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The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]

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

#221

Post by rkangel »

oakesm9 wrote: post #103
Longlius wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 b…

The IT Crowd was actually aired on Channel 4, not the BBC. Channel 4 is publicly owned (for now…) but is fully funded through adverts. The ad break timings likely don’t match what you have in the US though (at the start and end and a single break in the middle over a 30 minute runtime).

If you watch an NFL game on Sky there are a load of breaks where they cut to a UK analysis crew. Every single one of those is an ad break that they have in the US but not in the UK. Sky does still has ads, but clearly far far fewer than the US is willing to tolerate.

NFL is an extreme example but I always found the comparison interesting.

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

#222

Post by CrLf »

HPsquared wrote: post #188
jrockway wrote: post #96

Too bad they didn't make it to episode 2. I feel like "they're not just THE emergency services, they're YOUR emergency services" is one of the most British things I can imagine. (I say that as an American, though, so I don't really know what I'm talking about.) The IT Crowd always impressed me with their set design. I was working as "IT" at the time, and our office was nearly identical to the one in Season 1. We had…

On the hard drive thing, I had an old HDD which (after years in a drawer) would not start up (wouldn't start spinning). After trying it in a couple of different computers I accidentally dropped the drive and it hit a metal table leg. After dropping it, the HDD started up and worked fine, and I could copy the contents off. Maybe the liquid nitrogen worked the same way (thermal shock in place of mechanical shock).

Dropping an HDD from a certain height was mentioned in an old Sun service manual, IIRC.

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

#223

Post by andylynch »

ealexhudson wrote: post #215
denton-scratch wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are detective shows called Endeavour and Lewis running (repeats) in the UK; they're offshoots of the Morse series. They have ad-breaks, i.e. the narrative stops and the show titles appear; but there are no ads. I think that's on ITV. And sometimes there are ads between the titles. There's something I was watching on Sky, that had ad-breaks, but no ads; instead, they showed a still frame saying that normal conte…

Sky paused adverts recently out of respect to Brenda's passing (though they didn't note that on the static logo). Was that what you saw? I don't watch TV regularly but I've never seen them run out of adverts for slots; with bidding I would doubt that happens much?

It was mildly annoying that they dropped the ads, but kept the breaks, just showing a card saying ’no ads here’ for several minutes at a time. I guess they went for the minimal effort approach to maintain timings.

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

#226

Post by salicideblock »

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…

Maybe that's why it did not make it past pilot. Why reshoot if it's going to be so similar?

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

#227

Post by autoexec »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #198
jldugger wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The CW tried licensing Taskmaster and it got abysmal ratings While I usually like Reggie Watts' work, his persona on the show was too cerebral. Felt like someone at The CW got afraid of the word 'master' but figured they could balance it out with a nice black guy role playing a psychotherapist for the competitors. Also Lisa Lamponelli was just 100 percent angry the entire season, as if Alex Horne was personally res…

You're discussing the US version on Comedy Central. A few years ago The CW licensed and aired the British version. It got terrible ratings and was dropped after a single episode.

I'm not sure airing a single episode is a good measure of interest. Especially if they didn't market it much. What's the point of going through the trouble to secure the rights to air something if you aren't going to give it a fair shot? I really don't get the reasoning behind these kinds of decisions. I've heard amazon cancels shows if they don't perform well enough after their first few weeks on prime.

With all the things competing for our attention, they should really give people more time to find things. I understand that they really really want to force people to watch things on their schedule, but those days are over. They've had some success with forcing people to wait week to week for new episodes, but personally I won't start a show like that until I can binge watch it.

Equally confusing was netflix canceling originals they'd already invested heavily in before the story had concluded. Shows with fans who were left pissed off. Netflix could have had a quality title in their catalogue for those who like it instead of bait for new generations of pissed off fans.

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

#228

Post by autoexec »

lupire wrote: post #211
denton-scratch wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Daily Show did well. The UK panel show that I can't miss is Have I Got News For You. It's a weekly 30min news review, by very quick-witted comics. As a review of UK news, it obviously wouldn't travel; and the two (permanent) team captains are very English, and likely unknown in the USA. But there's clearly a market for that kind of satirical news review. They skate close to the libel laws; Ian Hislop, one of the…

How can you not mention Charlie Brooker's Wipe, which ultimately led to Black Mirror. Last Week Tonight is kind of valuable, but flawed (unfunny off-topic humor, dishonest in its propagandizing for good causes), but most importantly, John Oliver's Activism Hour stole the name of what should be a very different show.

I feel the same way about the show's flaws, but i do still find it informative enough that's worthwhile to watch. You really do have to watch out for the bias though. I can't remember offhand if I've ever caught them outright lying about anything, but they are very selective in what they present and how which means they'll often leave out very important information and context.

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

#229

Post by mh- »

rkangel wrote: post #221
oakesm9 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The IT Crowd was actually aired on Channel 4, not the BBC. Channel 4 is publicly owned (for now…) but is fully funded through adverts. The ad break timings likely don’t match what you have in the US though (at the start and end and a single break in the middle over a 30 minute runtime).

If you watch an NFL game on Sky there are a load of breaks where they cut to a UK analysis crew. Every single one of those is an ad break that they have in the US but not in the UK. Sky does still has ads, but clearly far far fewer than the US is willing to tolerate. NFL is an extreme example but I always found the comparison interesting.

For those wondering: a 30 minute slotted network show in the US is 21-22 minutes long. A 60 minute is simply double - 42-44 minutes long.

How many breaks this works out to varies by show, since they try to cut it at strategic points. Usually 2-4 per 30 minutes.

If anyone has actual data on this I'd love to see it. Especially historical data.

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

#230

Post by eddieroger »

salicideblock wrote: post #226
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…

Maybe that's why it did not make it past pilot. Why reshoot if it's going to be so similar?

That was the style at the time. There were a handful of shows that came over to the US from the UK - The Office, Coupling, IT Crowd - but only The Office took off, and really only took off once it found it's own voice for American audiences. In many cases, they were shoot-for-shoot remakes with American actors and some modifications (Jim instead of Tim, Pam instead of Dawn), but this one is down to the credits identical, even bringing Moss over.

I think there is room for British comedies in the US, as long as they're open to adaptation. David Brent was a terrible boss and awful person, but Michael Scott had to at least be a good salesman to be believable as middle management. Little differences like that made the show work.

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