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American television networks remaking British sitcoms is not a new strategy. Sometimes, like in the case of The Office, it can work out better than expected. In the case of The IT Crowd, it went horribly wrong. The original IT Crowd is immensely popular both in the US and UK, and for good reason. The American reboot of The IT Crowd missed the mark on almost every level. So much so the network decided to turn off The IT Crowd without turning them back on.
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0:00
Team! Team, team, team, team, team. I even love saying the word team
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This is the original IT crowd pilot. And this is the bizarre American knockoff that never left the basement
0:14
Team. Team, team, team, team, team. I even love saying the word team
0:19
If it weren't for the entire episode being leaked, we wouldn't have ever had the chance to see it
0:24
No one involved seems to want anything to do with it, and after watching it, we understand why
0:28
Well, I'm the head of this department. I thought I was. Well, one of us is
0:33
It's certainly not her. But while it may have failed on every conceivable level
0:37
there's still something to be learned from that time America tried to remake the IT crowd
0:42
I am the head of this department. I thought I was. But it's one of us
0:47
Certainly not her. The original IT crowd ran from 2006 to 2010
0:52
with a final special episode coming out in 2013. It was smart and more than a little awkward
0:57
Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again? Though many of the jokes have aged like yesterday's jam
1:05
the whole show really got by on the strength and chemistry of its cast
1:09
We need to stay calm. We do not want to go in there half-cocked
1:17
By the time it ended its run, the beloved British sitcom about geeks and IT
1:21
had attracted millions of viewers and helped cement many of its actors as huge stars
1:26
Chris O'Dowd and Richard Ayoade would both go on to become household names in the UK, and the show even featured the likes of
1:32
Noel Fielding and Matt Barry. But the IT crowd's legacy isn't flawless, and it remains tethered to
1:37
one of the worst attempts at Americanizing a British TV show to date. It's no secret that
1:43
Americans love to remake British television. From Shameless to Who's Line to The Office
1:48
sometimes the adaptation process works out for the better. In 2007, it seemed like the IT crowd
1:53
was going to be added to that list of successes when NBC ordered an entire season before even seeing a finished pilot But any enthusiasm for the project was short This will teach you to treat people with a little bit of respect
2:06
Oh my god, are those Manolos? Oh yeah. Oh, they're gorgeous. It would be an understatement to say the Hollywood makeover missed the mark here
2:14
According to the THR report at the time, the show didn't quite spark at NBC
2:19
So the executives canceled the adaptation after the completion of the pilot episode
2:23
even though it had something most American remakes don't have. It's not uncommon for British show creators to work closely with their American counterparts
2:31
when Hollywood decides to adapt a foreign story. What is uncommon is for a member of the original cast to return
2:38
Richard Ayoade as Maurice Moss. What? What are you doing? Oh, don't worry, that's why I always make two cups of tea
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Despite his status as a second lead, Ayoade had become a sort of poster boy for the show at large
2:53
Ayoade was, indisputably, the only man for the role. He proved as much by giving us the exact same performance
2:59
right down to the annotation in his sentences. It's honestly uncanny. What
3:05
What are you doing? Don't worry, that's why I always make two cups of tea
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But the bemusing comic stylings of one man were not enough to save the American IT crowd pilot
3:16
It was doomed from the start. That perfectly repeated performance is just the most entertaining symptom of a larger problem
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The pilot is essentially just a shot-for-shot remake of the IT crowd's first episode
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The Office famously used this method of painstakingly recreating the show they're adapting
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In that instance, the American version obviously went on to be hugely popular
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which is probably why NBC wanted to reproduce the formula. But the IT crowd proved to be a different beast
3:42
that couldn't be wrangled quite as easily. Let's see what we have here
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Stand upright. Now I can't read it. The American pilot is so strange in that it's both too similar
3:55
and too different from the British show There are echoes of iconic jokes and shots from the original but they done without the timing or consideration that made them work in the first place Whether it the pan from the photo of Rainholm
4:06
to the actual Rainholm making the same face or the way Jen gingerly steps out of the elevator
4:11
into the basement, the moments in the American pilot just don't hit as hard
4:15
I've got lots of experience with the whole computer thing. You know, the computer screen, the keyboard
4:23
Even the sets are practically mirror images of each other. But the ones in the American pilot feel more like a stage
4:29
The basement especially looks much cheaper and is generally unbelievable as an actual workspace for our titular IT crowd
4:36
Plenty of dialogue is lifted word for word from the original, though the cast members in the American pilot deliver it in painfully unfunny ways
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There will be some piece of evidence that will prove without any shadow of a doubt that you don't know anything about computers
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What are you doing? Plugging in your computer? There will be some piece of evidence that will prove beyond any shadow of a doubt
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that you do not know anything about computers. What are you doing
5:00
Plugging in your computer. Every time a regurgitated line gets butchered, the audience is reminded that these actors were never meant to say them in the first place
5:09
The new cast is unfortunately and frustratingly weak when compared to the actors in the original show
5:14
and the lead role was perhaps the biggest misstep. Hello, IT. Have you tried turning it off and on again
5:19
okay well the button on the side is it glowing yeah we're gonna need to turn it on the american
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pilot features a pre-community joel mckale as a replacement for chris o'dowd's roy why nbc thought
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casting a self-assured ryan seacrest type as roy was a good idea will forever remain a mystery
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it only served to harden the character's soft edges and highlight his worst personality traits
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when mckale is letting the phone ring off the hook complaining about his love life or putting
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Moss in a headlock, he doesn't come off as a disaffected nerd like O'Dowd. Rather, Roy carries
5:52
himself as an egotistical jerk which makes him a lot less likable right off the bat It just going to be a couple more minutes Tacos Yummy All right Overall the American IT crowd suffers from a deep misunderstanding of
6:07
both its source material and the nature of adaptation. While the premise and sense of
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humor of the office was easily translatable for an American audience, the IT crowd is wrapped
6:15
tightly around its British roots. The way the show's jokes are written, as well as the absurdity
6:20
of the characters, are unavoidably British. They just don't work with the sensibilities of American
6:25
actors. These are key components that made for a much more difficult translation. And that's also
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the reason why we've seen three more failed American reboots since the original pilot in 2007
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Even when the original creator is involved, the IT crowd just can't get off the ground in the
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States. And it should be noted that Hollywood wasn't alone in trying to muscle in on the magic
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There's an equally weird German remake that ran for six episodes before being unceremoniously canceled in 2008
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Clearly, something about the IT crowd has struck a chord with audiences
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and studio executives across cultural lines and even language barriers. It's a remarkably intimate show full of hilarious characters with palpable chemistry
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But we've now seen what happens when someone tries to replicate it. The American IT crowd pilot is a testament to Hollywood hubris
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After finding massive success with one British adaptation in The Office, NBC wanted a repeat
7:30
So that's what they did. They repeated the show, shot for shot, without any thought towards creative vision
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And they suffered the consequences for it. Maybe Hollywood hasn't learned its lesson, but we can
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We can leave this mess behind with a fuller understanding of how difficult it is to bring
7:46
British TV to American audiences, and a greater appreciation for the wit and charm of the
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original IT crowd. I'm not very good at lying. I'm very good at lying
7:55
I thought you were on the phone. Yeah, I am. Yes, I'm fine
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