Fair does
The 4th one was a bit week tbh.
Fans of Channel 4 sitcom IT Crowd will be crying into their customised motherboards this morning after the show's mastermind confirmed it won't be returning for a fifth series after all. Graham Linehan had said in May 2010 that he was working on another run of the programme, which brought the ridiculed-but-actually-extremely- …
We loved the show and also agree its good to see someone know when to quit. The last series whilst better than most, was the lesser of the four.
However, I will always be thankful to Mr Linehan for that absolute classic episode with the Gay musical. That episode was the most funny laugh filled 30 minutes I've known in years.
The GF and I were in tears watching it. Doesn't happen often..well not in a comedy way.
It's nice that some writers still know when to end. I think it's better to end a series well than to drag it through a slow and painful death. It's nicer to finish a series and to have enjoyed it, rather than wading through dozens of the later, poorer episodes of a series, scavenging the last few laughs.
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The departure of Ash Atalla as producer at the end of series three really seems to have hurt the franchise badly. That was the only real change to the show before series 4. Series 4 was not weak, it was horrible with only one decent line from the six episodes. The scripts were dismal, the storylines forced and in the end actually uncomfortable to watch.
Series 1-3 will end up on my shelf in DVD format as a true classic. Series 4 will not even be considered.
Good luck to Mr. Linehan in all future endeavours.
I think this probably has to do with the fact that Roy (Chris O'Dowd) is trying to make himself a name in Hollywood. We've seen him in quite a few comedies in the last 2 years, Bridesmaids, with Kristen Wiig, being actually quite fun and commercially successful.
He's been directing music videos for a while, and recently made his first feature film, "Submarine", which he wrote and directed - critically acclaimed too.
As for series 4 I thought the "Countdown" episode was the strongest but still not great, and the others were extremely patchy and felt very forced. I think I actually switched channels during the last episode such was my disappointment. Still haven't seen the ending.
I never caught The IT Crowd while it was running, but just this weekend sat down and watched the first two episodes of Series 1 on 4oD. Really enjoyed it and look forward to seeing the rest.
Ironic that just as I start watching it, Mr Linehan pulls the plug.
Oh well, back to the basement for me.....
Series 2, episode 1 was incredibly funny, but "The Haunting of Bill Crouse" (Series 1, Episode 5) makes me laugh even more. The floating head along the hallway, the voice mail from the recently dead, and the final scene in the rain never gets old.
Thanks Mr Linehan. I will continue to enjoy watching all four series again and again.
> I just wasn't looking forward to it the way I used to.
Oh the poor dear, diddums! Having to work on things he doesn't want to. It must be such an imposition to get paid for doing things you "have run out of enthusiasm" for. If the show is still making money and people are prepared to finance future series, anyone with any professional integrity would feel honour bound to give it their best shot, not say "but I'm bored .... I wanna do something else" <sound of rattle being banged on high-chair's tray>
That does seem to be an issue with the television industry and particularly british TV production. The creative types don't seem to have the discipline to approach things as if they were a job: do work, get paid. Instead, it all seems to have to be "fun".
Bloody artists.
Au contraire
I watched an episode once and didn't care for it - though I appreciate other people do like it. My beef is not with that particular show coming to an end - I don't care one way or another. It just bugs me that writers like this can turn away work that affects not only themselves, but fans, actors and all the other people involved in making the show. Even stranger, that the production company doesn't just say "OK, cheerio then. *Ding* will the next writer please assume the position and carry on where the last one *(what was his name?) left off."
Apropos creativity: Hmmm, *if* each episode was new, original, thoughtful and/or funny I may well have become a fan. As it is, there didn't seem like much creativity needed, just the ability to knock out a screenplay at roughly one page per minute of run-time. The guy's not exactly Douglas Adams, is he?
Creative writing just happens to require a writer who feels like writing just that creative thing. If he doesn't, he turns out crap and he knows it. If he continues regardless, he'll turn fans into former fans in a hurry, maybe even create a hatedom, start to hate himself, and quite possibly kill off his career.
From that it should be easy to see that it's both in his and in the series' fans interest to quit while ahead. Apparently the series was going downhill already, so it's past time he quit. I call that a correct decision. Better to keep what you got and not destroy it with afwul stuff afterwards.
Just like it's the right decision to quit before burning out from a shitty job, and find another. Just with slightly different parameters and possibly a greater impact. And, well, I think you're wrong about how lightly an author takes that decision to stop with this project and move on. If you created it and it's been successful, it is in fact quite hard to call it quits in a timely fashion.
Pete 2, you apparently don't do much creative (paitning, composing, writing, whatever) in your life. The creative process takes a different mind-set to churning out accounts or pushing groceries over a scanner or driving a bus or piloting an oil tanker. Every job requires its skill, and creative writing needs an internal 'buzz', comedy especially relying on being 'up'. A professional can indeed buckle down and do a job for some time -- that's how series are sustained -- but finally every joke or situation becomes stale and the way a writer knows this is when he or she feels 'stale' and unhappy.
Every job should be done by people who look forward to it and enjoy it. Some jobs simply cannot be done unless you look forward to it and enjoy it. I want a happy comedy writer, I want a happy eye surgeon, and i want a happy airline pilot. If any of them feel bored and lacking in enthusiasm, well, please, not in my direction.
Maybe you are some sort of weird sadist who prefers work to feel more like punishment and pain but I'd hazard a guess that most people prefer a job where they have fun and enjoy doing it. I know I've always tried to apply for jobs where I knew I would enjoy the work in addition to getting paid, of course I've worked jobs which I loathed but had to do purely for the money but then I generally left them for one that I would enjoy as fast as I possibly could.
Given his job allows him to move onto something more interesting when he is becoming bored and jaded with writing one series then why the hell shouldn't he.
In summary, you are a plonker.