Stop us if you’ve heard this one before… NBC is (once again) attempting to craft a U.S. version of the U.K. sitcom The IT Crowd for domestic audiences.
Yes, the Peacock Network is taking another crack at adapting the Britcom with a major American cult following and Variety reports that this go-around the creator of the original is very much involved. Graham Linehan will write and exec produce the series which will still feature the general IT department for an enormo-corporation premise, although this adaptation is being billed as more of a “reimagining” according to Variety.
NBC’s tried reworking The IT Crowd before with little success. In 2007, a pilot was produced with Richard Ayoade reprising his role from the original, Joel McHale taking on Chris O’Dowd’s part and Jessica St. Clair taking on Katherine Parkinson’s gig. (Ayoade would later say he regretted hopping aboard. So kiss that casting idea goodbye.) In 2014, NBC tried again and called upon Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence to transform the show for the U.S. market. Things didn’t pan out and now we’re in late 2017 talking about a third crack.
Clearly, NBC believes they can churn something special out of this property and have something more akin to The Office than Coupling on their hands. For an idea of what the network elected not to go forward with a decade back, he’s a fan-made U.S./U.K. comparison clip.
(Via Variety)
