Battle of the TV: UK vs. The US: The Big Bang Theory Vs. The IT Crowd

I've had this idea rattling in my head for a while. I thought I'd actually write down my thoughts on this.

[size=+1]The Battle of TV : The UK vs. The US
Big Bang Theory vs. The IT Crowd[/size]​

This is kind of a big thing. Sort of. While The IT Crowd has long since ended after a final special episode to close everything out, Big Bang Theory continues to soldier onwards, seemingly never likely to end. Almost like a nerdy Friends...

Still, that's the reason I want to compare these two. They're both shows that started up around the same time on the same basis: geek culture. So I was thinking about which tackles the subject the best? Who makes this stuff funnier? And above all, who made the better Geeky sit-com? The UK or the US?

First, let's discuss each show.

From the UK: The IT Crowd
​

This is a sitcom set in a fictional office building for a company called Reynholm Industries. Not a soul knows what they do or what they produce but they just do business and have affairs. Jen Barber is it's newest employee. However, she's put in charge of the IT department that's located in the basement. Not only does she know nothing about computers but now has to ensure her department doesn't get out of hand, as her co-workers, Roy and Moss, are likely to get into plenty of trouble.

This is the third successful sitcom from writer Graham Linehan. If you haven't heard of him, you might be more familiar with his work on shows such as Father Ted and Black Books. This, curiously, is the first time he's written a sitcom without a co-writer. It aired on Channel 4 from the 3 February 2006 to the 27 September 2013 for 25 episodes.

From the US: Big Bang Theory
​

When hot blonde Penny moves in across from nerds Leonard and Sheldon. Leonard falls in love with the country-raised, hopeful actress Penny while Neurotic Sheldon takes an immediate dislike to her. Their friends Howard, a jewish engineer, and Raj, an indian-born astrophysicist, work at the same university Leonard and Sheldon work at where they get into various scrapes. Meanwhile, Leonard attempts to win Penny's hand, despite the massive and attractive men she keeps finding.

The Big Bang Theory was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. Lorre is known for Two and a Half Men while Prady has worked on Star Trek: Voyager and Gilmore Girls. The show has been going since September 24, 2007 and hasn't stopped yet!

So, this review is going to drill down with several sections to compare these two on. To be nice and thorough!

The Writing

If your only skimming this, I'll make this rather quick for you: IT Crowd has funnier jokes and wins by the virtue that I recognise most of them as jokes.

Man, that sounds harsh on BBT but it just seems to be mostly true. Big Bang Theory in general seems to have one major joke that it plays up over and over and over when it can't think of anything else: Nerdy things sound weird when you have no basis of understanding. Like when they talk about some tiny manusia of comic book lore, or Star Trek or physics and we watch the bemused faces of the poor sod the Nerds have just info-dumped on. It's not a strong joke, especially episode after episode. Especially to someone like myself, who actually understands what they're talking about most of the time so to me their talking normally.

It's like watching someone laughing because someone is speaking another language you happen to understand. I can see the joke but I don't find
it funny. What else you got?

Kinda trendy to say this about the show but I can't say they've not got a point.​

Well, my other issue with the show is that every aspect that made it seem interesting, unusual or actually funny in it's initial few seasons, slowly got written out.

One of these is the relationship between Raj and Howard. Initially, they have some sort of pseudo-homoromantic thing going on, effectively acting like a married couple. Firstly, it's funny because the banter was enjoyably vicious sometimes, especially in how intimate they had gotten despite stating themselves as straight, over and over. There's something there and the moments between them have almost a parody air to them but I can't for the life of me tell you the proper term for what they do in this show so I'll try my best without it.

In fact the pseudo-marital or pseudo-family aspects of the characters and relationships were really fun. Like the scene where Sheldon, Penny and Leonard act like a child, a mother and a father. I enjoyed that scene quite a bit as it was a natural delve into the psyche of these characters and almost how trapped within this weird little world they were. That's interesting as it's a trope we've seen quite a few times in other places being used to give an ordinary scene weird top spin. I liked that. I will give BBT some props for that.

But then they split Raj and Howard up by giving Howard a girlfriend. I have nothing against Bernadette but it's just a tired old idea of newlyweds figuring out marriage that we could all write ourselves at this point. This leaves Raj dangling at the side of the group as all he seems to do is hang out and mope about being lonely. Changing the dynamic of the show to keep it fresh is a good idea, but this just dumps it a little closer to most of the other American Prime Time Sitcoms and standing out was what got us watching in the first place.

