My Favourite Horror Movies

Anyone that talks about movies has to talk horror in October at some point. And I'm no different. After all, Halloween is the movie buff's time of year, a time to pour over zombies, vampires and serial killers. And the cool thing about horror movies is that everyone had their favourites. Everyone's got a preference. Whether you prefer atmosphere or ultraviolence, everyone has a favourite horror film. Yeah, comedy is still my favourite movie genre, but there are so many awesome horror movies too. And so let's celebrate them, by discussing my favourites in no particular order.
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I've said many times before that comedy is my favourite genre, so naturally I gravitate towards horror with a funny streak. But if we're talking comedy (which we aren't, but bear with me), you don't get much better than John freaking Landis. I could gush about how much I love Animal House, the Blues Brothers and Trading Places, but it's not the time. But Landis didn't just make great comedies. He also delivered one of the greatest cult horror movies of all time. An American Werewolf in London. This movie man. This movie is so damn awesome. And today, we're gonna look into what makes it so. So, let's get going, and start my obligatory horror post with An American Werewolf in London!

For those who don't know, American Werewolf is about two college students on a trip across Europe,  who stumble upon a strange pub in the English countryside, the Slaughtered Lamb. The pub has some strange connection to the occult, and the patrons warn the two not to go onto the moors at night. Guess what they do next. They end up getting attacked by a werewolf, who is then killed. One of the students is "killed", and the other is transformed into a werewolf, and has to deal with all the struggles that go along with that. The plot, and the way it's told have this great cult-ish feel. The film I think is deliberately made to be a little bit shit, which gives it a boatload of charm in the process. It has this wonderful B-movie feel to it, and that combines with the campy humour to create a massively enjoyable experience. It's something about that combination of clichéd dialogue, hammy delivery and hilarious awkwardness that push this movie into the gloriousness of being a campy cult horror favourite, and it's one that I love watching with people who have never seen it before. Some of the reactions people have to this film are fantastic.

But it's not all shoddy in a fun way. Some aspects of this movie are legitimately fantastic. Take the special effects, which not only won an Oscar, they INVENTED A NEW CATEGORY ENTIRELY. Few movies have that honor, and the effects here, by Stan Winston are amazing. That transformation scene speaks for itself, but everything is great. The makeup is fantastic, and the other effects outside of the transformation are ace too. I don't usually praise this kind of stuff in movies (I'm more of a storytelling and writing kind of guy, if you haven't noticed), but American Werewolf's effects are too good to not mention. I'm a huge lover of practical effects when they're done right, and here is no exception. The soundtrack is also fantastic, with every song being moon themed. It's a little aspect of the production that proves that John Landis has this great sense of humour when it comes to the smallest of details. The production here is no joke, and that somehow accentuates the aspects that are kind of shitty in the film,  massively adding to the cult-y charm that was already all over the movie.

I find it hard to criticise the film and say "this doesn't work", because there's not really much to criticise here. I mean, I could say that the acting isn't great, but that's kind of the point. It's supposed to be kind of B-movie-ish. And it succeeds at that. I could criticise the slightly awkward romance plot, but it doesn't feel out of place or anything, only slightly stiff at times, and it's not that bad either. I suppose with a film that's as gloriously campy as this one, there isn't an awful lot to legitimately criticise here. John Landis made a film that is kind of silly, and knows it too, and constantly reminds you of how silly it is. Landis knocked it out of the park, making one of the strongest comedy horrors ever. It knows it's shit, and it wears it's shitness on its sleeve. It's so much damn fun. An American Werewolf in London is not only one of the best horror movies of the 80s, but also one of the greatest comedy horrors of all time.

If you had to open both of those catagories up though....
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There's kind of this stigma with sequels nine times out of ten. Don't get me wrong, there are good ones for sure. Aliens, Rocky II, The Empire Strikes Back, T2 Judgement Day, Captain America the Winter Soldier, and plenty of other legitimately  good movie sequels exist, but more often than not, THEY SUCK. It's hard to be orginal twice, and sequels mostly fall into two categories: ones that are too scared to do anything different, and are way too safe as a result, and those that deviate too far from the vision  of the first film and take way too many risks and fall flat because of it. I don't have anything against sequels. When they're good, they can add a lot to an already great idea, and take the series in an interesting direction. So yeah, good sequels are hard to do, especially for horror movies. Creating something legitimately shocking and scary once is hard. Doing it twice is insanely difficult, and as such, when a horror sequel is good, it's often downright amazing. I've talked about Aliens before, and how it succeeded as a follow up to the first in terms of both story and atmosphere. I did however say that Aliens didn't surpass Alien in my opinion. So, where does Sam Raimi come into this? Simple. He created not just the best horror sequel, but for my money the best sequel to any movie ever. Evil. Dead. 2.

Before we talk about chainsaw hands and fruit cellars, we need to talk about a little indie feature that came right the hell out of nowhere, and created a legend in the process. Evil Dead isn't the greatest horror film ever made, but it isn't really like anything else that came before it. It's visceral, and shocking,  and claustrophobic, and creative, and just so damn cool. It's rough around the edges and actually kind of shit, but that's all part of its charm. Everything about the first film works towards making it fresh, and original, and so incredibly badass. So a sequel may have been an odd choice. I mean, I find it's hard to imagine a world WITHOUT Evil Dead 2, but the first one was kind of standalone. It was open ended, but it didn't demand a sequel or anything. I suppose the idea of a second one might seem odd when you look at how new and frankly different the first Evil Dead was. It wasn't perfect, actually  it was as far from perfect as a good movie could get, but it was fresh. It offered viewers something so fantastically violent, and fun, and kind of grindhouse. It was low budget, and campy, and making a follow up to that was never going to be easy. It's lightning in a bottle for sure. So why am I talking so much praise about the Evil Dead? Because I legitimately believe the second Evil Dead is the greatest movie sequel of all time. I tend to stray from talking about my favourites of all time, because I have kind of been saving talking about my favourites for special occasions. But I love Evil Dead, and it's Halloween, so you know what? Screw it. Time to talk about how awesome Evil Dead 2 is.

So where does it improve over the first? Well, it doesn't improve, so much as refine. It takes everything that the original did well, and managed to do it better. The first ten minutes are actually a remake of the first movie. From then on, it's like the first one, with a group of characters trapped in a cabin being assaulted by demons, but it's more self aware, it's funnier, there's more crazy shit, it's awesome. In many ways it is just the first one again, but it adds this irresistible black humour that makes me love it so damn much. It takes the originals claustrophobic horror, inventive visuals and insane gore, and improves on it by adding comedy, throwing in more of what makes it great, and by developing the character of Ash, played by Bruce. Freakin. Campbell. In the first movie Ash was just kind of there. He wasn't a great character, or even particularly that interesting, but here he's funny, he's badass, he's so damn likable, he's awesome. And Bruce Campbell is awesome as him. Also fleshing out the necronomicon and explaining how that works is pretty great too.

But even as it's own film, Evil Dead 2 works 100%. Sam Raimi does a great job at building huge amounts of atmosphere in the cabin. The movie really works because it's set in such an enclosed space, and it makes the threat seem more dangerous as a result. There's nowhere to run, and each part of the cabin becomes this great set piece as a result. I'm personally quite fond of the fruit cellar containing the old woman, who's absolutely hilarious in my opinion. It shows Sam Raimi's knack for black comedy, as does all of other the crazy shit that happens in the movie. The balance of comedy and horror is perfect here. Evil Dead 2 man. Evil. Dead. 2. Damn.
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Moving away from comedy horror, but staying in the 80s, is John Carpenter's The Thing. This is a masterpiece in tension. The effects are obviously fantastic too, and I will talk about them, but what I love here is how unbearably intense the atmosphere is in this film. For those unaware, The Thing centres around a group of scientists in a facility in the Arctic, who are stalked and brutally murdered one by one by a vicious alien. If that sounds cliché, don't worry, Carpenter keeps it fresh by never actually revealing what the beast looks like, instead having it assume different forms based on the dna it absorbs from living creatures. This results in so many awesome visuals, such as dogs morphing into giant beasts, to heads opening up into huge mouths, and a freaking head walk around on spider-like legs. It EARNS that 18 rating for sure.

