Released roughly a year before The Big Bang Theory, The IT Crowd (starring Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry) has received widespread acclaim on virtually every social media platform. However, for some reason, it never achieved the same worldwide popularity as Sheldon Cooper and his friends – despite having some of the best comedic moments of any 2000s sitcom.
Why did The Big Bang Theory‘s canned laughter and lowbrow humour prove more successful than its British counterpart? Was it a matter of accessibility? Or was it simply because the characters in The Big Bang Theory were fundamentally more entertaining than the ones in The IT Crowd?
Geeky Humour
The current definition of what is a “nerd” has vastly changed from what it was in 2008. The nerdy things Sheldon and the gang did in The Big Bang Theory are the same things that have become mainstream in today’s cultural landscape. Enjoying comic book franchises and video games? That’s not geeky anymore.
While The Big Bang Theory was a comedy show that played on the most common (and perhaps even dated) nerd stereotypes, The IT Crowd was a show made for actual nerds to enjoy. Some of the show’s humour requires a bit of analysis and knowledge of technical terms to fully comprehend – something that can’t be said of The Big Bang Theory‘s quasi-scientific gags.
At first glance, it might seem like The Big Bang Theory and The IT Crowd target the same type of audience – but nothing could be farther from the truth. A cursory analysis of the style of the jokes in The IT Crowd would reveal the truth that many fans of the show know to be true: The Big Bang Theory is a show about nerds, while The IT Crowd is a series for nerds.
Characters Matter
A common complaint about The Big Bang Theory is that most characters are written like sitcom caricatures of real people. The issue with this is that their personalities seem to be interchangeable as the episode demands it. Yes, we know that Sheldon is supposed to be an unbearable maniac and that Howard is a womanizer, but these superficial traits are used primarily as a cheap setup for some quick jokes.
The IT Crowd, on the other hand, relies on a more solid foundation of characters that might be the same kind of individuals one might find on an average IT team. The social ineptitude and quirky shenanigans are played for laughs, that is true – but it never feels as mean-spirited as some of the gags made on The Big Bang Theory, where their characters are the butt of the jokes.
It’s safe to say that The IT Crowd‘s humour might not have the same universal appeal as The Big Bang Theory – but it never intended to. This is a creative show with clever jokes that not every audience might appreciate, let alone laugh at – but it has nevertheless found a sizeable cult following that enjoys it for what it tried to do.
The Big Bang Theory‘s impressive 279-episode run will undoubtedly eclipse The IT Crowd‘s 43 episodes in TV history, but die-hard fans of the show will be content in knowing that, on a joke-per-minute basis, The IT Crowd takes the crown for the best non-animated geek comedy ever made.
RELATED: Sorry, But The Big Bang Theory Isn’t Funny
Tell us, do you agree that The IT Crowd is funnier than The Big Bang Theory?
The IT Crowd |
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The comedic misadventures of Roy, Moss and their grifting supervisor Jen, a rag-tag team of IT support workers at a large corporation headed by a hotheaded yuppie. |
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| Creator: Graham Linehan |
| Cast: Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, Matt Berry, Christopher Morris, Noel Fielding |
| Genre: Comedy |
| Number of Seasons: 4 |
| Streaming Service: Netflix |
