It's now possible, without importing, to legally watch and own one of the only sitcoms on TV of which I'd describe myself as a rabid fan. I first saw The IT Crowd ('eye-tee', not 'it') on a friend's imported DVDs in college, and watched subsequent episodes by falsely representing my IP address to the Channel 4 website so I could use their built-in web player. I shortly thereafter imported the first season DVDs and then the second and found myself loaning them around to all my friends with region-free, PAL-capable DVD players. As of this writing, I've completely lost track of them; however, now I have the identical US release of the first season and the second is coming out soon enough.
Show creator Graham Linehan (link goes to his blog, a constant source of interesting news and entertainment) also created Father Ted and Black Books, which some of you may already be familiar with. If you aren't, you've got even more exceptionally hilarious TV to work through. Blind buy it all. If you don't laugh, you probably have some sort of disability preventing enjoyment of life as we know it.
The IT Crowd follows Roy (Chris O'Dowd, link goes to his Twitter page) and Moss (Richard Ayoade, link goes to NNDB page where he sports a fancy mustache), I.T. technicians working for Reynholm Industries, a major corporation that does...something or another. If what they produce or do as a company is ever mentioned, I missed it. Jen (Katherine Parkinson) is hired on by the company's owner to manage the I.T. department despite her lack of anything resembling technology proficiency. Hilarity and hijinks ensue. If you like The Big Bang Theory, think of this as the undiluted, far superior original recipe. They're different in configuration, but you can tell Big Bang "borrowed" some components.
Fans of sharp modern British comedy will be quite pleased. The show only recently started airing on the IFC channel here in the States, which means most of you have not seen it. The show is shot old-school, with a live studio audience for all the scenes not shot on-location. If you see anyone accuse the production of using a laugh track, slap them down, because it's all audience laughter.
The IT Crowd won a 2008 International Emmy for Best Comedy. Say what you will about awards, but this one is well-deserved and rightly-awarded. This show deserves as much exposure as possible. NBC tried reformulating it for US audiences and seem to have failed miserably. As with many things that are remade, this one was fine all on its own. Frankly, NBC or anyone else could just air the British eps as they are in network prime time slots, but they're too scared to try.
Video, Audio, Subtitles, and Menus
The 1.78:1 SD video upconverts as well as it could, given the compression, and the original 2.0 Stereo track works fine. There are leetspeak subtitles that are hilarious if you're the kind of person who knows what leetspeak is.
It's rare that you have a DVD where the menus inspire you to call them the best DVD menus you've ever seen, but these take the cake. Inspired by 8-bit video games, you can just sit and watch the action on screen until it loops back to the beginning.
Extras
Deleted Scenes (9:18)
Deleted sequences from various episodes throughout the season that are just as funny as everything that made it in to the broadcast versions.
Behind The IT Crowd (13:45)
If ever there were a definitive satire of studio fluff EPK featurettes, this is it. A ridiculous ass-kisser host wearing a fully black beard and hay-colored hair interviews the cast and production team. If I say more, I'll entirely spoil this for you.
Hello Friend (11:14)
This is a short film written by series creator Linehan about a technological gadget that has a mind of its own. My wife says that I should learn a lesson here and stop using Twitter and my iPod Touch.
Hidden: Easter Eggs
I know there are Easter Eggs on this release, but I can't find them. I lost the notecard I wrote the "how to" on for my import copy. Someone help me cheat and I'll add the details here, with credit to whoever knows where the digital bodies are buried.
Final Thoughts
Tragically, the tech geeks this show features could be the death of this show's commercial viability in the US. With the huge time gap since its airing in the UK, illegal download has been the primary means the US has had to see the show. Ironically, one of the most-viewed clips of the show among non-fans is an Anti-Piracy ad that makes fun of the ad from a few years ago that equates media piracy with larceny. I can't find one of the many copies on YouTube that allows embedding, but here's a link over to the one I did find (from the second season of the show).
I generally don't recommend buying TV on disc, especially since there are so few releases with decent extras, but this is the exception. If you love The IT Crowd or just imported TV (the best kind), you should buy it. Borrow it from a friend or Watch Instantly on Netflix to taste test, but if you really like it, buy it. Dollars translate to how networks and studios behave. If writer/directors like Graham Linehan composed even 10% of those producing content on US television networks, I'd actually watch TV, commercials and all.
If I know you personally and you live in Austin, I will loan this to you on condition you give it back within a few days. This is significant, because I never loan out DVDs anymore. They would almost never come back when I did. I'm willing to risk loss on this one if it means I can turn one more person on to the show.