Spoilers. I still say this third season has been IT Crowd's best, but the latter-half definitely dropped the ball. The last episode of this latest run has writer-director Graham Linehan poking fun at nude charity calendars (riffing on the infamous Women's Institute charity publication, that inspired the movie Calendar Girls). Here, Roy becomes an unexpected hit with the office girls on Reynholm Industries' seventh floor, and agrees to become the photographer for a nude calendar they're planning, to help raise money for those afflicted with "boss-eyedness"...Of course, as Roy salivates at the thought of spending time with dozens of naked ladies, Jen throws a spanner in the works by explaining to the seventh floor bimbo's how sexist their calendar idea is. So, a change of plan finds Roy pushed into taking pics of the girl's wrinkly grandmothers, before Jen refocuses the calendar again (once it becomes clear she'll be fired by Douglas if it doesn't make money) and opts for a "geek chic" theme. And that results in Roy taking erotic photos of nerds and geeks (half-naked, cavorting in balloons) without them realizing his intentions.
There's a streak of cruelty in this episode which wasn't much fun (regarding boss-eyed people, and the slightly creepy way Roy forced nerds into embarrassing themselves.) The calendar idea itself was quite thin, and it didn't help that we focused exclusively on Roy, either. Usually, episodes give us two supporting plots for Jen and Moss to take the slack, but that was dropped here. Sadly, Moss in particular was totally wasted and marginalized -- apparently to make a late gag about him having been on holiday for a week without anyone noticing. Actually, a small part of me suspects Linehan is growing tired of spoon-feeding jokes to cartoon-y morons like Moss, and has enjoyed writing for the more three-dimensional Jen and Roy this year.
The slack pace, cruel elements and paucity of belly-laughs was "Calendar Geeks" undoing, with only the geeky photoshoot providing a few guilty giggles. I didn't believe or enjoy the episode's listless punchline either -- as Roy's disastrous calendar still earned him the promise of sex with the seventh floor hottie Kimberly (Alexandra Weaver), but memories of grannies and geeks killed his libido. The IT Crowd is something of a live-action cartoon, resetting itself back to square one every episode, but I still find myself frustrated these characters don't progress or enjoy real successes -- particularly in a season finale. Why not give Roy a glamorous girlfriend for awhile, Mr. Linehan? Or have Jen accept another job, as threatened a few episodes back? Or have Moss seriously reconsider his ambitions? I'd certainly appreciate it if these characters started doing more than their weekly tricks.
26 December 2008
Channel 4, 9.50pm
Writer & Director: Graham Linehan
Cast: Chris O'Dowd (Roy), Richard Ayoade (Moss), Katherine Parkinson (Jen), Matt Berry (Douglas), Hazel Douglas (Joan), Jacob Edwards (Niall), Ty Glaser (Nadine), Hywel John (Dave), Ben Moore (Paul) & Alexandra Weaver (Kimberly)