But the secret weapon is still Dr Sheldon Cooper. The character is a lot of fun. I will admit that the show appears to know this and sticks him in the forefront of almost everything about the show but he's still damn fun. But too much Sheldon and you lose that one part of the show that kinda works. After all, he outshines most of the other characters as a character trait. I just hope he never gets a show of his own.

On the other hand, IT Crowd is just much much funnier. Yes, there's a few of those sorts of 'what are they talking about, lol whut' jokes but there's a different slant to it.

To me at least, IT Crowd feels inclusive. They use a lot of things people are already familiar with, then build jokes from that knowledge. There's actually quite a lot of IT Crowd that doesn't revolve around computers or geek culture. They go to a very, very gay musical, literally called 'Gay'. Moss invents a super comfortable bra and goes on Dragon's Den. There's even an episode dedicated to a secret club open to high scoring contestants on Countdown.

For those that don't know, Countdown is the game show equivalent of an exam where you win teapots. It's been on British TV since 1982.​

While it's definitely a british show, a lot of the humour is pretty universal just from it's angle of attack, most of the time. Nothing is really presented in a way where your not meant to understand the characters. You get everything. It all makes sense, no matter who you are. My favourite example is how Linehan actually makes fun of ignorance about technology.

As I mentioned, Jen doesn't know anything about computers beyond checking emails. After she behaves a little egotistically because of getting the Employee of the Month, Moss and Roy get their own back by offering to write Jen a technology speech to be spoken at a shareholders meeting. So, they come up with something very, very special for her to read out:

[video=youtube;iDbyYGrswtg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDbyYGrswtg[/video]​

Do you see what I mean? You get it pretty quickly. It's a recognisable aspect of having an interest in IT and technology in general. Here, the show is poking fun at the ignorance of some people that's universal but still really funny. It's a good formula and an enjoyable angle to tackle this. Just straight up enjoyable, by being inclusive.

This is in part to the fact that Linehan's style is very absurd. Almost everything is as daft and stupid as possible. Everything. The TV shows, the situations, even some of the acting is nice and silly. I mean, it's a show where the emergency services number is changed to something with around 10 digits in it. It lets them get away with tackling a few iffy subjects here and there like dwarven people in work or the anxiety around transexuality. It's kind of so unbelievably silly, it's hard to get angry at it.

As an added bonus of this, it makes everything so much more memorable. Just watch and see how many little things I come up with about each show and compare.

BBT feels exclusive. Because of this reliance on jokes where your not supposed to know what the characters are talking about, not everyone can enjoy it. It shuts out a group of people with each joke. Even the ones that talk about some part of geek knowledge kinda needs some pre-knowledge first, shutting out anyone without that knowledge. It's not an incorrect method but there's a lot of shifting around between parodies and watching confused faces. But it's not as ideal as IT Crowd.

So, Britain and Linehan wins on writing.

The Actors

Again, if you're skimming, how about I make it simple: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! I CAN'T CHOOSE!

The absolute best part of Big Bang Theory is it's cast. I don't believe that it's script is all that strong but by Celestia's G-String, are these guys great fun! The jokes might fall flat but each one of these guys gives a unique energy to each one of their characters. There's Simon Helburg supplying Howard's lecherous grins. Johnny Galecki gives us Leonard's awkward, furtive glances around Kaley Cuoco's frank and bubbly Penny. Kunal Nayyar makes Raj both so cute when he's immobilised by a woman's presences, as well as just a tool when Raj is drunk. Melissa Rauch fits in well, creating the oddly freudian wife and Biologist, Bernadette. And I want to see Mayim Bialik in more things. I like her, please, more stuff.

And...Yes, Jim 'You Might Remember Me as the Human Version of Walter from The Muppets' Parsons is a lot of fun. It's really one of the stand out parts of the show and Jim's portrayal of the insane, irritating physicist is still enjoyable when they give Sheldon something good to do. I mean, it's unsurprising that Sheldon is what all people remember first about the show.

The hypothesis I put forwards on the show is that these guys are charismatic actors, saddled with making a crap script watchable.

The IT Crowd, again, has so many quite standout performances.

In fact, a couple of them are from Graham Linehan himself. Yeah, he does this sometimes, just turning up occasionally and filling in with some weird little cameo. He's done this in Father Ted and Black Books too. It's like a little game.

