Are You Sure It's Plugged In...?

The IT Crowd
Season 4
(2010)

3 Stars

Graham Linehan is something of a champion of British sitcom; having delighted us over the last two decades with such brilliances as Father Ted, Black Books and The Fast Show, he has shown us his ongoing genius over the last few years in the top-notch sitcom The IT Crowd.

A fantastic cast and some of the wittiest surrealism imaginable came together in this comedy of errors set in the IT department of the mighty Renholm Industries, reigned over by the ever-awesome Matt Berry.

Unfortunately, after three years of being possibly the funniest show on British TV, it looks as if the crowd is starting to get clogged up with spam. Series four has, for the most part, been a crushing disappointment. Whereas former seasons have been generally reliable on the laugh front, spattered with ingenious plots and memorable one-liners, this year’s set of six has left this fan somewhat despondent.

True, there have been moments, notably the moment when geeky Moss (Richard Ayoade) gives his ethos “I came here to drink milk and kiss ass… And I’ve just finished my milk”, and the season finale’s Sexy Star Trek video, but generally each episode has failed to raise more than a couple of smirks.

The one exception is episode 4.04, which sees unlucky in love Roy (Chris O’Dowd) trying to work out exactly how his new girlfriend’s parents managed to perish in an aquarium fire, whilst ever hopeless Jen (Katherine Parkinson) tries to convince the board that she speaks Italian.

Despite the sketchy and overly episodic nature of this season, it has been nice to see the development of Moss’s character; having been nothing more than a running nerd gag (albeit a brilliant one) for the last three years, this season has seen Moss begin to grow into a more confident and believable character. Alas, he has been given far too little to do in many episodes.

I don’t know. Perhaps I put this show on too much of a pedal-stool, but it seems to have become a bit of a damp squid compared to its early days. Perhaps we need to try turning it off and on again.