I'd also regret not talking about the effects, by Rob Bottin and the irreplaceable Stan Winston, who I've mentioned as making some of cinema's greatest effects. Yeah they're slightly dated, but they're so grotesque and creative with how many ways they portray murder and mutilation that it doesn't even matter. You don't want to watch it, but you just can't look away. They're stunningly frightening because they're straight out of a nightmare. They're things you'd never come up with in you're wildest dreams, which naturally makes them absolutely terrifying.

Kurt Russell is surprisingly great here too as the charasmatic and badass MacReady. I'm someone who doesn't hate Kurt Russell, but I'm also not his biggest fan. Here though he's awesome. He's a badass with a flamethrower, yeah, but what makes me love him is how smart and resourceful he is. He's able to survive not just because of his combat skill, but also with his quick wit and ability to keep a level head during the attacks. The other characters are great too. You get to know each of these men, and the more time you spend with them, the more you care about them when they inevitably get brutally killed. I'll admit, it would have been so easy to just have them be disposable horror victims, but instead you legitimately care about each of them.

The atmosphere is perfect too. Carpenter excels at generating huge amounts of doubt among these characters. They have to work together to survive,  but they can't afford to trust each other. This stress builds and builds, creating this atmosphere of pure dread. It's fantastically done here. I love how it's not just the alien threat that tests their relationships, but also the slowly building insanity that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing who's who. Then acting and writing is perfect, and contributes to the sense of fear and panic in the movie. If you haven't seen The Thing, do. It's one of Carpenter's best.
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But let's jump forward 20 years to 2002, and Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. It's easy to have zombie fatigue in this day and age, what with so many pieces of zombie media being made recently, but there are some legitimately fantastic zombie movies out there. 28 Days Later is  my favourite zombie movie, ironically made by a filmmaker I'm not even a huge fan of. Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of Danny Boyle's work to be honest. I really enjoyed Millions, but apart from that and 28 Days Later, none of his other films really do much for me. Not bad, just not for me. 28 Days Later, however is absolutely incredible. The atmosphere here is stunning. Instead of being slow and forboding, all of the horror here is fast paced and in your face. Boyle barely gives you a second to think, shoving the threat of the infected in your face. This massively adds to the paranoia in the film. The characters never feel safe, and they're never well equipped to deal with the army of infected coming after them.

Boyle's direction here is masterful. The scary scenes aren't just scary, there's dread, and panic, and all kinds of fear. It's so damn wonderful. Instead of just having one kind of scare through the whole thing, Boyle creates this scale of fear, going from shock, uncertainty, discomfort, doubt, terror. He creates this wonderfully layered scary atmosphere, and combined with the in-your-face nature of the infected, it becomes incredibly thrilling and ensures that you stay on the edge of your seat throughout the film. So many single moments here are incredible. The scene in the tunnels where the infected are running at the group is so damn gripping. You can only see the shadows,  and hear the infected running, and the suspense it builds is insane. It's a kind of horror that really works, and even after having seen so many horror movies, 28 Days Later still managed to be legitimately frightening, and it kept me thrilled and invested.

Though maybe the characters had something to do with that too. Just like in The Thing, you actually really care about all of these people, and you seriously don't want anything bad to happen to them. I don't want to give too much away, but the scenes at the end with the military facility are terrifying, not just because they're horrible, but because you can empathise with the characters, and so you really want them to get out. Another thing that makes the climax work is how the trust of the characters is taken advantage of, and how that works to build up a huge amount of dread that explodes into that reveal. It's really wonderful stuff. 28 Days Later combines atmosphere and character to create an experience that's so sickeningly brilliant, and just has to be seen.
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One thing I love about the horror genre is it's ability to not only frighten, but also to move. Fear is a good way to develop a character. Facing them with terrifying situations often brings out their best attributes, and progresses their characters nicely. It also massively adds to the empathy we feel towards characters, which can lead to some honestly incredibly emotional moments. So yeah, great horror has the potential to be legitimately moving. And one of the best at this is Tomas Alfredson's 2008 magnum opus Let the Right One In. Almost more of a coming of age story than anything else, Let the Right One In is an absolutely spellbinding tale of isolation, friendship and young love in 1980s Sweden. For those unaware, Let the Right One In centres around a young boy named Oskar, who's constantly being bullied. He meets a young girl named Eli, who turns out to be a vampire. It's about the relationship that forms between the two outcasts. This relationship is surprisingly sweet, and for me is the best part of the movie. The bond between them really makes it for me. It's a natural feeling relationship that really accentuates the horror. It's a perfect compliment to the quietly eerie and disturbing horror. A strangely fantastic balance between utterly chilling and deeply sweet.

It's still a horror film though. I'll admit, this one isn't scary as such, and more uses the vampire aspect to emphasise how different Eli is from the other characters. The atmosphere, however is eerie, and constantly gives off the feeling that something isn't quite right. It's not scary as much as quietly disturbing. The snowy scenery, the quiet sound design and the slow plot progression really add to the eerie dread of the atmosphere. And I know I'm using the word eerie a lot, but it is the best word for the movie. It's quiet, and slowly disturbing, and brilliantly done. The pool scene sends chills up my spine every single time I watch it. The atmosphere is truly masterful, and it makes for a chilling, dread filled watch.

I will admit though, this is one that I'm kind of reluctant to talk about. And it's not because it's not good, because it's excellent. It's because so much of what makes this movies great relies on the experience. The uncertainty, the atmosphere, the surprisingly sweet relationship between the two main characters, the quietly disturbing moments of horror, all of it practically begs to be viewed with little to no prior knowledge of what happens. If you haven't seen it, go in blind. You seriously won't regret it. It feels like you're discovering something really special. Even on repeat viewings though, it holds up. It's not just a one watch film. The first viewing is a powerful, disturbing and surprisingly moving experience, but each repeat viewing brings with it something new. For me, anyway. So yeah, I'll keep quiet about details for now. If you've seen it, you'll know why. If you haven't, do.
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Okay, okay so everyone loves Alien. It's not exactly an original pick for one of my favourites, but I don't really care. As far as I'm concerned, Alien EARNS it's place in horror legend. It's crazy how well this film hold up some 38 years later. It's still tense, shocking and absolutely terrifying all these years later. I will admit though, with how much everyone loves Alien and talks about Alien and puts Alien on all the lists, it's actually pretty difficult to know what to say about it. So I'm gonna try my best to sum up my thoughts on one of my favourite movies, Alien.

For the three people that haven't seen it, Alien is about the crew on the spaceship Nostromo, and how a brief trip to an alien planet proves deadly when a vicious alien gets on board the ship. From there, the crew has to survive as the creature picks them off one by one. This is a film all about the buildup, and the atmosphere. The first half is pure tension. It's a slow buildup, but it grows into something truly special. What I would say to someone who hadn't seen it is that it's very slow for the first half. The second half is all thrills and horror, but the first half is a slow creeping tension. There's not even any horror for about 25 minutes, it's all just atmosphere. And Ridley Scott does a fantastic job at creating this claustrophobic mood that chills throughout the whole thing.

