The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video] • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by gibspaulding » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 1:58 AM UTC

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…

Roy is even wearing a less conspicuously political version of the same RTFM shirt that he wears in the UK pilot!

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

#42

Post by tonfreed » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:08 AM UTC

RajT88 wrote: post #35

jedberg wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of people in the US would turn it off because "I can't understand what they are saying with their funny accent". The reason they get away with being on Netflix is that they don't need to be super popular to be worth it for the streaming networks if they pick it up for a cheap price. Linear TV had a limited number of time slots and had to be very choosey with what they put on. It needed to have massive appeal in…

> "I can't understand what they are saying with their funny accent" This is charitable. Probably a lot of folks here just have a general disdain for all things foreign. I am not sure anyone has ever tried to put numbers to the distinction between the two groups.

The thing that amuses me as an Australian is the subtitles when a pom, Irish, or Scot is talking. I've not seen it with Australians, but I wouldn't be surprised

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

#43

Post by RajT88 » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:10 AM UTC

tonfreed wrote: post #42

RajT88 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "I can't understand what they are saying with their funny accent" This is charitable. Probably a lot of folks here just have a general disdain for all things foreign. I am not sure anyone has ever tried to put numbers to the distinction between the two groups.

The thing that amuses me as an Australian is the subtitles when a pom, Irish, or Scot is talking. I've not seen it with Australians, but I wouldn't be surprised

Speaking of subtitles. My god, on the UK Show DVD releases, the subtitles tracks made it a whole new show.

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

#44

Post by oogali » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:11 AM UTC

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…

I wonder if it really just comes down to chopping it up for ads.

As in, the cost of reshooting is less than the cost of syndicating the original and re-cutting it for American ad time slots.

From my childhood, the only place I remember seeing unedited British shows was on my local PBS affiliate which doesn’t show ads (maybe once every hour).

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

#45

Post by david_allison » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:14 AM UTC

I love 2:58's reference to the Sony rootkit scandal:

> It’s never safe to unload a driver that patches the system call table since some thread might be just about to execute the first instruction of a hooked function when the driver unloads; if that happens the thread will jump into invalid memory.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-blog-archive/...

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

#46

Post by anderfernandes1 » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

I loved it! They kept Moss!!! That was surprising.

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

#47

Post by autoexec » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:18 AM UTC

Bluecobra wrote: post #40

autoexec wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> The biggest problem keeping Americans from watching UK TV is access I love British TV. I would happily pay for a UK television license if I could access iPlayer/Channel 4/etc from the US. I don’t get why they are so hell bent against making more money and insist on region locking content. Instead I have to resort to pirating it or buying import DVDs/BluRays. A long time ago I used to pay for a Linux shell account o…

> I don’t get why they are so hell bent against making more money and insist on region locking content.

Maybe it has something to do with the license being a tax vs a service charge? Seems like opening the door for anyone with an internet connection would only help fund quality programing. $160 a year isn't terrible. Maybe there are issues with distribution rights too. I'd do it too if I could, but I'm with you and I'll take what options they leave me with.

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

#48

Post by jonny_eh » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:26 AM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #33

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…

A lot of people in the US would turn it off because "I can't understand what they are saying with their funny accent". The reason they get away with being on Netflix is that they don't need to be super popular to be worth it for the streaming networks if they pick it up for a cheap price. Linear TV had a limited number of time slots and had to be very choosey with what they put on. It needed to have massive appeal in…

And Netflix made it much easier to enable subtitles/captioning.

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

#49

Post by magic_hamster » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:32 AM UTC

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…

The main reason would be the number of episodes. The UK series is very short which is typical. US shows try to stay on for as long as possible to maximize profits. That's exactly what they've done with The Office.

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

#50

Post by vgeek » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:41 AM UTC

RajT88 wrote: post #37

lostlogin wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The guy is a legend. Travel Man is excellent and a great format. Rewatched during lockdown and completely recommend.

The formula for Travel Man was genius. The producers just have to pick various people who are a good pick to play off Richard Ayoade being himself, and send them off places to film how they get along with each other. Ideally, picking people who love to travel and have a good time to slightly annoy Richard. TV that produces itself. The curve ball, which defied all expectations, was the episode in Madeira which paired…

What about An Idiot Abroad? Similar concept, albeit Karl is more of a crank.