Never-aired U.S. pilot of The IT Crowd is online

In 2007, NBC greenlit a pilot for a U.S. remake of the charmingly nerdy British sitcom The IT Crowd, which drew most of its broad laughs from The Odd Couple interplay between lovable lunkhead Roy (Chris O'Dowd) and Moss (Richard Ayoade), his highly phobic but technically brilliant co-worker. Ayoade reprised his role as the ever fearful Moss, while producers chose to replace O'Dowd's Scottish sloppiness with comedian Joel McHale's nasally sarcasm.

But, like so many pilots before and since, it never aired, becoming a mythic "lost pilot" on the level of Heat Vision and Jack (Owen Wilson as the voice of his talking motorcycle and Jack Black as the superpowered astronaut who rides him? We'd totally watch that.) So naturally we were thrilled when this week the failed 22 minute pilot surfaced online, giving us a brief glimpse at what could have been.

The episode hits all the same beats as its British counterpart: Roy and Moss meet their new computer illiterate manager and attempt to expose her, all while trying to impress their co-workers. But McHale's blowhard attitude feels forced and the chemistry between him and Ayoade never quite gels. But don't feel too bad for the pair-- McHale later landed on the cult sitcom Community, while Ayoade can be seen alongside comedy heavyhitters Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in the upcoming sci-fi comedy The Watch.