The turning point of the film is when John Hurt encounters the facehugger for the first time. That of course leads to the chestburster scene, which is masterful. Even now, even having seen it more times than I care to mention, it's still a fantastically shocking scene that holds up even today. All of the effects are wonderful. H.R. Geiger's xenomorph is absolutely fantastic. This design is one of my favourite monster designs ever. It's so nightmarishly different from anything I've seen. The whole idea of using human hosts to produce more xenomorphs is creatively horrifying, and used really well here. Another thing I love is how unfamiliar the characters are with what's chasing them. This may sound small, but it definitely enhances the experience for me. They're so out of their depth, and it results in the xenomorph being that much scarier as a result. None of them really have any idea what exactly they're up against. This unfamiliarity becomes part of the beast's design, and makes it that much more frightening as a result.

The cast is stunning too. And I know I've been praising characters a lot in this post, but Alien's cast really deserves a mention. Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, Ian Holm, Sigourney Weaver. It's nothing short of one of the best casts in any movie ever. Every single one of them is great and memorable. As I've said several times now, it's easy to just have characters in horror movies be plot devices that are easily disposable. Alien completely forgoes this idea, instead having each character be so well written and memorable. You could name any character and I'd instantly know who you were talking about. It's not often that that happens with me in movies, especially not in horror movies. I'm especially fond of Ian Holm as the vile android Ash, and of course Sigourney Weaver as one of my all time favourite movie characters ever, Ellen Ripley. Ash is a great antagonist, and I consider him the true villain of the film. He's so cruel and uncompromising, and the reveal that he's an android is absolutely fantastically done.

And Ripley. God I love Ripley. Ripley is one of the greatest movie characters ever, and while I do think Aliens is a better movie for showcasing why Ripley's a great hero, Alien is a great almost origin story for her. She's not really the main focus, and Tom Skerritt's Dallas is kind of the main hero (until he's brutally murdered by the xenomorph). She's just an everywoman doing her job, until bit by bit the situation worsens,  leaving Ripley to step up to the plate and become a badass hero. But all of her character traits that would be developed in Aliens are introduced to us here. How she goes from a lowly warrant officer to the only person who can deal with the alien threat, and turns her fear and vulnerability into courage and strength, is awesome, and she's hands down my favourite part of the movie. She's one of my favourite characters ever, and this movie perfectly illustrates why.

So all in all, Alien is a classic that I don't think is going away any time soon. Even now, it holds up, and while I prefer Evil Dead 2 as a horror film, I think Alien is  better as a whole. They're my two favourite horror movies, and both up there as two of my very favourite films ever. Alien is near perfect, and while Aliens was a great sequel, the first movie holds up incredibly well today. It's still scary, it's still atmospheric, it's still excellently made. Not just for it's time, but in general. It's one of my all time favourites, with a great story, great writing, a great cast, a great threat and a great atmosphere. It's a masterpiece, not just in the horror genre but in all of cinema. It's very nearly perfect, and if you've missed it somehow, do yourself a favour and watch it. And if you have seen it, do yourself a favour and watch it again.

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 5 (Final)

So, this is it. The I.T. Crowd is one of my all time favourite series, and I've had a blast revisiting it, and talking about every episode. But now, it's time to finish strong, with my top five favourite episodes (which you've probably figured out by process of elimination)  of one of my all time favourite shows. So, let's go!

5. Are We Not Men?

The idea for the plot here is beyond genius. There's kind of this wonderful subversion. Roy and Moss getting themselves in over their heads is nothing new, but here is not only done to such an extreme, but also with a kind of a fakeout. At first, you think that they're in too deep talking about football, only for the reveal that they're a little more out of their depths than they realise. That reveal by the way is perfect. It's perfect comedic escalation. Just when you think that the episode has played it's trump card in having Roy and Moss lie to become "proper men", it completely flips the script and goes  in a very odd, but still awesome direction.

Roy and Moss' quest to be viewed as "proper men" is really fun to watch. I love how quickly everything gets out of hand. It's maybe the best example of insane escalation in a show that excels in insane escalation. Because of course the men that Roy and Moss befriend turn out to be bank robbers, and of course Roy and Moss get involved in the heist. By that point in the episode, nothing from the start even matters anymore. It's not about these two trying to be seen as "proper men", it's about their shit luck, and about how they always get into the weirdest situations. And that's the cool thing about the reveal. It takes the episode in this insane direction, almost to prove that nothing these two ever do is simple. It's the ultimate example of Roy and Moss getting into increasingly awkward situations, and this is definitely the farthest I think they ever went with that idea, and one of the best because of it.

It's the logical extreme of the awkward situations these characters find themselves in, and it's done so well. Part of that comes from how unexpected a lot of the plot is. Every joke is delivered just at the right time. Pacing's a small thing but when done well it can make a serious difference, and here it's done superbly. The plot moves along at the right pace, which again, might not sound like much, but when you've got comedic reveals and unpredictable jokes, you need to know when to use them at the right time, which this episode does. Just when you think they might have run out of ways to escalate the situation, there's another reveal around the corner, and it always makes the episode that bit funnier.

And how did it take me this long to mention how funny this episode is? The football speak (with pronunciation guide), Moss' football commentary, Michael the magnificent, Cockney neck, any of the jokes about the heist, and of course, Chris O'Dowd's magnificent crying, which makes for one of the funniest tags of the series. This might be the best episode for Chris O'Dowd as Roy now that I think of it. His performance here is consistently hilarious throughout the whole thing, and he regularly has me in stitches. This also might be the most quotable episode too, with almost every line being solidly hilarious. And I think that there's only really one way to end this:

"Did you see that ludicrous display last night?"

4. Tramps Like Us

I've mentioned several episodes of the show that mock Jen for wanting to succeed, and this is probably the best one. Part of that actually comes from the fact that they actually give a reason as to why Jen stays at all. I mean, apart from the fact that she's too inept to succeed at doing anything else. The episode states that Jen is actually quite good at what she does, and is even needed to stop Roy and Moss from getting into too much trouble. It's rare that a Jen-centric plot actually focuses on the stuff she does well, as well as explaining why she stays at Renyholm at all. That's not something we see very often, and it's done really well here. Jen's interview where she realises that she belongs inI.T. not because she knows anything about computers (which they poke fun at just as much as in the pilot), but because she's only person who actually understands Moss and Roy . That's not something that's often brought up in the show, but makes a lot of sense. Don't get me wrong, they still make fun of Jen for wanting to be successful, but they balance it so well with explaining why she stays at all despite being so shit with technology. They also avoid so many of the cliches of the "this character doesn't feel needed and leaves" plot, doing it in a way that it feels fresh and original, which isn't easy to accomplish.

Moss and Roy are great here too. Roy gradually becoming a tramp is great, and features one of the greatest strings of comedic coincidences I think I've ever seen. Like in all great Roy plots, if something can go wrong, it probably will, resulting in hilarious results. Roy's over confidence and arrogance is turned against him here, and it results in an over the top dramatic downfall that gets major laughs. The idea that Roy is so inept that he can become completely down and out in the space of an afternoon is hilarious. It plays up the logical extreme of Roy being the ultimate loser, and it results in an incredibly funny plot.

