sharke

jamesg1213
...actually, the guy with the specs is a carbon-copy 'Manny' and the girl is 'Fran'..I guess Graham Linehan had a style that he stuck to.

I always thought there were certain loose similarities between Manny and Father Ted. Highly strung, lazy, cynical, drinking, smoking etc...

Not to be a sitcom nerd  but 'Bernard' was the cynical drunk in Black Books. I was thinking the character played by Richard Ayoade in IT Crowd (childlike and bumbling) is a parallel with Bill Bailey's 'Manny' in Black Books.
 
I agree about Father Ted/Bernard though, and of course you have the extreme version childlike/bumbling Father Dougal

 
Got them all on DVD, wonderful stuff.
 
Jointly written of course by the master of understated surreal himself Graham Linehan, who was also part of the slightly more wonderful Father Ted....
 
... hence, a recommendation for Bitflipper: If you like The IT Crowd, check out Father Ted.

jamesg1213

sharke

jamesg1213
...actually, the guy with the specs is a carbon-copy 'Manny' and the girl is 'Fran'..I guess Graham Linehan had a style that he stuck to.

I always thought there were certain loose similarities between Manny and Father Ted. Highly strung, lazy, cynical, drinking, smoking etc...

Not to be a sitcom nerd  but 'Bernard' was the cynical drunk in Black Books. I was thinking the character played by Richard Ayoade in IT Crowd (childlike and bumbling) is a parallel with Bill Bailey's 'Manny' in Black Books.
 
I agree about Father Ted/Bernard though, and of course you have the extreme version childlike/bumbling Father Dougal

 
Oh yeah it's been a while since I saw Black Books so I'm getting the names mixed up. 

SteveStrummerUK
... hence, a recommendation for Bitflipper: If you like The IT Crowd, check out Father Ted.

Better, you say? That's a high bar.
 
But if that turns out to be the case then I will be in your debt, sir. I have just added it to my Netflix DVD queue.

Hi,
 
Not exactly a sitcom watcher, but if I have to choose one, I would say that "Fawlty Towers" was the one I liked the most.

a very funny one that americans might not be aware of is "I'm Alan Partridge", which had a strange sort of slightly subversive humour-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fh6EUQ41JU

bitflipper

SteveStrummerUK
... hence, a recommendation for Bitflipper: If you like The IT Crowd, check out Father Ted.

Better, you say? That's a high bar.
 
But if that turns out to be the case then I will be in your debt, sir. I have just added it to my Netflix DVD queue.

Father Ted is one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, it's a real shame that the actor who played Father Ted died right after filming the 3rd season. In fact, he had a heart attack the day after. Not to spoil plots, but in the last episode there's a scene in which Ted is dancing to the theme from Shaft as a young depressed priest spills his heart next to him. The guy who played that priest, comedian Tommy Tiernan, later said that he holds himself partly responsible for Dermot Morgan's death because he kept botching his lines in that scene, forcing Morgan to do that Shaft dance over and over despite having complained of heart pains.  

I just loved the way that the IT department would answer the phone and by saying "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" .

backwoods
a very funny one that americans might not be aware of is "I'm Alan Partridge", which had a strange sort of slightly subversive humour-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fh6EUQ41JU

I'm Alan Partridge was superb, another of my favorites. Steve Coogan at his very best. I think it helps to be British to appreciate Partridge because a lot of what makes him funny is his references to the dull, humdrum side of UK life. For instance, references to eating scotch eggs from filling stations etc. I love the shot in one episode of him walking alongside the dual carriageway to get to the filling station, it really echoed with me and all the times I've found myself in similarly dull & bleak situations. I thought the scenario of him living in the motel was great - there's a scene where he calls reception and says "Hi Susan. I was a bit bored so I dismantled my Corby Trouser Press. I can't put it back together again.Will that show up on my bill" - classic Partridge. 
 
I used to see Coogan in my local Whole Foods in New York sometimes. He always looked like he'd just gotten up (or had been up all night on drugs) and he was always being hen pecked by his girlfriend. 

jb101
I just loved the way that the IT department would answer the phone and by saying "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" .

Reminds me of Nick Burns the computer guy on SNL, lol