In which I discover 'The I.T. Crowd' properly and also discover Graham Linehan's crawly arroyo to writing sitcoms.

Moss, Jen and Roy from 'The I.T. Crowd'
Moss, Jen and Roy from 'The I.T. Crowd'

I clearly have been living under a rock for some fourth dimension (not an unusual feeling for me I have to say).

I recently picked up the box prepare of The I.T. Crowd, the British sitcom series about three misfits who man the I.T. department of a large business organization, owned past a hideously wealthy and deliciously hideous CEO who has absolutely no idea what that they practise.

Weirdly, the show has very fiddling to do with computers at all, and is really more about how the iii main characters (Jen played by Katherine Parkinson, Roy played by Chris O'Dowd and Moss played by Richard Ayoade) stumble their way through life, a process they unfortunately find terribly difficult.

I'd seen the odd episode of the evidence, but information technology wasn't till I sabbatum downward to binge through it all that I experience I can appreciate it for the little bit of wonderful that it is. It's not only consistently funny, information technology's also quite sweet and believable. I couldn't help only chronicle to Jen's complete and utter lack of involvement in technology, and I know more than a few Roys and Mosses — completely loveable losers you do discover yourself sometimes concerned for, wondering how on Globe they've managed to stay alive for and then long.

The reason I feel like I've been living under a stone is not that information technology'due south taken me so long to get to The I.T. Crowd, but rather that it'south taken me then long to connect the dots between its creator and the other stellar piece of work he'south been involved in. Graham Linehan wrote and directed the entire serial (yes, he wrote and directed every single episode), but he also co-wrote Father Ted (with Arthur Mathews) and the kickoff series of Black Books (with Dylan Moran). And then basically he's a comedy genius.

In a wonderful surprise, Series 4 (or Version four.0 as information technology reads on the cover) of The I.T. Crowd features an entire series commentary by Linehan in which he outlines his approach to writing sitcoms. And it'due south great!

Inspired by the many questions he receives from fans and emerging writers through Twitter (Linehan is an avid 'twitterer'), information technology's an unexpected insight into the process of putting together a testify and a peek at what information technology must be like seeing the whole process through from very outset to very finish.

Here's a modest sample of what he talks about:

– He wants every aspiring author to become into the habit of keeping a notebook of ideas, no matter how good or bad. Every vague idea you have may well come up in handy later down the track as y'all write.

– He researches a lot — that is, he spends a lot of time on the internet to find funny, interesting ideas that may have currency at a later stage in the writing process.

– He makes the bespeak that having something to piece of work with is crucial. Yep, your first typhoon is always crap, only information technology is and then important to actually get it written and then you have something to make better.

– He's a large believer in setting limits on yourself as a fashion of generating ideas. That is, what is your series nearly and what kind of world is information technology prepare in? He uses the example of Father Ted where he and co-writer Mathews decided early that they weren't ever going to evidence the priests giving sermons. It would brand the show immediately dissimilar from every other evidence about priests and force them to find new and innovative means to encounter priests interacting with each other and their parishioners. He feels these kinds of limitations are most useful at the start of the procedure as a style to figure out what to write about, what questions you can inquire yourself and how to frame each character's perspective.

– Everyone gets writer's cake — the matter that writers recognise, he says, is that they have to go by that feeling to get the job done. That is, it'southward merely a role of the process to work through, they don't actually let it stop them writing.

– Go on your initial driver/inspiration on hand to fall back on. Knowing your initial intent for the series is both an opportunity and a limitation — you tin can't write nearly things outside this detail earth. Y'all need to know what it'southward about and what information technology's definitely not nearly. That volition help you focus as you progress or if you become stuck.

What I liked almost about the commentary was the fact that Linehan was very upfront almost how difficult the process tin exist, and that scripts often don't quite come together till very late in the process. He spoke highly of his Script Editor, someone he only brought into the process late in the series' life, and how much of an bear upon having a second pair of optics looking over his stories and picking holes in his logic actually fabricated on the overall structure and quality of the writing. Information technology's refreshingly honest, and I'm glad to hear someone demystifying the process and then openly in many respects like this. Even for someone with his experience, it'south clear it's still a difficult process of writing and rewriting to get things to work.

I of the nearly applied things he discussed was how he approaches writing episode story lines. Using a notecard system (he uses software but I tin can see how this would exist as effective using the existent thing), he writes all his diverse ideas about each character on private notecards and over time amasses a collection of most a 100 or and so. They'll say things similar 'Jen has to organise a hen'south night' or 'Roy photoshops girlfriend out of pics'. He so sifts through them and starts to see what may work together as story lines within the same episode.

Once he's sifted through all his cards, he ends upwardly with the vague course of an episode taking shape, giving each character a basic goal or circumstance that complements the goals/circumstances of the other characters. He talked about how two ideas oft have a 'infant', a new idea that really is built-in but when y'all meet two other ideas alongside one another and your encephalon starts making lots of connections it wouldn't otherwise become a chance to. He feels it'southward oftentimes a way to glue the two parent ideas together in a mode that makes the pairing stronger.

Linehan makes a great fuss about fooling yourself into thinking you're having fun. Just sitting down to write can be daunting, so prepare by playing — practise your enquiry, do your cards, have your ideas and start throwing lots of things together and enjoying it. Proficient advice considering the often torturous experience of getting a draft on paper!

Graham Linehan at a 2010 talk for the Irish Moving picture & Television Academy, from Filmbase.ie

While I would have loved to hear Linehan talk about how he devised his I.T. Crowd characters, he does talk almost how he wanted to create a comedy that related to technology in contemporary order, and how that initial narrative driver was something he could come up dorsum to when he was rewriting or was stuck in some way. Remembering his initial intent helped him focus and refine his grapheme's perspectives and how the plot could exist tweaked during the re-writing stages. Even though, as he admits himself, most of the series has very footling to do with technology in any detailed sense.

I'll certainly be going back and listening to the commentary again. There were a couple of places that got a little repetitive, but I can forgive that easily considering the residue of what Linehan discusses is actually very useful. And I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking to either write their ain one-act or is just interested in learning more most the procedure writers get through putting together a serial.

You can visit Aqueduct 4's (Uk) official website for The I.T. Oversupply here.

Graham Linehan's twitter handle is @Glinner

I bought The I.T. Crowd Overclockedbox set (Serial 1-4 plus Television Special 'The Internet is Coming') a couple of weeks ago from skillful one-time JB Hi-Fi for $54.95 (I think).