Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyThe creator of the original ‘IT Crowd’ series Graham Linehan is taking another shot at adapting his highly successful British series to American television.
Universal Television is teaming with Linehan, Patrick Daly and Jon Rolph to bring to life a new iteration of the series set in the IT Department of a giant corporation. The original series starred Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Matt Berry as a motley group of employees trying to navigate the day-to-day operations of a company hose purpose was never clearly established.
Variety has the exclusive story about Linehan coming back to work on the new series. The previous attempt to bring The IT Crowd to life in the states would have had Community’s Joel McHale in the lead playing the Chris O’Dowd character and Ayoade returning presumably as Moss again. This will be the third attempt to bring the series to the US. Linehan has had huge success in the UK with shows like Father Ted and Big Train.
More on this story as it develops.
(Update) Due to the reactions that I have received from the fan community regarding this story and the news itself, I thought I would chime in with my own pitch for a reboot of The IT Crowd.
First, get the original cast.
I know they are all working on other projects, but this would be the perfect vehicle to get them back together and instead of trying to establish new actors in familiar roles, it gives the producers and creator the ability to create new characters. Also, the success of the Will and Grace return and the upcoming Roseanne return series shows that there is an audience clamoring for their favorite characters to return.
Second, move it to the US.
If you want to place the series in the US, fine. Make it part of the comedy. Put Roy in a situation where he thinks that his being from the UK will somehow make him more attractive to American women then he is. Give Moss a fish out of water storyline where everyone is worried about him, despite their issues and he is thriving in the US. Give him a gorgeous girlfriend who loves everything about him, especially how weird his is and moments of utter incredulousness when Roy tries to figure out why. Put Jen in a position where she is further in over her head and having to deal with people who actually expect results.
Third, Matt Berry.
Matt Berry has to return as Douglas Reynholm. Put him in the position where he has to deal with a corporate structure and culture that is different than the one at home and with his personal peccadillos in the current climate of sexual harassment. Place him in a role that has him as a figure head with no real power because the US division of Reynholm Industries is what’s been holding the entire company together this whole time and it’s been run by an incredibly powerful female CEO.
