There is a easter egg in the stock Android dialer app, that flashes colours when you enter the new emergency services number.
The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
241–250 of 281 posts
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#242Earlier 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…
Downton Abbey in particular was _designed_ for export (and I'm pretty sure is more popular in the US than the UK). If it was designed purely for a domestic market, it would probably have been a lot less... naive?
The creators of Downtown have a conservative agenda.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#243Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
At one point maintenance for desktop workstations from some manufacturers included picking the whole unit up 3 to 5 inches or so and letting it drop onto the desk. This would in theory help reseat card-edge connectors and knock loose some of the dust gathered by static inside the unit.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#244Earlier quoted context omitted.
It does, but it’s also a frustrating demonstration of the access problem. It’s mostly a cavalcade of endless police/detective/murder mystery shows. It has Red Dwarf and classic Doctor Who, but the panel show selection is spotty and they don’t bother to add new seasons in a timely fashion. It does have much of Would I Lie To You but they don’t add new episodes when they air in the UK. They seem to have given up on add…
I can't watch Red Dwarf any more. It has aged terribly. The overacting (eg The Cat), the canned laughter to fit the TV format... I think I was just "meh" about it until I listened to the audiobook read by Chris Barrie (the actor who played Rimmer). I didn't even want to listen to it but my wife insisted that I'd love it. I did. In contrast to the TV series, the book is fresh, genuinely funny and surprisingly astute.…
Seasons 1-6 were in front of a live audience.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#245Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
The NFL is the most ridiculous two hours of television in the US. I don't really understand why people put up with the amount of ads they shove into a game. There was service years ago--maybe it's still around--from one of the TV networks that would cut a whole game into 15-20 minutes, mostly be not showing any ads during the game, and cutting out all of the commentary/standing around.
The on-air duration of an NFL game is actually closest to 3 hours. It's 2 to 2.5 hours when shown without ads.
The NFL GamePass service that you can subscribe to (how I mostly watch the NFL from outside the US) offers 'Game in 40 minutes' (sometimes called Condensed). It just cuts from play-to-play-to-play. It's a great way to be able to watch a couple of other NFL games in a given week (fits nicely into a lunch break), but I do actually miss the proper commentary. Good commentary teams are very helpful in breaking down what happened in the blur of action that is each play.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#246Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's subjective - I found the UK office to be more funny and authentic. I couldn't watch the US version without cringing at the unnatural sitcom-iness of it.
To be fair the US office was as misguided and unfunny as this IT crowd remake until they started deviating from the source material. Michael Scott not being David Brent is what saved the US office, and going in a wildly different direction is what allowed it to become what it ultimately did. I say this as someone who loved both shows.
American humour is it's own thing and I never understood why they ever attempted to remake things 1 to 1. I started watching the US Office a few seasons in and for a long time never realised the early episodes were so misguided. I think having independent versions of The Office tailored to each country would have been a fantastic concept.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#247Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
No, that's not what I saw. Firstly, not all Sky ad slots were placeholders; and secondly, "Brenda" (damn, what's that from?) popped her clogs ages ago. The wall-to-wall BBC propaganda ended three days ago. TV presenters are no longer wearing black suits and ties. Newspapers no longer carry a dozen grovelling headlines on the same subject.
Not a reader of Private Eye then? This should help on the Brenda question
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_and_organisatio...
You may enjoy Private Eye, worth buying a trial copy.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#248Earlier 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…
> so hell bent against making more money
They may still be making more money by regional licensing than just opening up paid streaming to the rest of the world. The support on that alone might be ... expensive.
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#249Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
> I'm not sure airing a single episode is a good measure of interest.
It's probably not in most cases.
How many decades have we heard of shows that were about to be axed because of poor ratings or apparent disinterest, then... somehow they turned out to be megashows? Even something as simple as changing the day it was aired often could make or break a show.
> personally I won't start a show like that until I can binge watch it.
Rewatching some older shows (frasier, right now), my wife and I notice some things that... just weren't an issue 30 years ago. "We just saw this story line last week!" Well... no, it was from 2 seasons earlier, which translated to 2 years earlier back in the 90s. But binging things back to back that were produced for annual serialization ... it's not how they were intended to be consumed.
Are 'shows' now being produced with the knowledge they'll all be watched within a couple of days, not dramatically played out over weeks/months? Will 'cliffhangers' continue to be a thing to get you to 'tune in next time!'?
Re: The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]
#250Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
> but they are very selective in what they present and how which means they'll often leave out very important information and context.
part of what i've found with something like that is... I've already heard the other context or 'important information'. Something like LWT is a balancing factor, not the primary source of info in the first place (well, for me anyway).