"Get on my level, Linehan!"​

Anyway, IT Crowd has Christopher Morris, Matt Berry, Richard Ayoade, Chris O'Dowd and Noel Fielding. That's not to discredit Katherine Parkinson's performance, it's just that the other guys have made quite a name for themselves outside of this show. You don't often get random unknowns in IT Crowd. They're hardly little-known names in British TV.

Especially Christopher Morris of the legendary, mock serious-conversation show Brass Eye. He gives this wonderfully bonkers and intensely eccentric boss. Matt Berry is tons of fun as a childish, playboy using the company to do whatever he wants. I still cannot get the image of him cackling with his robot hand held aloft.

Then there's the three main characters. Here, neither actor is really standing out as they're all memorable, balanced and very enjoyable. Nothing really wrong with that as they can work off each other very, very well. Katherine Parkinson is excellent as an audience surrogate as well as her character offering another angle of attack for any comedic aspects. Lots of shouting and fantastic comedic line delivery that suits the silly tone well. She's fun when attempting to act as professional as possible despite having no idea what she's saying. Chris O'Dowd is great as the slobby geek, giving some fantastic jokes along the way.

I always like Richard Ayoade in almost anything. Except maybe Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy as he doesn't appear to do much but say "Oh Ice Cream Eyes". Anyway, with Moss, he manages to make this collection of stereotypes in a side-parted afro easily one of the thirteen or fourteen memorable characters from this thing. The little ticks and ideas he has are all enjoyably silly from randomly spraying water on his ear to inventing ladders for moths. He's almost Sheldon-like in terms of character but balanced far, far more within the group so that he doesn't overshadow anyone else as the 'crazy but lovable weirdo' can do that quite a bit.

Like in Big Bang Theory, where Sheldon rules all. It's kind of the point of the character and dynamic but...I dunno, the balance seems a tad off. But that's writing and not really the performers faults.

As for the winner? Do I really have to say? ...OK, I'll cop out and call it a draw. I like both of these guys a lot. Especially BBT's cast for making a crap script watchable at least.

The Representation of Geek Culture

Are you skipping all of these? Really? All of them? Fine: IT Crowd. Sorry, it's just...better! It's smarter and more of a damn has actually been given, it would seem.

You see, it boils down to the inclusivity of IT Crowd versus the Exclusivity of Big Bang Theory again here.

Now, it's not a terrible thing that BBT regularly bring in guest stars to play a few side characters, giving each guest an odd little spin on their persona, providing they have one. The one that springs to mind is perennial rival Will Wheaton who plays what I assume to be a version of himself with the 'douche-canoe' nob turned to 11. At least, I hope it's just a character...

Now, they do briefly explain who he is and why he's well known to the geeky characters, but I otherwise don't understand why they specifically created this 'Douche-Canoe' Wheaton just for this show. Did they have Wheaton on hand for something and wanted to raise his profile? It was an experiment? Did Bill Prady use his Star Trek: Voyager connections to get revenge on Wheaton by making him act like an unlikeable brat and foil to Sheldon? Couldn't the role just be someone from Sheldon's past that happens to be played by Will Wheaton? Lorre, Prady, did you have to forever associate this guy with being a Douche Canoe? It seems like a needless extravagance.

And yes, I'm trying to push Douche Canoe as common parlance. It's a fun term to say.

Seriously, dude? What do the writers have on you, dude? It can't possibly be as embarrassing on what you wore on Next Gen.​

Anyway, the extravagance actually messes with the comedy a little too. I know this touches on writing again but just shoving recognisable faces into your show can alienate people, especially when the face isn't recognised. Like the woman I'm told is from some Terminator spin-off show I've never seen. Sarah Connor Chronicles, I think. What about that woman that pops up in Howard's imagination while he's in the tub? Granted, not all the jokes are centred around who she is or what she does is but it's still distracting that the character has heard of her but I haven't. Still, I'm paying more attention to George Takei because he's just a suave guy.

My most memorable example is the episode centered around a Stan Lee signing event where he even cameos at the end. The thing is, Raj repeated joke about how lots of comic book characters have alliterative names has some merit. It's just slightly lost on some people without the faintest idea about comic books because it's a list. You get the joke fast but there's not much being taught or conveyed concerning the interest other than it's stupid. While comic books can be stupid sometimes, let's face it, that's still something you'd have to know comic books to appreciate fully. Otherwise, it's just Raj jabbering on about stuff, not a comment relating to how alliterative names allowed comic book writers to remember character names easier. Afterall, it's a lot of characters to keep track of!

