The IT Crowd – The Complete Second Season (MPI DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B
In easily
the funniest British sitcom since Absolutely
Fabulous, Graham Linehan (co-creator of the original U.K. version of The Office) has created an instant
classic in The IT Crowd, a show
about a trio of computer tech workers, their lives, misadventures and the wacky
lives they lead. Some of it is induced
by what they do out of boredom, while other incidents happen because of their
different personalities, played with perfect comic timing by the three leads.
They are
Roy (Chris O’Dowd), Moss (Richard Ayoade) and Jen (Katherine Parkinson), though
she is not even a techie, but they are friends and they have each other, plus
plenty of work and idiocy to juggle. The
episodes on this set include:
1)
The Work Outing
2)
Return Of The Golden Child
3)
Moss & The German
4)
The Dinner Party
5)
Smoke & Mirrors
6)
Men Without Women
I have
not laughed at any new sitcom on either side of the Atlantic in years and the
cast beyond the leads is also on the money.
The credits feign old 8-bit videogames and music score also works
well. The scripts are among the most
clever in a very long time and at times, groundbreaking. As for the title, the joke is that you say
“I” “T” and not “it” because they are not hip in the least, but they are the
best comedy trio in eons and that makes this show a must-see, especially these
shows.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image can be soft and have some motion blur, but are clean,
color rich and consistently good throughout otherwise. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is recorded
well, clean and clear, making the jokes very clear. The combination is only slightly flawed for
this format and as good as just about any such current production on DVD we’ve
seen to date. Extras include commentary
with Linehan on all episodes, behind the scenes featurette called Recording
The IT Crowd and very funny outtakes to be watched after you see the
shows.
- Nicholas Sheffo
