My vote was for funny, although it dragged slightly in the middle of the second episode. Still, enough laughs in there to make me eager for the next episode. Courtesy of today’s Broadcast Now email, we can see that critics were divided about how funny it was:
The IT Crowd (C4)
“The fact that the laugh track didn’t grate was evidence of how successfully Graham Linehan had pulled off the self-consciously retro style of The IT Crowd.”
Thomas Sutcliffe, The Independent
The IT Crowd (C4)
“It couldn’t be sillier and, as a consequence, couldn’t be funnier.”
Caitlin Moran, The Times
The IT Crowd (C4)
“The whole thing is utterly and completely bereft of any smidgen of wit, humour or comic insight, and is possibly the least comedic comedy of the century.”
AA Gill, The Sunday Times
The IT Crowd (C4)
“At a time when most of the best comedy is pretty dark, [The IT Crowd is] so good-hearted and celebratory that it does feel distinctly refreshing.”
James Walton, The Daily Telegraph
The IT Crowd (C4)
“The IT isn’t funny Crowd.”
Ian Hyland, News of the World
Despite the hopes placed on The IT Crowd by Channel 4, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be the next mass-market hit: ratings for the first two episodes were only two million or so.
PS My mate Martin hates Richard Ayoade. Why? Apparently, Ayoade was a bit of a nobber back in his Cambridge days and rejected Martin’s scripts all the time when they were working together in Footlights. Seems a reasonable enough reason for hate to me.
