They say you should never go back. And particularly not to a lit firework. But that's what NBC is doing with The IT Crowd.
After a failed attempt to make an American version of the hit TV show in 2007, it seems that the channel are going to have another go. Bill Lawrence (Ground Floor/Surviving Jack) is planning to follow his work on the forthcoming feature comedy Rush Hour by teaming up with writing team Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan (Community/Family Guy/Scrubs) to create a new pilot.
The previous attempt saw Richard Ayoade reprise his role, with Joel McHale replacing Chris O'Dowd. Despite the pilot leading to the commissioning of a series which was supposed to air in late 2007, but was cancelled, despite several scripts apparently being written. With Ayoade now a successful director, it's unlikely that he will be involved again.
Will it go off with a bang and be beautiful to watch? Or will it blow up in their faces? We will soon see. In the meantime, you can watch a small clip comparing a scene from the UK version with the pilot of the first US remake below.
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(Images: Rex/AllStar/Channel 4/Hal Shinnie)