Moss is even better. The dynamic between Moss and Douglas isn't one that the show utilized as much as it maybe should have. Don't get me wrong, episodes like From Hell and The Internet is Coming do interesting things with their relationship, but generally I found it pretty underused. Their screentime together may be brief here, but it results in some of the best moments of the episode. Both of them are great individually here (Moss with a concussion and Douglas with his electric sex pants could only ever be fantastic), but get them together and something truly special happens. ("You there! Computer man! Fix my pants!" "I beg your pardon?" "PULL DOWN MY TROUSERS AND DO YOUR JOB!") . It's not a dynamic that was explored enough in the show if you ask me. The scene they share together is easily the best moment in the entire episode.

Tramps Like Us is a strong contender for the show's funniest. Obviously there are three that I think do their job a little better, but it gets this position for three reasons. One: It's deeper exploration of Jen's character than usual while still mocking here for having any kind of ambition. Two: It pushes Roy's naturally shit luck to it's logical extreme, resulting in some of his best moments in the whole show. And finally: It displays the fantastic dynamic between Moss and Douglas, something that the show definitely should have done more of.

3. The Speech

To talk about how brilliant this episode is, I'm going to split it into two, talking about Jen's plot and Douglas' plot separately. These two plots work equally well for two completely different reasons, and so to talk about them properly I have to divide the episode in two.

Let's start with Jen's plot. The whole thing is basically buildup to one joke, but the joke itself is so incredible that it's worth being worked up to. The reveal of The Internet is one of the most iconic moments in the show, and the way it's built up to make the joke hit that much harder. The first time I saw this episode I was laughing for a long time afterwards. I honestly couldn't get over how good that punchline was. This is how you do a setup to a joke. The writers tease you with something brilliant over and over in this one, and the result does not disappoint. Jen's plot is just one huge joke, built on Roy and Moss taking advantage of Jen's arrogance. And honestly, this is the kind of thing that Jen would probably fall for. The Internet is something that would go on to become absolutely legendary among fans of The I.T. Crowd, and it's inception is nothing short of joyous to watch. Especially when the crowd starts freaking out, proving that, well, people are idiots. That's a nice touch though, and it adds another little unexpected twist , which definitely furthers the joke that much more. This plot is sheer genius. And it's so simple. Sometimes you don't need a ton of variety to be funny. You just need to know what you're doing enough to be able to do one thing well.

And then there's Douglas' plot. If Jen's plot was just one big joke, Douglas' is a never ending stream of them. It's the perfect Douglas plot no doubt, and probably my favourite Douglas episode. It's the perfect showcase of how much of a misogynistic, emotionally unstable scumbag Douglas is. Yes, Men Without Women did an excellent job of showing that too, but here it's just done perfectly. Douglas is generally shit person, which flawlessly displayed here. Every moment in his plot is stuffed with laughs, from his montage of happiness to his surprisingly epic fight with April. That moment adds to the already over the top crazy finale, and is packed with so many jokes that it's kind of ridiculous.

Truth be told, because the episode relies mainly on joke delivery in both plots, there's not an awful lot more to talk about. I've pretty much covered everything. Like Smoke and Mirrors, The Speech is a simple, comedy driven episode, one that is pretty much a legend among the fanbase at this point.

2. The Dinner Party

When I first got the idea to do this list, this was going to be my number one. In fact, for a good while, this WAS my favourite episode. This was the one that I'd always laugh the most at when I watched it, the one I'd always quote, the one I'd always go to when I though of the best parts of the show. It was only upon rewatching another episode that this one got knocked down a spot, But it still holds up. I haven't actually lost any love for this episode over time, in fact the opposite is true, I've only fallen in love with it more. I firmly believe that a lot of comedy can be gained from a group of characters in one place for extended periods of time. It's been done a lot (especially in Britcoms), but I think that this is one of the best examples I've seen, if not the best (though Bottom comes so close with the episode Hole). The best parts of this episode are the parts in which the characters are just talking over dinner. They all play off each other so damn well. So much of the show's charm is built off of the character's chemistry anyway, but The Dinner Party takes that and just runs with it. The conversation itself is jam packed with quotable moments. I take back what I said about Are We Not Men? being the most quotable episode, it's this one for sure.

It's a reminder of why this show worked in the first place: it's characters. This is the perfect episode to showcase why these characters are all so great. It's the perfect display of who they all are; Roy's a shallow lowlife, Moss is a neurotic oddball, Jen is an uptight wreck who thinks she's above it all, and Richmond, well he's just Richmond. He's poetic, creepy, and suave as all hell. They bounce off each other so well here, because they all have this wonderful natural chemistry. This was the moment I realised that this is one of the strongest comedic casts ever. When without any setpieces or big punchlines, that just by sitting at a table and talking, these people could have me in stitches with almost every single sentence

 A lot of the gags are simple I'll admit, but that's why they work. A lot of it is just funny dialogue, but I find it impossible to watch without bursting into laughter. And I've watched this episode a lot. And never once does it get old. I know what every gag is and when it's coming, but I just don't care. That doesn't matter to me. I'll always watch Roy get progressively more shallow and desperate talking to the model, or Moss bickering with the newly divorced woman like an old married couple, or Richmond being just being an absolute savage of a flirt. I especially love how Jen becomes progressively more mortified as the party goes on, which is perfectly acted by the absolutely wonderful Katherine Parkinson.

The dialogue itself is so wonderfully written, and delivered with this natural flow. The delivery is beyond fantastic here. It's a perfect balance of the charm and humour that this show just absolutely excels at, that it's beyond impressive at doing. To make pure dialogue funny is one thing. To make dialogue that's consistently funny is something else. But to make dialogue that never loses it's comedic value no matter how many times it's returned to? That's almost unheard of. This episode is one of the few things that I can return to and always laugh at, no matter how many times I've seen it (the others being Young Frankenstein, Arsenic and Old Lace, Community's Paradigms of Human Memory, What We do in the Shadows, the Bottom episode Gas and Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century. And the next entry on this list, obviously).

I know I'm speaking high praise of this episode despite it only being my number two, but it really is that good. but not as good as...

1. Bad Boys

It was a tough call, I'll admit. The Dinner Party is incredible. It's the best showcase of each of the characters and was my favourite episode for so long. So, what changed? That's a bloody good question, and I think the answer is that while The Dinner Party is a flawless showcase of the cast as a whole, this is the strongest showcase of one character, and why that character worked in the first place. Moss is my favourite character in the show. I mean, that's not an uncommon opinion or anything, I mean he inspired like a thousand memes, but I'm getting off topic here. Bad Boys shows why I and so many people fell in love with Richard Aoyade's bespectacled manchild. Moss is a great character. He's neurotic, social inept, and just so lovably awkward. So take a character like that, and give him a rebellious streak, and you've got pure gold.

Bad Boys shows what happens when the by the book Moss decides to go a little bad. Like bunking off work, glaring at people and stealing boxsets of Grand Designs bad. Yeah, Moss is shit at misbehaving in any way, and, as you can imagine, this is hilarious, but it shows why Moss is a great character. This is a man who lives his life by a strict set of rules, and is happy to be that way. He never rebels, he never causes trouble, and when the time comes for him to break some rules, he embraces the chaos and causes mild panic like you've never seen. The opening of this episode is sheer brilliance, setting up a scenario that makes you think "how the hell did Moss get arrested?". The answer is beyond perfect. Richard Aoyade never misses a mother flippin' beat here.  It's Moss at his absolute best.

Having this kind of character embrace being bad isn't just hilarious. It's endearing, and it makes you remember everything you loved about him in the first place. You're watching someone who's never done anything wrong in his life go mad, without actually doing anything that bad, because he has no idea how. This is his idea of mischief. And it's hilarious. Just like The Dinner Party, this episode has so many ingeniously funny moments that I can keep coming back to. The dialogue isn't as well written as it was in The Dinner Party, but the jokes are all better constructed. The funny moments here are usually so out thee and even unpredictable at times. And even when you've seen it many times, like I have, Bad Boys still has more to come back to. I still find myself in stitches at Moss' idea of anarchy.

