almost at the end of the tv series for now, only a few shows left. such as the it crowd.
a show about computer nerds (or geeks) working in the it departement of a company that you don’t quite know what their product is. you’d think there would be plenty of material, but the first two seasons only had 6 episodes each. i still have to consider if this was a good or bad thing. but first things first..
the series follows Roy and Moss as the only two computer guys located in the cellar of a big company. in the pilot, they get a new manager in the form of Jen who has absolutely no clue at all about computer thingies. Jen managed to get her job only because the company boss Denholm has in fact even less knowledge. starting to work with the guys, Jen soon finds out that geeks require very careful handling and are not the easiest guys to socialize with.
and that’s maybe what the show is about: geeks in social context, not geeks and their IT work - there probably wouldn’t be enough audience for such a show. that’s not to say that there aren’t computer related references in the show, but you will get most of the jokes either way i guess. for example the running gag when answering the phone by Roy is: “hello IT?…….. have you tried turning it on and off again? …….. is it plugged in?…………” doesn’t take an expert to laugh about, but still remains funny.
still, for a real nerdy experience i recommend the dvd version, complete with l33t subtitles! hard to watch at times, but *omg* did i *rofl* when Denholm g0t pwn3d! the subtitles of one episode were encrypted for example… i’m sure, if you encrypt them the result would be amusing… but i’m not that much of a nerd.*
now the it crowd has a huge bonus for being a british series because i love the dialect (see jekyll) and also, it was pretty hilarious at times. in fact, there were many great moments and the first six episodes (the first season) were great. also, parts of season 2 were great, but already lacking something. it wasn’t that original any more, some of the 20 minutes felt like they even had to stretch what material they had left and some things just weren’t funny.
the best two episodes i could remember now would be the episode featuring Richmond in season 1 and “cooking class” with a german in season 2. Richmond turns out to be another co-worker of Roy and Moss in the cellar, only that they keep him hid in a seperate room (most probably the server room). Richmond once was a successfull manager at the company but his discovery of the music of Cradle Of Filth turned him into a goth who is depressing everyone else around him. very funny episode, all the Richmond scenes were awesome. maybe the show could have needed a bit more of him. and in my opinion it was a huge mistake to replace the boss of the company after the first season with his “son”, Denholm was by far the better character.
some things may sound a bit negative but maybe i had to high expectations – the it crowd is still a huge recommendation. also it’s short so if you don’t like it you haven’t lost that much time!
according to wikipedia there is/was a localized version planned for the US, but it seems as if that hangs in the balance. but: a localized version for german speaking audiences is already in production, featuring Sky du Mont as the boss. as you may recall from my “the office” article, i’m not a huge fan of localized versions, but i will give the it crowd (US) and the it crowd (DE) a try if they ever come to the screen.
these lovely eyes belong to no other than the great actor James Nesbitt starring as Tom Jackman. and starring as Mr. Hyde. tom jackman is a descendant of the original Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stephenson.
jekyll is a 6 episode series by the BBC exploring the world of a modern life Dr. Jekyll. it starts with tom jackman strapping himself to a chair, explaining some basic things to his new assistant (the lovely michelle “bionic woman” ryan) who he hired to better get hold of his two lifes. jekyll jackman and hyde can communicate with each other by talking into a voice recorder.
“Just once, seriously – just bloody once, could you tell me where you parked?”
hyde, being the animal he is, likes to mess around. not only with prostitutes (jackman made him wear condoms) but he’s also very good in ordering the combination of drinks providing the worst hangover possible.
time after time, hyde gets more present, more dangerous, more blood thirsty. and tom has more and more problems controlling his dark passenger. and then there’s a mysterious organisation (there always is!) hunting jekyll and hyde. this leads to tom jackman having to protect his family from hyde and the organisation…. and also stepping up against the organisation – by teaming up with hyde.
now here’s the thing: you really don’t want to piss hyde off. you just don’t.
as it’s a mini-series, jekyll comes to an almost clean end, the story evolves, questions are answered, you’re satisfied. and the acting is just great. awesome i might say.
that’s almost only because of james nesbitt, though the rest of the cast deliveres as well. but nothing beats the performance of nesbitt and the two roles he has to play: jackman, protecting his family, being a bit of a coward at the start, but then evolving and taking the lead. hyde, the animal that is only held back when he wants to be held back, knowing no reason or consequence, just fun, pain and killing and in the end realising who the good guy is, admitting to help tom. not only does nesbitt play the roles by different expressions, but with an overall physical change as well (hair, voice, expressions, everything) as if it were two different actors. creepy, but very enjoying to watch!
there is also a lot of (dark?) humor in the series, mostly provided by hyde himself. hyde should be a stand up comedian and make a whole show about killing people. he’s reminding me of richard from lfgcomics (great comic, thanks to silberkind for the tip).
i highly recommend “jekyll” to any fan of multiple personality disorder flicks, british dialect and people ripping lions appartand singing the “in the jungle” theme from lion king. or either of that, but you can’t beat the combination!
well well well.. a little bashing in between good tv series. but that’s probably a good thing for you: sometimes it is easier to decide what you will like by knowing, what others don’t like. trust me, it’s science!
the office is a much hyped show that seems to do very well and got a huge fan base for either of the versions: the original from the united kingdom and the localized version in the usa.
the idea sounded nice, it got great reviews and so i had to try it out.
to my surprise, i found martin freeman starring in the original version, which instantly gave the show bonus points. sadly, the rest of the points i gave out were negative ones.
i can’t really describe it other than bring it straight to the point that i did not like the style of the show nor did i find it in any way amusing or funny. i’m a sucker for the british dialect but even that didn’t help. after a few episodes i quit.
so i thought, maybe the localized version in the US is any better.
it’s not.
maybe i had the wrong idea on what a “localized version” should be, but not only is there no british dialect left, but also martin freeman is gone. hell of a start. but not only that, besides the style of the show, they even reused the jokes 1:1 or 1:1.5 at some point. so the only reason for a localized version seems to be so that they can get into the emmy nominations or so that american actors get a job, british actors could do as bad themselves.
sure, the office (US) got steve carell but i still can’t stand him in the series and i like him in the movies he is doing.
maybe another thing why i can’t relate to this show is that my current boss is far far away from being like the boss in the office. but then again, a few years ago i had a boss that was a bit alike. so that’s not the point either.
but hey, if you like the show, that totally works for me. i just don’t like it.
please, enlighten me, why does this show have so many fans?
the best two episodes i could remember now would be the episode featuring Richmond in season 1 and “cooking class” with a german in season 2. Richmond turns out to be another co-worker of Roy and Moss in the cellar, only that they keep him hid in a seperate room (most probably the server room). Richmond once was a successfull manager at the company but his discovery of the music of Cradle Of Filth turned him into a goth who is depressing everyone else around him. very funny episode, all the Richmond scenes were awesome. maybe the show could have needed a bit more of him. and in my opinion it was a huge mistake to replace the boss of the company after the first season with his “son”, Denholm was by far the better character.
as it’s a mini-series, jekyll comes to an almost clean end, the story evolves, questions are answered, you’re satisfied. and the acting is just great. awesome i might say.