At its face, The IT Crowd is a pretty straightforward British workplace comedy. It shares genre DNA with a lot of well-known and influential shows that preceded and followed it - more on that shortly. Based in the offices of the fictional Reynholm Industries, The IT Crowd revolves around the awkward IT nerds Roy Tenneman (Chris O’Dowd) and Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade), and their new clueless boss, Jen Barber (Katherine Parkinson). The show was unique in that they filmed it before a live audience, something that was not common on British TV at this time.

The Irish comedian Graham Linehan wrote and created The IT Crowd in 2006. The show ran from 2006 to 2013, and had five series (seasons in American TV lingo). In classic British television fashion, each series was short, and the first four had six episodes each. Including the single series finale, the show ultimately had 25 episodes during its run. It is also not without controversy (more on that). The IT Crowd is a great example of absurdist workplace humor, a look at characters in and out of their element, geek culture, and, yes - controversial and edgy comedy.

Put Into Context, How IT Crowd Fit Into the Period

A scene from The IT Crowd (2006)
Channel 4

The IT Crowd debuted in 2006. By this point in modern British TV history, the original series The Office, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, had completed its run in 2003. The Office, its success, reputation, and accolades are well noted, and it certainly influenced IT Crowd creator Lineham. Contemporaries of The IT Crowd include The Mighty Boosh, a comic fantasy; The Thick of It a British government satire; and Extras, Gervais’s follow-up to The Office about actors working as extras.

British humor is often dry, witty, absurdist, and certainly, within the past twenty years, awkward. Taking those elements, and combining them with the stereotypical lens of IT workers, set The IT Crowd on a clear path for success.

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Absurdity Within the Bounds of Reality

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Talkback Thames

The workplace element of any show is usually based on a semblance of reality. The business world of Reynholm Industries is just that, but it’s playfully absurdist right off the bat, as it is never said or clarified what the business actually does. The IT Crowd begins the very first episode by introducing us to Roy and Moss via what would not only become a catchphrase for the show, but a joke that translated to technical support helpers around the world. “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” is a joke that has found endless memeification on Twitter, and has a life of its own. It’s also based on a great basic tip--just give your computer a restart sometimes.

The first and second series in particular, play heavily into the absurdist workplace theme. Dealing with the ridiculous boss Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris), helping helpless employees with their computer problems, awkward office parties and meetings, and the three IT employees regularly disrupting business operations. The show is unique in that each series feels different from the rest. The through story changes, there isn’t a lot of series-to-series continuity, and while there are certainly callbacks, the show evolves.

For instance, as the show moved into series three and four, stories took the characters out of the office more and into awkward situational storytelling in the wider world of London. We see them attend a theater show, Moss competes on a game show, attend a football match, and a “bunk off” day.

All About The Characters

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Talkback Thames

The IT Crowd is a show that succeeds thanks to its characters. Each of them has their own degree of absurdity, and each is grounded. IT Manager, Jen Barber, worked her way into her position, spitting out enough computer jargon words that Denholm considered her worthy of appointment. Jen is known for her desire to advance within the company, and acts as the integration tool between “normal” people and Moss and Roy. Roy, an Irish IT tech, hates his job and is a master of distraction and avoidance of accomplishing any meaningful work.

Moss, is the caricature of a geek - shy, awkward, but highly intelligent, and lacks nearly all necessary social skills. That is unless he’s wearing a pair of women’s slacks. The supporting characters are especially enjoyable. Lonely Goth Richmond (Noel Fielding), is a standout example, one whose own outlandish appearance and story offer some of the show's funniest moments. Then, of course, there is Douglas Reynholm (Matt Berry), the son of Denholm, who would eventually become the fourth main character. He's a womanizing, rich, powerful idiot, who is as clueless to reality as he is at running a business.

The show took advantage of the developments throughout the series to find further bizarre situations to put the characters in. So much so, that in the finale there is a very on-the-nose joke about it.

Not Without Controversy

The IT Crowd cast
Channel4

Sometimes absurdist, or intentionally awkward comedy, can come off as mean-spirited. There are moments of this in The IT Crowd. For example, the show pokes fun at a character who Jen is dating, who they believe to be gay, though Jen denies it. The episode plays at some over-the-top gay stereotypes, while also placing Roy in a position where he has to pretend to be disabled. And while this episode doesn’t actually take a stance against homosexuality, it does feel dated in today’s more culturally-advanced climate.

But, the episode that drew heavy criticism was one from series three titled “The Speech.” In this episode, one of the funniest gags takes place in which Roy and Moss convince Jen that “the internet” is actually just a small black box with lights on it, when she has the chance to give a speech after winning Employee of the Month. But, it’s the b-story of the episode that was controversial.

In it, Douglas meets a reporter named April. He is physically attracted to her and mistakenly hears her say “I used to be from Iran” when in actuality she said “I used to be a man.” The relationship between the two blossoms, physically and emotionally, and it isn’t until Douglas discovers the truth, rebukes her, and physically engages her in a fistfight (during which, they crush “the internet” and create a company-wide panic).

Presenter and distributor Channel 4 pulled the episode from circulation because of accusations of transphobia, and subsequent comments from creator Linehan. Linehan is an openly anti-trans activist, and his comments and statements are well-documented, including his suspension from Twitter in 2020 for violating their terms of service, specifically, “repeated violations of our rules against hateful conduct and platform manipulation.”

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Lasting Legacy

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Etsy

Today, despite its controversial episode, and comments from the creator, The IT Crowd is still loved by fans. It would go on to have some fantastic episodes and storylines during its fourth season, and the finale was well-received by critics and fans alike.

Actors Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, and Katherine Parkinson all had successful careers in part due to The IT Crowd. Parkinson won a BAFTA for her portrayal of Jen Barber in 2014. The show won Best Situational Comedy at the 2009 BAFTAs as well. It also won awards for Parkinson and Ayoade in 2014 at the British Academy Television Awards. The show was successful and influential enough that spinoffs were attempted, including one in America, starring Joel McHale as Roy, but it never made it past the pilot, despite being given an order for a season.

Likewise, a German version of the show called “Das iTeam” was made and lasted just two episodes due to poor ratings and reviews. And yet, it’s worth acknowledging that the show—or at least that episode—falls into the larger conversation of, can you separate art from its artist? Controversial anti-trans statements from Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling fall into the same category, and it can be extremely difficult for fans to separate themselves from something they enjoy from that of their personal beliefs that aren’t matched by artistic creators.

But, the original still has legs and continues to find new audiences in America with its availability on streaming platforms. For many, it remains an entertaining show despite its controversies, and is beloved by fans - if you're able to separate art from artist.