And that's not even mentioning everyone else. Roy becomes aware that he has a catchphrase, and makes a bet with Jen that he can go the whole day without saying it. I love it when any show acknowledges it's own formula, and pokes fun at itself, and that's absolutely what Roy's plot is here. Roy is also the perfect foil for Moss here. Roy is rarely the voice of reason in this show, but in a situation as strange as this, I guess anything is possible. They do get some good jokes out of Roy of all people being the responsible one here. Chris O'Dowd and Richard Aoyade have this incredible chemistry, which yeah, makes every episode great, but the way that they bounce of each other here leads to some of the show's absolute best interactions.

Combine that with Douglas being the textbook definition of an absolute madman in the party scenes and you're ready to go. The party for Ben Jenderson, and then not for Ben Jenderson, and the for Ben Jenderson again, is just so nuts, and completely representative of Douglas as a character. Unpredictable, and ready to change in an instant, but always a good time, and so damn funny. And Jen. Jen's conversation with the tech support is just fantastic. That last scene with the bomb disposal is something really special.

Overall, Bad Boys is one fantastic gag after the next. It's the best Moss episode hands down, and maybe some of the best work Richard Aoyade has ever done. It's so much fun, and it's the perfect showcase of why everyone loves Moss. It's not just my favourite episode of The I.T. Crowd, it's also possibly my favourite sitcom episode in general. It's something else again, trust me.

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 4

This should go without saying, but before you read this, go back and read the previous three posts if you haven't. Anyway, let's crack on with the top ten episodes of The I.T. Crowd!

10. Yesterday's Jam

I still remember the first time I saw this episode. There was this amazing feeling of stumbling onto something really special the first time I watched it. I knew that this show would be one I'd have to watch .Because this is one of the rare few pilots that holds up when compared to the rest of the show. The thing about pilots is that they're made to be built upon. The show should develop the ideas introduced in the pilot, and should get better as it goes on. This however, means that the pilot seldom stands as one of the shows highpoints. Which is defintely a double edged sword. Because as much as you want to be able to say "this is a great episode", you also wouldn't want the show to peak too early. If a show's highpoint is at the very start, well it can only go downhill.

But sometimes that doesn't happen. Sometimes you get a pilot that stands on it's own merits, as well as perfectly setting up the show. One that works as both a great start to the series and a great episode in it's own right. Great pilots are pure lighting in a bottle kind of stuff, but when they do happen, it's pretty damn great. Which is where Yesterday's Jam comes in. This is as perfect as an introduction as I think you can get. And watching it again, it holds up as one of the show's best. Which is no small feat.

It's a perfect taster of what the show is, first of all. The story structure, writing style and sense of humour are all fantastically displayed here. I know that this is a sitcom, and doesn't have any real overarching plot or anything like that, but this is the perfect episode to start with if you're going to watch this show. It's surprisingly representative of the kind of stuff you'll be seeing. And the character introductions are strong too. The introductions of Denyholm, Jen and Roy are fantastic, and pretty much tell you everything you need to know about these characters. You know exactly what they're like even from the first time you see them, and the introductory scenes themselves work as really great jokes, too.

And it's hilarious as well. The jokes here had me cracking up regularly. Denyholm's speech about teamwork, Jen's desperate technobabble, the first time we see Roy, the entire party scene, Denyholm's line about the kind of company Renyholm is. Hell, the first shot (above) is one of the episodes strongest jokes. THE. FIRST. SHOT. That's beyond impressive. As I said, not many pilots can stand as one of the best episodes of their respective show, but Yesterday's Jam certainly does. It's a great start, and the show just kept impressing me from there.

9. Friendface

I think it was inevitable that the show would have an episode that satirizes social media. It's not the only one, of course, but I think that it's the one that goes the furthest with the parody, and it's better for that. I think that this episode gets right what the finale gets wrong in terms of it's parody. I think a big part of that was timing. This episode aired just as social media, particularly Facebook, really began to take off, and so a lot of the satire in this episode really hits home that much more. I also love the approach it takes with the parody. It shows why people get consumed by social media, and then  dedicates the entire episode to mocking them relentlessly. The scene in the office where the I.T. department are talking on FriendFace is probably the best part of the episode ("That was a classic Moss line").

This episode also has a really nice contained arc for Jen. She starts off thinking she's ten steps ahead thanks to FriendFace, but slowly starts to realise that she hasn't really done anything with her life, leading to Moss pretending to be Jen's tennis player husband, which gets out of hand, naturally. This whole plot is a perfect lampooning of Jen's need to impress other people, something often brought up in the show, but rarely done better than it is here. I also love Moss and how bizarre his lies are, which is something of a running gag now that I think of it.

The scene in the bar are just so wonderful too. Any scenes that show how dreadful the main characters are when it comes to social situations are just wonderful, and here it's no exception.  All of the characters are just so fantastically awkward that you have to laugh. Roy meeting his ex girlfriend is just so hilariously uncomfortable, and leads to a fantastical literal punchline with Douglas.

Overall, this is one of the strongest parodies in the show. It's a spot on lampooning of social media, but it's never cynical or nasty. All of the jokes are in good fun here, leading to a delightfully wacky parody, and one of the show's funniest episodes. The satire here is something that the finale would try to replicate, but didn't really capture for me. It was too over the top to be relatable, something that this episode never struggles with. So yeah, easily one of the show's funniest. Though I must say, there's another episode that pulls this kind of satire off slightly better.


8. Return of the Golden Child

Death in media is a pretty big thing. Especially in TV. When a character leaves a narrative permanently, it almost always has a huge effect on the show going forward. It could be character development, or building to a large emotional moment, or even a reveal, but it's rarely none. The death of Denyholm in The I.T. Crowd breaks all the rules, and that's completely okay. It's so casual and nonchalant, and only really effects the events of this episode alone, and even then, it's only really to introduce Douglas. Why it works though is because it's played mainly for laughs. Any other show would have played Denyholm's death as a more serious moment, and maybe gotten some black comedy in here or there, and then introduce Douglas, but instead we get this, and it's brilliant. It's not even a special episode or anything, it's just the second episode of the second season.

There are some great jokes about Denyholm in this episode, from the pensions fund, to the video played at his funeral, and especially Douglas' introduction. When I saw that Matt Berry was going to be in this show, I instantly got excited. Especially because of the way he's introduced. His epic shout of "FAAAAAATTTTTTHHHHEEEEEERRRRR!", and everything he says after ("SPEAK PRIEST!") are so over the top and just so damn funny to me. This was the best way to introduce a character like Douglas, who is so unstable and out of touch. In other shows, something like this would be a total shark jump, but here I think it works because it's so nonchalant in making huge changes, which not only works in creating some great jokes, but is actually really good writing; making a huge change by not making a big deal of it.

Roy thinking he's going to die is great too. Especially in the church, when he's waiting for the clock to strike three, Chris O'Dowd plays that exaggerated fear so well, and gets so many laughs out of it. Moss' death calculator is hilarious, and Roy's desperation to literally avoid death is great too. This whole episode is pure black comedy, and it's probably the best episode in the show for darker humour, which it does so well, and is so clever in the way it does it. It completely subverts expectations, and it introduced Matt freakin' Berry into the show, which has to count for something.

