funny instead of just stand there looking good. She kind of reminds me of Elaine from Seinfeld. And then there's the ridiculousness of things like testing stress machines on oneself, mysterious doors that no one is allowed to look behind, getting pictures printed on the bottoms of mugs, and whistling happily after learning of someone's tragic death. I think I actually had more fun watching this the second time than the first. I even had fun watching those awesome DVD menus.

Recommendation
If you're reading this, you're probably a nerd and thus will love this show.