Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

archive.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 281 posts

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#11

Post by FullyFunctional »

OJFord wrote: post #5
skellera wrote: post #2

The IT Crowd is one of my favorite shows. I watched this awhile back and I was really sad to think, “well good thing that wasn’t made.”

Although if there had only ever been a pilot of The Office (US) I would've felt the same way about that, whereas once it got going I could appreciate it as 'different'. (To be blunt, in the beginning it's just the same jokes with far worse delivery.)

I agree. I actually didn’t fully enjoy the British version of the office (Gervasi wasn’t my taste), but the US version was brilliant.

It really chocked me as I can’t think of many remakes that are better than the original.

I think original IT Crowd is perfect and should be left that way.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#12

Post by googlryas »

dotBen wrote: post #8

I'm pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series. Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office. I wonder if that's old thinking (or wasn't actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that's now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series w…

Not at all. There's a cadre of people who enjoy British television programming in America, but they don't count. I'd estimate that the number of people that have watched for example the UK office is maybe 1% or less than the people that watched the US office in the US.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#13

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

PedroBatista wrote: post #3

This is one of those things like an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II or some fever dream. Thank God it wasn't picked up. I know it's a pilot, but the American actors are even mimicking the UK character's mannerisms.

That was a bugged me the most.

I get that they were lazy and stuck with the exact same script, but they clearly watched the other actors in the original episode, and then just copy that, too, just low effort all around.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#14

Post by autoexec »

googlryas wrote: post #12
dotBen wrote: post #8

I'm pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series. Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office. I wonder if that's old thinking (or wasn't actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that's now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series w…

Not at all. There's a cadre of people who enjoy British television programming in America, but they don't count. I'd estimate that the number of people that have watched for example the UK office is maybe 1% or less than the people that watched the US office in the US.

You wouldn't have look very hard to find an American who has seen Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, or Bake Off. The biggest problem keeping Americans from watching UK TV is access, not some inherent dislike or disinterest in compelling television whenever British people are involved.

A show has to be wildly popular before Americans even get the chance to be exposed to it, which really limits the amount of viewers for UK programing, but that's no reason to assume that shows have to be recast and refilmed before an appreciable number of Americans will be interested in them.

If American producers want to remake shows from the UK I wish they'd do it with panel shows. It's an entertaining genre seen in many countries that just never took off in the US. At least then they'd be more justified in bringing in American talent so guests are more recognizable.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#15

Post by ShakataGaNai »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #6

That wasn't nearly as atrocious as I was expecting. Partly because the script is almost the same as the UK first episode, of course, but even putting that aside it was OK. Richard Ayoade is still great but also Joel McHale is a pretty decent choice as Roy. Even the actress playing Jen, although a bit annoying, wasn't too bad. And the twist that the boss actually isn't crazy is interesting. Not like the US Red Dwarf p…

I'd be really curious to find out what Richard Ayoade thought of the entire situation. "So you want me to come play the exact same character, saying the exact same lines and doing the exact same things ... but now it's a 'US' version?"

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#16

Post by fragmede »

dotBen wrote: post #8

I'm pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series. Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office. I wonder if that's old thinking (or wasn't actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that's now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series w…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944954/

Doesn't name the producer responsible, but "someone" is someone in Hollywood, probably at NBC.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#18

Post by [deleted] »

SV_BubbleTime wrote: post #13
PedroBatista wrote: post #3

This is one of those things like an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II or some fever dream. Thank God it wasn't picked up. I know it's a pilot, but the American actors are even mimicking the UK character's mannerisms.

That was a bugged me the most. I get that they were lazy and stuck with the exact same script, but they clearly watched the other actors in the original episode, and then just copy that, too, just low effort all around.

[deleted]

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#19

Post by pessimizer »

autoexec wrote: post #14
googlryas wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not at all. There's a cadre of people who enjoy British television programming in America, but they don't count. I'd estimate that the number of people that have watched for example the UK office is maybe 1% or less than the people that watched the US office in the US.

You wouldn't have look very hard to find an American who has seen Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, or Bake Off. The biggest problem keeping Americans from watching UK TV is access, not some inherent dislike or disinterest in compelling television whenever British people are involved. A show has to be wildly popular before Americans even get the chance to be exposed to it, which really limits the amount of viewers for UK pr…

During Covid, a lot of atypical British stuff showed up on US network tv. Not new stuff, either; networks picked through the recent catalog to find stuff they thought would work. One example was Dead Pixels.

> If American produces want to remake shows from the UK I wish they'd do it with panel shows.

They do, but they are very bad. They just remade Would I Lie To You? recently. It was not very funny. They did a Taskmaster a few years ago. Horrific.

Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

#20

Post by Longlius »

dotBen wrote: post #8

I'm pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series. Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office. I wonder if that's old thinking (or wasn't actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that's now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series w…

Part of it is simply different television formats. The Office UK specifically aired on BBC One without commercials which meant that it had to be cut down to fit on a major network's timeslot of 20-24 min. Shows like that typically have to go to special TV stations like PBS or BBC America in order to get a commercial-free timeslot or (in BBC America's case) finagled into a less common time slot with weird commercial break timings. Even with shows that have the same length as a standard US show, the break timings are at different points making it more complicated for TV networks to schedule ad space around.

And then there's the larger issue of a lot of British TV actors simply not having the recognizability of their American counterparts which is a major selling point (esp in the pre-web media days). Steve Carrell was a minor star from his time on the Daily Show which made him a good fit to 'sell' the US Office.

>Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?

It was a minor cult hit, especially among the technologically-inclined demographic. But it's not especially well-known.

Post reply on HN