7. Aunt Irma Visits

I find it odd that the finale failed to do what had actually already been done in this episode, and done so well. I had been watching the show up to that point, and really been loving it, but when this episode came along the show really became a favourite of mine. The idea itself was so absurd, but the show pulled it off splendidly. I remember finishing it and thinking "yeah, this is the best episode". Obviously, it got topped as the show went on, but it's still my favourite from the first season, which was already damn strong up to this point.

The jokes here are really something great. Aunt Irma visiting Jen, the string of analogies, the meeting at the beginning, Moss in therapy, the big girl's night out ("How big are the girls?"),the newscasts of geeks running wild, Richmond "not being his usual cheery self at all", everything here was just hilarious.  The show up to that point had me cracking up regularly anyway, but this episode raised the bar like nobody's business.

As I said, this episode also might have been one of the reasons the finale disappointed me as much as it did. The idea of two of the characters being harassed online was done so much better here. I think it's because the finale went a little too over the top, and then just abruptly ended without resolving anything, where as this episode has things inflate, and then the characters deciding that they don't care. The show isn't one for realism anyway, but I felt that that was a much better conclusion to the one in the finale.

The very end of it deserves mention too. First time I watched it, I actually kind of worried that the ending of this episode was going to become a huge thing, and would add unnecessary drama into what was, at that point, a  light silly fun comedy. They did the smart thing though, and made it a noodle incident. Thank god they did, because things really only went uphill from here.

Though I do find it odd that they put "To Be Continued" at the end. Maybe there were plans to make that a plotline in season two?

6. The Work Outing

I've often seen this listed as the show's best episode, and that's a hard claim to disagree with. Aunt Irma Visits was such a good way to end season one, so I have to admit that I didn't know if season two could follow it up well. Lo and behold, it surpassed it entirely.

This episode spawned so many moments that would become downright legendary. Especially the scene in the disabled bathroom. Hot damn, that scene. As I said before, Roy's plots generally involve him getting into impossibly awkward scenarios, and while this episode wasn't the first to put Roy into an uncomfortable situation, it's safe to say that none of the ones before went this far. And it works. Both scenes with the lift going into the van are just hilariously hard to watch. Actually, all of Roy's stuff is wonderfully awkward. I can't really explain it any better than that. It's cringe comedy at it's very best, in my opinion.

And then there's the magical spectacle that is "Gay! A Gay Musical". Every single song from this episode is pure gold. Not only do they provide some fantastically quotable lines, but they're all wonderfully catchy. This entire sequence is one of the funniest parts of the episode. Moss in audience participation is the cherry on the cake. Speaking of Moss, Moss as a bartender is so fantastically random, that you have to love it. It's one of the best episodes that addresses the relationship between Roy and Moss, and Jen. They aren't like anyone she's known before, and so a night out with them turns into something completely unexpected and really weird.

If I was a tad worried about The I.T. losing some of it's mojo in the second season, The Work Outing put those fears to rest and provided one of the series' best episodes in the process.

And tomorrow, the grand finale! See you then!

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 3

Read the first two parts if you haven't, and if you have, then just read on!

15. Smoke and Mirrors

Quite possibly the simplest episode of the series. Yeah, there isn't actually an awful lot to this one. The jokes really make this one. Katherine Parkinson's two breakdowns in the meetings are just great. And Richard Aoyade gets some of the best lines of the episode here. The scene when the gang goes on Dragon's Den is of course great, as is Moss' Rocky style training montage. The opening scene with Roy is hilarious as well, leading to a great punchline. It's just one of many very strong Moss episodes, really. Moss is just this fantastic character that you do want to keep watching, and his personality and mannerisms make the episodes focused on him pretty entertaining.  And this one is no exception. It's just Richard Aoyade running wild, which is really something to behold.

There are just so many memorably funny moments in this one. I'm sorry if this one is a little shorter than some of the others, but honestly most of what makes this episode great is down to the jokes, and there are only so many ways that I can say "this is pretty funny" without sounding redundant. Regardless, this is one of the show's funnier episodes no doubt.

14. The Red Door

God I love Noel Fielding. I loved him in The Mighty Boosh (which I need to talk about someday), and when I saw him here, I knew something special was about to go down. And it did. One thing I noticed about the earlier episodes of The I.T. Crowd is that they often focus on how the presence of Jen affects the I.T. department. They drop that in later episodes for obvious reasons, but I do really enjoy the first few episodes for that reason. This is probably the one that focuses on it the most, by quite literally having Jen "disrupt the natural balance" of the I.T. department. The introduction of Richmond does many things for the show. For one, it gives Noel Fielding a chance to be brilliant, which is never a bad thing. But it also disrupts the status quo ever so slightly in a way. I mean, this is an episode pretty much dedicated to what happens when the status quo is disrupted,  which I'll get to, but it's also a solid introduction for a character who would come back in many of the episodes.

And then there are the jokes. Moss' mug, Roy stuck under the desk, the nest of baby birds, Roy stealing office equipment, Richmond's backstory, Cradle of Filth, The Green Door, there's just so many good moments here. It's another solid early episode that just really works. Proof that adding Noel Fielding makes everything better. 

And I really do need to talk about The Mighty Boosh, don't I?

13. Jen the Fredo

In which Jen becomes entertainment manager. And then finds out what that entails. The idea of a roleplay episode isn't exclusive to this show, but it isn't an uber common one either. I've seen it in a few shows though, but I think that The I.T. Crowd probably does it best (Community's Advanced Dungeons and Dragons gives it a run for it's money though, it must be said). The roleplay scene itself is the highpoint of this episode for sure, featuring so many great moments. Roy dealing with a bad breakup is great and lends to some great gags too, and watching it play into the roleplay is so much fun to watch. I also love how the visiting businessmen get so invested into the game, as well as Moss being the best dungeon master ever. The "Ruddy mysterious" line is a fairly strong brick joke too.

Speaking of brick jokes, I think that there's a really subtle one in this episode with The Godfather reference. Douglas described himself in a string of movie titles in The Speech (which I will get to), one of which being The Godfather. And when Roy tells Jen that Fredo gets killed by The Godfather in the film, Jen then thinks that Douglas tries to kill her. It's probably nothing, but I do like to think that that was intentional.

The other jokes here are great too. Jen pretty much becoming a pimp is fun to watch, and her conversation with Roy during the roleplay is absolutely hilarious. Roy editing his ex-girlfriend out of the pictures is great, Douglas' shithead of the year award is just fantastic and let's not forget "It's not for you, Jen".

12. From Hell

If you ever needed any convincing that this wasn't your average sitcom, Jen and Roy try to stop a builder pissing in the sink. Yep. The main plot gets many very funny moments here, with the video chat climax being the comedic highlight. Roy's quest to get his £20 is great too, and the line "GOT YOU YOU CRAFTY IRISH BASTARD!" is one of the best ways to end an episode I've ever seen. Katherine Parkinson and Chris O'Dowd are fantastic here, and they both get some very funny lines. The hidden cameras are fantastic visual gags. Roy roleplaying as the kids bullying Moss is great ("Dem glasses is shit innit"). Moss standing up to the bullies is really funny too, especially when he chases them off with Douglas' gun.

Speaking of Douglas, he's far and away the best thing here. I mean, it's always apparent that he's completely inept at running a business, but here they just play that up like there's no tomorrow. The scene at the door when he meets his father is just so perfect. The Hitlergram line is amazing, Douglas shooting himself is fantastic. He's just so irresponsible, and watching him just mess everything up is so fun to watch. I love Matt Berry in this show, and this is one of the best Douglas episodes hands down. This is the logical extreme of the emotionally instable and dangerously inept boss that Douglas is. This episode is just really strong, and again, one of the best Douglas episodes.

