Jen and her department of IT "professionals" continue their unrewarded and unrewarding careers deep in the basement of Denholm Enterprises. The work problems are still easy to fix (usually by turning it off and then on again) but the personal confusions are far from easy to navigate with builder's from hell, shareholder confidence, sexual harassment, online social networking, men who look like magicians, attempts to be manly and attempts at charity all causing endless problems.
Let me start by saying that I still do not think that this is the classic sitcom that Father Ted was I have felt that for three seasons now and no amount of spiteful private messages or international Emmy's have made me watch this show and suddenly seen this wonderful, flawless thing that so many others seem to be seeing. There, now that that is out of the way, please scroll down to the "no this review was not useful" button before coming back up to my username where you can link to the PM function and tell me how humourless I am and how perhaps my parents were cousins y'know, helpful debate driven feedback like that. Anyway, for the few of you still reading this let me also say that I think the show is still very enjoyable and has not really lost the appeal it originally had two seasons ago. In my review of last season I did question why they bothered to bring it back for "more of the same" and, in retrospect, perhaps I phrased that a bit harsh because "more of the same" is fine when it is of a reasonable standard, as it is here.
With the writing I always felt I could see the thought process being laid out in front of me and I wasn't often taken by surprise by where the plots went although at times I was and really enjoyed the fresh air of imagination. Again this is not a massive criticism because even the weaker episodes will produce regular good laughs. The thing is that it still doesn't inspire me as much as better shows and I wouldn't be upset if I had missed one of the episodes or if it didn't return for another season, which is not true of some better shows that I watch. It is funny but it is funny in the specific lines or small sequences that are funny, it never seems to wear it through each episode. The laughter is still an issue for me and I know this is not going to change because it comes with the way the show is filmed but I would clarify that it is not the laughter itself that I have issues with so much as how it is used. If you have a strong joke then the laughter doesn't intrude but in the IT Crowd, the studio laughs are used all the time even for minor little things that are amusing but do not deserve 50 odd people all laughing out loud at the same time. Maybe this is part of my problem because it feels like the laughter is being forced on me at times when it did not deserve it I know Father Ted employed the same approach but that show was funnier and the recorded laughs fitted better.
Anyway. The cast continue to do the same jobs in most regards, which is a mixed blessing. O'Dowd continues to feel to me like a man who was shown Black Books and told "that's what we're going for". He has good moments but he is too manic at times and is exposes when he has to carry too much of the show himself. Ayoade continues to grow on me though and his "Moss moments" are always the funniest of each episode he helps anyone he works alongside as whomever he shares a scene with generally benefits from his performance and character. Parkinson continues to be limited for my tastes. She has some good laughs but her performance just doesn't work for me when asked to be too manic but she did work well in several episodes where she gets closer to being the "straight man" at the mercy of her team members. Berry has grown on me as well, I still miss Morris but Berry's swaggering idiot adds colour whenever he pops up. Understandably with the success of Boosh, Fielding isn't around this time but his absence is not really felt that much.
Season 3 of The IT Crowd continues to do what it has always done and impressively has not dipped in quality at any point. To some this will be akin to the Messiah returning to earth but for m money it just means I get some nice easy laughs for a few weeks with twenty-something minutes of disposable sitcom. I do have ongoing issues with it that prevent me loving it but this is not to say that I do not enjoy it I just don't see me buying it or watching it years later in the way that many of us do for Father Ted.