The IT Crowd I remember actually being a lot more positive. It put a funny spin on introducing the audience to the idea of tabletop RPG Games. How? By making it analogous with prostitutes entertaining businessmen. The context is that Jen is made Head of Entertainment, which she's told is similar to the character Fredo from 'The Godfather', and attempts to supply culture and art to a bunch of morons that want nothing but girls with plenty of T&A. In order to ensure she doesn't encroach on her morals as effectively 'The Company Pimp' she enlists Moss and Roy to stage a Roleplay Session with them.

"Which one of these on the sheet helps with Pole Dancing? Dexterity or this Rod of Absorbing? I need it because...It's central to my, err...role..."​

And it appears to present it all in a good light that is approachable. It's silly but you're engaged enough to keep up with what's going on. Moss's daft voices and impressions as well as the three businessmen having some pretty good lines keep the comedic flow while the audience gets the general jist of what one of these is like. It's a likely new idea, being presented in a way that holds interest because there's more than just jokes based on one aspect of the scene. There's several things happening throughout the sequence, ensuring that there's a wider range of possible jokes to be had, rather than Raj spouting a potentially meaningless list multiple times.

Another angle to talk about this from is characterising and...it's a little hard to call there which is better.

On one hand, The IT Crowd has Roy, who is rather typical and realistic as far as I can tell with the typical image of geeky men. Slightly slobby, enjoys games, watches obscure movies and hasn't much luck with girls. Fine but I can relate to him, somewhat. I mean, I'm not that much like him. I at least can hold down a relationship without burning myself quite badly. Moss, on the other hand, is every single stereotype of a 'Nerd' you could possibly put into one character.

Nasally voice? Check. Bland or unfashionable clothing? Check. Attachment to Mother? Check. Uncomfortable around strange things? Check. Computer expert and technical geneous? Check. Weird and wacky mannerisms? Check. Sounds hilarious when he tries to sound cool or imposing? Check.

However, I can excuse Moss. Like I said, the show tends to feel rather balanced where no one character outshines the other so Moss doesn't ever feel too over the top. He's actually quite endearing, and Linehan manages to use this cutesy nerd in some really creative situations. Such as when he attempts to pretend to be insane, just to ensure his psychiatrist doesn't release him. Or having to deal with bullies. I like the character a lot, plus he fits Linehan's exaggerated and silly tone for the whole show.

​

Big Bang Theory is a touch more realistic. Sort of. At least in aim. It also has more nerdy characters to spread the selection of cliches around with. Effectively, we get a wider array of nerdy characters: the standard nerd, the cripplingly shy one, the insane maniac and the restraining order waiting to happen. I suppose my issues are, again, with the shows writing when it comes to these guys. As I've said, I feel the charm of the characters tends to come more from the performances, especially in later seasons, but not so much the writing. Here, the character's have their charms, sure but there's just something about them that distances you away from these guys. They're fall guys. You don't grow all that closer to these characters and find them appealing as they have plenty of jokes made at their expense that you're expected to laugh at.

It doesn't help that they aren't always overtly likeable.​

Moss and Roy manage to make you find them endearing. They're buffoons, sure, but the situations they get into are relatable. They're a little exaggerated, but based within some relatable aspect of life. Like attempting to fit in with other people or curbing social media compulsions. We've all had that, mostly, at some point in our lives. Or know someone that has experienced what they're spoofing at the moment.

How many people can relate to going into space? Or working with Steven Hawking? Or having a creepy stalker control your life? Big Bang Theory can't quite compete here, which is why I think Moss and Roy work better, surprisingly. They represent something much closer to the audience to enjoy than the high flying physicists. There's just something about underdog and maligned characters in comedies, they just seem to work better.

The Final Verdict

The IT Crowd is the better show, in my opinion. While it's probably not that hard to guess for anyone who's ever actually seen both shows or is even aware of the many flaws of Big Bang Theory, I thought it interesting to compare the two together as they both seemed somewhat similar when they came out within a short amount of time of each other.

Still, I will give Big Bang Theory the props for at least trying a few of the things I did actually enjoy. Even if they didn't last and it turned completely to homogenized Sitcom fluff.

So, a petty win for the UK and IT Crowd. The best kind of win!