"have you tried forcing an unexpected reboot?" - The IT Crowd Season One DVD

The IT Crowd is one of those comedic gems that you almost hope will never make it big. I say this because all too often notoriety brings with it a kind of...well, homogenization. The great thing about this show are the little details that only a true nerd could appreciate -- like the glitch level Pac-Man shirt that Roy wears in one of the early episodes. Let's face it, if this show were to air in America (it was scheduled to air, and there was even a pilot made with new cast members, but it wasn't picked up, thank the heavens!) these sort of jokes would probably disappear completely in lieu of a more mainstream humor; and we all know that when you try to appeal the the masses you often end up appealing to no one.

As an American, I've been waiting rather impatiently for this wonderful show to be available on region one DVD. I was introduced to the show by an online friend who lives in the UK, and I absolutely love it. So imagine my excitement when I saw that it was finally available on amazon.com! I immediately ordered -- going so far as to pay extra for the fast shipping option. As soon as it arrived in the mail I got out the scissors and undertook the not small task of getting the blasted cardboard wrapping off the thing and popped it into the dvd player to watch with my family, whom I have thoroughly converted.

The menu is crazy cool! It's tricked out to look like an old atari video game, with the characters pixelated to perfection (by which I mean that they were still completely recognizable, despite being computer game versions of themselves). As the music intro began on the first episode I sat back and let out a happy sigh, and soon I was reacquainted with some of the funniest characters written in recent years. Moss, in particular, stands out for me as the most hilarious -- whether he's emailing the fire station about a fire in the office, or spraying his ear with water -- "I've got a hot ear!" -- he never fails to make me smile.



All in all, this was money well spent. The dvd itself cost around $18.00, and for that you get six episodes (yes, seasons run considerably shorter in the UK), special features that include deleted scenes and commentary by the writer/creator of the show, and a kick ass menu.