11. Men Without Women

Speaking of great Douglas episodes, this is another one of the best. If From Hell was a great showcase of Douglas as a shit boss, this is a great showcase of Douglas as an unstable, crazed pervert. Matt Berry and Katherine Parkinson have this fantastic comedic chemistry together, and the montage of Jen being Douglas' assistant is perfect, with some surprisingly great foreshadowing of Douglas losing his arm. That ambulance gag in particular is  just such great overkill. The opening scene with Graham Linehan as the merchant is spot on too. Also Douglas under the effects of his "love potion" is also hilarious. And then there's his film. Matt Berry steals this episode, seriously he's perfect as Douglas.

It's also another episode that mocks Jen for wanting to do better than what she's currently doing. And again, Jen really can't seem to succeed outside of I.T.. Like in Italian For Beginners, Jen's attempts to make a real difference go up in flames very quickly, this time thanks to becoming the assistant to a mentally unstable madman. Again, it isn't the best episode that does this, but it's still a really strong plot for Jen.

Roy and Moss' shenanigans are amazing too. Having instantly replaced Jen, they do a crazy montage of ridiculous things that really display how fantastically immature manchildren they are. They really are the definition of lovable losers, which is something that the show as a whole focuses one, but this episode especially hammers that point home. That montage contains so many fantastic visual gags.

And next time, the top ten! By process of elimination, you can probably figure most of them out, but regardless, tune in to find out which episodes are my very favourites, because from here, things get really good.

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 2

This should go without saying, but if you haven't read the first part, do that now. For now, let's just keep on going!

20. The Haunting of Bill Crouse

I love a little black comedy every now and then, and damn does this episode deliver. This episode really revolves around one joke, but they get so much mileage out of it and can play it with so much variety each time. I love Moss and his inability to tell a convincing lie, and how that one joke can spiral into so many fantastic moments. There's a lot of great comedic misunderstanding in this one, but with this dark edge that makes it so great. Any of the scenes where Bill Crouse is being "haunted" by Jen are marvelously funny, especially the last one. I haven't really said it on this list yet, but Katherine Parkinson is absolutely hilarious. She's honestly one of the best things in the whole show for me, and she's spot on in this episode. 

Roy's plot isn't as good as the main plot, but it gets some laughs for sure. That Bodysnatchers reference at the end is wonderful. I especially love how Moss pretty much repeats the events of the main plot by telling Judy that Roy had died. Again, it's not as good as the main plot, but it's still damn solid, and has some really good jokes. Overall, this episode is a strong one for sure.

19. Italian For Beginners

Yet another strong Jen episode. Katherine Parkinson's gibberish Italian is absolutely masterful, and easily the episode's main highlight for me. This is probably one of the best portrayals of Jen, who is pretty much the only character with any sense of ambition, which this episode actively mocks. It breaks down Jen's need to be needed, having her lies to get attention pretty much screwing her over in the long run, to pretty hilarious results. It's not the best episode about Jen's aspirations going wrong of course, but it's still a solid hilarious episode nonetheless. Jen's conversation with Burnatelli is absoultely great.

Roy's plot is pretty good too. His Close Encounters style breakdown is hilarious to watch, and the whole idea of a fire at a Seaparks is absurdly funny too. Chris O'Dowd's exaggerated sadness is always so much fun to watch, and here it's no exception. And then there's Moss. Just look at that image above. But seriously, Moss is great in this episode. The mock pregnancy in the arcade is amazing, and the tag with Moss in the machine overnight is one of the series' best tags. Also: "Damn that mash looks tasty!" 

18. Moss and the German

I wrestled with where to put this one for a good while, because, well, there's some really good stuff here. That's really the problem with lists like this, because you end up with episodes that are just really good like this one. See, this is a damn fine episode, but I can't really put it above any of the others because well, I just prefer the next seventeen a little more. But as I said, this is still a great episode. Roy's increasingly desperate measures to avoid spoilers for a movie are so relatable, because we've all been there. Granted, not all of us have gone as far as Roy does, but that's besides the point.

Moss, Roy, and Jen's chat about cannibalism is a fantastic exchange of dialogue. Johann is a great one off character, who gets some really good lines. The anti piracy ad at the beginning is hands down one of the show's funniest moments for me. Jen's plot is fine, though nothing special. There are some really great visual gags, and it definitely gets a laugh every once and a while. Also Douglas' "There's somebody at the door!" chant is really funny to me too. This episode has some really good black humour, not as much as other episodes, but it does use it pretty well.

The idea for the plot is great too. Roy and Moss acting like an old married couple is perfect, as is Moss thinking that his life is stagnating. It's pretty clear that Roy and Moss don't really have any other friends, so having them meet new people is a pretty good idea. Having Moss befriend a cannibal and Roy try to socialise with their unstable boss is downright genius. Also, the cello rendition of the credits theme is pretty nice.

17. Fifty Fifty

One thing I love about The I.T. Crowd is how it subverts so many sitcom couple tropes. In any other show, Roy and Jen would for sure get together. It's a refreshing change of pace, one perfectly embodied by this episode It pretty much takes the "will they won't they" thing and subverts the hell out of it. That faux heartwarming moment with the taxi is really great. The episode plays up Roy and Jen's banter and sexual tension, for the sole reason to mock it later on, which is hilarious. And actually, there aren't an awful lot of mainstream sitcoms where the male and female lead don't at some point get together. So yeah, definitely a breath of fresh air in that regard. I was actually pretty surprised when I watched it first that they went that route, but I do honestly think that it was a ver, very good move by the writers.

And then there's the actual comedy. Shit on Roy's forehead, Jen pretending to know what she's talking about, Do You Want To Be A Millionaire (and all of it's alternatives), Roy's theory of women wanting bastards, Roy and Moss' ad, Messyjoes, Jen's Roy impression, the mariachi band, and that tag. There's a lot here, and it's all hilarious. It's one of those really solid episodes where all of the characters get a chance to shine. 

16. Calamity Jen

Well, first things first; 0118 999 881 999 119 725      3. That joke alone makes me love this episode. But honestly, everything else is pretty great. This is kind of an establishing episode for Jen, featuring some great work from Katherine Parkinson. It was also the perfect episode to follow the pilot. If the first episode introduced us to these characters, then this one did a good job of letting us get to know them all a little more. Moss' neurosis in the event of a fire, Roy tormenting the guest speaker about the stress detector, Denyholm being an absolute madman, waging war on stress. All of these plots build on what we already know about all of these characters, and they're all done so well. 

And that's not even mentioning how funny it is, because trust me, it's incredibly funny. This episode has many comedic highlights. The ad at the start is hilarious, Moss' response to disaster is great, and there's Denyholm. Chris Morris is great as Denyholm anyway, but here he knocks it out of the park. The meeting where he wages war on stress is just amazing.

So, tune in tomorrow for entries fifteen to eleven! 

Ranking Every Episode of The I.T. Crowd- Part 1

So, June Jokefest is over, but that doesn't mean I can't talk comedy some more, right? Well, it's my blog, so I can really do what I want, but that's not the point. The I.T. Crowd has to be one of my favourite TV comedies, and just one of my favourite series in general. It's got wonderful characters, hilarious setups, and just this great charm to it that makes it pretty hard to hate. Which is why I've decided to pay tribute to it. Now, I did consider doing my top ten favourite episodes, but I think that this is better. This way, I can give my opinion on the whole show, because, trust me, there are way more than ten great episodes.

