The IT Crowd

Created by veteran Irish TV writer and producer Graham Linehan (Father Ted, Black Books), The IT Crowd is crammed full of witty dialogue, awkward relationships, and unabashedly retro sitcom sensibilities. The award-winning series follows two technically brilliant, but socially inept, IT professionals as they deal with life in and out of absurd mega-conglomerate Reynholm Industries. Gangly, sports-averse Moss (Richard Ayoade) is a grown mama's boy who invents things like a bra that never wears out, while lazy Irish blowhard Roy (Chris O'Dowd) constantly tries to prove his masculinity. Many of the show's tightly focused plots revolve around Moss and Roy's ever-evolving relationship with Jen (Katherine Parkinson), their gullible and computer-illiterate boss who serves as their only link to the non-IT world, and their surreal encounters with Reynholm employees, including Richmond (Noel Fielding), a basement-dwelling goth IT worker, and Douglas (Matt Berry), the company's vacuous and flirtatious CEO. Shot in front of a live studio audience, each fast-paced episode delivers minor gags and throwaway jokes as lead-ups to fantastically silly moments that showcase the series' madcap attitude. An optimistic antidote to the shaky, melancholic strain of humor popularized by The Office, The IT Crowd is a solidly crafted, charmingly retro comedy with a nerdy heart is as big as its laughs.