<story><title>The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]</title><url>https://archive.org/details/the-it-crowd-us-pilot</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Longlius</author><text>Part of it is simply different television formats. The Office UK specifically aired on BBC One without commercials which meant that it had to be cut down to fit on a major network&amp;#x27;s timeslot of 20-24 min. Shows like that typically have to go to special TV stations like PBS or BBC America in order to get a commercial-free timeslot or (in BBC America&amp;#x27;s case) finagled into a less common time slot with weird commercial break timings. Even with shows that have the same length as 
a standard US show, the break timings are at different points making it more complicated for TV networks to schedule ad space around.&lt;p&gt;And then there&amp;#x27;s the larger issue of a lot of British TV actors simply not having the recognizability of their American counterparts which is a major selling point (esp in the pre-web media days). Steve Carrell was a minor star from his time on the Daily Show which made him a good fit to &amp;#x27;sell&amp;#x27; the US Office.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?&lt;p&gt;It was a minor cult hit, especially among the technologically-inclined demographic. But it&amp;#x27;s not especially well-known.</text></item><item><author>dotBen</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series.  Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office.&lt;p&gt;I wonder if that&amp;#x27;s old thinking (or wasn&amp;#x27;t actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that&amp;#x27;s now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series without being reshot.  Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rwmj</author><text>I learned this is why David Attenborough&amp;#x27;s nature documentaries now have the obligatory 10 minute &amp;quot;making of&amp;quot; featurette at the end.  The first 50 minutes is sold overseas as an hour long documentary (with ad breaks), and the last 10 minutes is for the BBC audience in the UK to fill it up to an hour.</text></comment>
<story><title>The IT Crowd US Pilot (2007) [video]</title><url>https://archive.org/details/the-it-crowd-us-pilot</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Longlius</author><text>Part of it is simply different television formats. The Office UK specifically aired on BBC One without commercials which meant that it had to be cut down to fit on a major network&amp;#x27;s timeslot of 20-24 min. Shows like that typically have to go to special TV stations like PBS or BBC America in order to get a commercial-free timeslot or (in BBC America&amp;#x27;s case) finagled into a less common time slot with weird commercial break timings. Even with shows that have the same length as 
a standard US show, the break timings are at different points making it more complicated for TV networks to schedule ad space around.&lt;p&gt;And then there&amp;#x27;s the larger issue of a lot of British TV actors simply not having the recognizability of their American counterparts which is a major selling point (esp in the pre-web media days). Steve Carrell was a minor star from his time on the Daily Show which made him a good fit to &amp;#x27;sell&amp;#x27; the US Office.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?&lt;p&gt;It was a minor cult hit, especially among the technologically-inclined demographic. But it&amp;#x27;s not especially well-known.</text></item><item><author>dotBen</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m pretty sure this pilot is the same script as episode 1 of the original UK series.  Clearly someone felt the need to recast and reshoot the series with US actors (plus Richard Ayoade), like they did the US Office.&lt;p&gt;I wonder if that&amp;#x27;s old thinking (or wasn&amp;#x27;t actually needed) - the amount of UK TV that&amp;#x27;s now on Netflix and other OTT platforms seems to suggest that US audiences are open to enjoying original UK series without being reshot.  Did the UK IT Crowd ever take off in the US?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>c4ptnjack</author><text>Mostly agree with all you have to say minus the reference as Steve carrell being a safe, reliable pick at the time period. Being on the daily show is a great metric for a casting director as far as quality goes but in reality he had close to zero exposure and public recognition before the office.&lt;p&gt;That fact is supported by how bad the first season of the US office did ratings wise. People warmed up to it quickly thanks to the quality of writing, but the showrunners and producers clearly didn&amp;#x27;t feel confident in the future success of Steve carrell as a leading star or they wouldn&amp;#x27;t have ordered he get hair plugs to make him more look more likable.&lt;p&gt;Lastly, there is something to be said, at least regarding comedy, about differences in taste between cultures. British and US comedy have often been quite different over the last 70 years and is evident in the stylistic differences between the british and us versions of the office in season 1.</text></comment>