Now, I'll admit that the episode at the bottom of this list isn't bad. This isn't a "worst episode to best episode" kind of thing. It's an "episode that maybe isn't the best but is still pretty decent to best episode" kind of thing. Because this show really doesn't have any bad episodes. Also, I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you've seen the show if you're reading this, so I will liberally spoil certain episodes. Not that there's much to spoil (it's a sitcom), but if an episode has a particularly funny reveal or big joke, I'm not gonna hold that back. If you haven't watched it though, do that now, and then come back. Also, this is my opinion, so if you don't agree with an episode's ranking, that's fine. You have your opinion, I have mine.

But for now, let's get going, and rank every episode of The I.T. Crowd!


25. The Internet is Coming

Yes, I said that there isn't an episode that I dislike, but the finale just didn't hit the mark for me. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to like here. Douglas on Secret Millionaire is great, and Moss in women's slacks is hilarious too. I also love the stuff with Game Board, and the return of the internet, and especially Moss' tear gas solution. The main plot, while incredibly flawed, definitely has it's moments, like Roy at the funeral, or Jen's hilarious offensive Tweet. The overexagerrated newscasts are fantastic, and all of the scenes with the baristas making coffee are hilarious too.

So, you might be wondering, if all of that is in the episode, why is it at the bottom? Why didn't it leave that much of an impact on me? Well, despite it's many funny moments, the episode has trouble putting them together. There's nothing really wrong with the three plots here, but they feel kind of unbalanced. Douglas and Moss' plots are great and easily the high points, but they don't really add up to much in the end. Roy and Jen's plot has some good stuff too, but never really goes anywhere. See, the satire of social media here was done before in another episode which did it not only first, but much better. And then there's the deus ex machina. Oh boy. Look, The I.T. Crowd has it's fair share of out of nowhere endings, most of which were also just big jokes, but here it just does not work. The episode builds and builds, getting bigger and bigger, and then just kind of stops when Richmond saves the day. As a way to end the whole show, it just feels messy. I honestly think that Graham Linehan should have made that fifth season instead.

 Again, it's far from a bad episode, with so many comedic highlights, and wonderful callbacks (which all finales should have), but it has trouble coming together. If it did fit together a little better, it would be a fantastic finale, but as it is? It's messy, but it's still pretty decent. As I said, there are no bad episodes, and this one is still a pretty alright watch. Just not as good as some of the others.

24. The Final Countdown

Here's an episode that I remember loving when I first watched it, and then with repeat viewings, realised that it's maybe not as good as I first thought. Moss' plot is fanatastic, and easily the high point of the episode. I mean there are so many great jokes here, like TNETENNBA, Street Countdown, Negative One, Moss' epic "They Live" reference and the whole idea of the 8+ club. Actually, everything in the main plot is great. Especially the fact that, because the show is on Channel 4, they can actually have Moss on Countdown. That's awesome. Richard Aoyade in this episode is great, delivering some great one liners, and generally being a badass. There are some seriously funny moments in this episode. I know I mentioned it above, but I can't overstate the awesomeness that is Street Countdown. That whole scene is absolutely hilarious and just a great moment.

The other two plots though, I feel really aren't that great. Roy's plot is decent. The window cleaner stuff does get a laugh here and there, but overall, it isn't great. See, most of Roy's plots involve him just getting into impossibly awkward situations. And don't get wrong, most of the time it's hilarious, but here it just feels a little toothless. I think it's the lack of time devoted to this plot that kind of harms it. Again it's not bad, there are some very funny moments, but there are much better Roy-centric plots in the show. And then there's Jen's plot. The reason it's in air quotes? It's almost like the writers realised that they didn't have an awful lot for Jen to do, and so they just did the first thing they could think of, and the result is this. This plot sucks. I'm sorry, but it does. It goes nowhere, has nothing to do with anything, and doesn't have any particularly funny moments.Even the reveal at the end of what the meeting actually is isn't that funny. It's kind of a waste of Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry, both of whom are very. very funny people. So yeah, great main plot, marred by weaker subplots.

23. Calendar Geeks

There's quite a bit that this episode does right, but also a fair amount that it doesn't. So let's start with the good stuff. The jokes involving the "geek chic" calendar are great, and Moss is fantastic here. The montage of Roy trying to ask grannies to do a nude calendar is hilarious. The ad for the bosseyed gets some great laughs, and Douglas is as great as ever. The funny stuff is incredibly funny here, with some absolutely great material and fantastic delivery. The comic chemistry between Chris O'Dowd and Katherine Parkinson is spot on. Actually, Chris O'Dowd as a whole is the highpoint in this episode. He steals every scene that he's in, making this a strong Roy-centric episode.

But the episode just feels kind of dull. Again, the funny stuff is hilarious, and Chris O'Dowd is awesome, but the plot itself is kind of paint by numbers. For a show that excels at these unpredictable and hilarious moments, this episode just doesn't do that. There are some very, very funny moments, but you see most of them coming. It feels odd to say, but this episode could have benefited from taking a few more risks. It's one of the few episodes of the show that I would honestly call a little safe. It's not a bad thing, but there's not a lot to keep me coming back to this one. Yeah, there are some hilarious lines and moments, but overall, it's just okay.

22. Something Happened

I can see the angry crowds now, but please, hear me out. There's a lot of love for this episode, and I can see why. The general idea of the plot is great, Douglas' plot with him becoming a spaceologist is hilarious, and there are a lot of great lines in this episode, particularly from Douglas. I love the courtroom scene in particular, which has so many hilarious moments. I love how comically serious that scene is. It's a solid Roy episode, with a premise that's just so absurd that it's brilliant. The stuff with Jen and the keyboard player is pretty strong too.

Despite it's ranking, there isn't really anything about this episode that I don't like. See, this show is kind of amazing, and again, there are no bad episodes. So, from here on out, there will be less complaining about stuff, because now we've gotten to the really good stuff. This episode is generally really strong. Chris O'Dowd gives it socks as Roy, and he really makes this episode something special. There's also a really nice subversion, where Jen is the only character who thinks that Roy getting kissed on the arse is funny. That leads to the best moment of the episode in the courtroom. A lot of the jokes here work because of the over the top seriousness that they're delivered with. And when ridiculous lines and scenes are delivered with absolute deadpan, well then I'm sold. 

Again, there's nothing really wrong with this episode, the next twenty one just impressed me a little bit more. Something Happened is still a very strong episode that makes you realise how good The I.T. Crowd is (it's very good by the way.)

21. Renyholm vs. Renyholm

And now the last episode of the series' original run. This episode perfectly demonstrates why Matt Berry is one of the funniest British comedians currently working today. Because he makes this episode. Okay yeah, it isn't the best Douglas-centric episode, but man are there so many perfect Douglas moments here. From him preparing for the case, to the scene in the resteraunt ("Heston, I'd like to introduce to my whhhieeeffffee"), his Star Trek themed sex tape, the fake heart attack, and pretty much everything else he does in this episode. But everyone is great here. From Roy and Moss recounting their previous encounters with the legal system, to Jen being roped into Douglas' divorce case, Richmond reinventing himself, and Victoria being one of the show's best one off characters. That scene when she's asleep in the office cracks me up everytime.

I actually think that this would have been a serviceable finale, hell, for a while I though that this WAS the finale, and that they weren't gonna make anymore. The Internet is Coming wasn't a bad episode, but it was a pretty poor ending. If this was the finale, I honestly wouldn't have really minded, because it's actually a pretty okay ending for a sitcom. If you ever need a reason why Matt Berry is awesome, look no further than Renyholm vs. Renyholm.

Actually, look a little further, because it isn't actually the best Douglas episode, but it is a very good watch.