Who needs IT?

I had high hopes for Channel 4's IT Crowd. The trendy advertising of the show made it look as though it was squarely targeted at web geeks like myself.

I imagined a cross between The Office and Slashdot. Full of Spaced-style inside jokes for techies.

What I got was an unrealistic outsider's view of the IT department -- exacerbated by an incessant laughtrack to boot.

The Techie part of the comedy seems to go no further than to say -- look at how the IT department is full of geeky guys in the basement who don't fit in with the rest of the company. Aren't they weird?

Where The Office was filled with comedic insight into the behaviour of middle-management and their disgruntled cubicle-dwelling employees, the IT Crowd offers up flat caricatures.

Graham Linehan, the creator of the show, apparently thought he would usher in a Sitcom revival. Apparently taking the BBC special Death of the British Sitcom as a cue.

Unfortunately the sitcom has died for a reason, and going back to the old laughtrack driven forum is about as compelling as reviving old vaudeville acts.

In short, I'd give it a miss. If you want funny, geeky in-jokes, check out the Narnia rap battle.