The British produce their fair share of shit sitcoms (Shitcoms?) that are not funny. I thought the last season of Yes Prime Minister was half assed (a couple months ago, pay attention) until I noticed that they'd just taken the stage play, not changed a fricking thing, and cut the 2 hour play into 6 equal parts. Chris O'Dowd did a sitcom called FM in which I didn't laugh once. He made 6 episodes of this stinker in between seasons of the IT Crowd and I wondered where his genius was until I remembered that he's just a monkey who reads a script some other bugger wrote. Good lord did you see (the Movie) the Boat the Rocked? Chris and Katherine together again but not a laugh in sight. Katherine Parkinson was in The Great Out Doors, a fine drama, but it was supposed to be a comedy, and he was far more amusing in Sherlock which was a Drama... Oh, Kathrine was great in Whites. I want more Whites but because the seasons are shorts, an actor in the UK can be in 4 or 5 britcoms simultaneously... So you're never just quite sure if some series is cancelled or not just because it's entire cast is employed elsewhere. The Yanks have stolen another britcom. They've remade White Van Man as something not horrible called Family Tools.
What do you mean?!?! The Great Outdoors was hi-larious! Look the IT Crowd is a fun show, but 24 eps plus a finale 3 years after the fact? That's just not a fantastic output. Comparing it to Sherlock is a bit silly. Do you honestly think they couldn't have done 13 episodes a year at that quality level? I'm not buying it.
This is not this. I was having a John Candy Conversation yesterday but I have literally no memory of the Great Out Doors, but I gott'a of seen it surely?
I watched the entire series this past winter and thoroughly enjoyed it. Glad they're making a special. I just hope we'll be able to see it in the U.S.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNPj3jXhzgw[/yt] ^About this bad. I hadn't seen this before actually. Joel McHale? Boy that just doesn't fit. The female lead is not so hot either.
Oh my god The Boat That Rocked was very iffy, yet my friend who I saw it with thought it was amazing, though I'm sure that was purely down to the sheer number of good actors in the cast. Meh. Have you seen Moone Boy? It aired on Sky One here last year sometime, and have no idea if it's aired in any other country. I thought it was pretty good in an offbeat way. O'Dowd played this 12 year old boy's imaginary friend, and it was set in Ireland in the 80s. It was funny, charming, and a little bit bonkers. We have a new series coming this year, and even a third next year. As Sky productions go, it was one of the better new ones last year. As for more IT Crowd (if only a small amount), I'm excited.
It is sort of past its sell-by date isn't it? I like the way British TV usually leave you wanting more*. *Last of the Summer fucking Wine notwithstanding
I saw Moone Boy in the local DVD rental store. So Moone Boy has made it all the way to the other side of the world. Moone Boy is a semiautobiographical story of O'Dowds own young life. It's quirky more than funny, like an Irish Wonder Years. The Boat that Rocked was a drama which was poorly & falsely advertised as a comedy. Chris was amusing on HBO's Girls. If any of you care to investigate "radio" or the pretend radio which is Big Finish, Katherine Parkinson played a decent temporary "assistant" against the Seventh Doctor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Collectors_%26_Spider%27s_Shadow
O'Dowd was very good in Bridesmaids (yes I love that film, sue me!) Yoda, if you'd prefer a longer running British sitcom may I suggest My Family? It's got hundreds of episodes...or possibly it just feels like hundreds (and I actually quite like My Family) I think Deckerd is right, it probably has had it's time now (especially given how quickly technology has moved on in the last few years) but I'm glad there'll at least be a final episode.
Comparing The IT Crowd to an American sitcom is a bit silly. Graham Linehan writes and directs every episode while most US sitcoms have a staff of writers and a pool of directors. Linehan tried bringing in more writers for the planned fifth series but it didn't work out, so he scrapped the series in favour of this special. While there are advantages to both the UK and US systems of TV production, I far more admire the British tradition of creators "owning" their shows. It generally prevents situations like the Community calamity where Dan Harmon was removed from his own show by the network. That sort of craziness just couldn't happen on a show like The IT Crowd.
I'm in favor of fewer episodes as long as those episodes are productive and worthwhile to the story. I am sick of filler episodes in the U.S. and I'd rather have 6 - 12 good quality episode seasons instead of 22 episode seasons where a good portion of them are crap. In this case quality over quantity is much better. It's a pipe dream, but still.
I hear Linehan has been working on a TV version of Count Arthur Strong. I'm looking forward to seeing that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Arthur_Strong's_Radio_Show! I suspect that there will only be a handful of episodes made of this as well.