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Season one complete !! What a great show so far and as you guys have said it only gets better. Its so wild how fast you can blow threw a series from the UK. I was curious as to why there are so few episodes when it comes to show from the UK .I know there are some show here in the US that start off with between 6-12 episodes the first two series but they usually jumps to 18-25 episodes after that. Just curious as to the why the UK decided on less episodes . Don't get me wrong there are a lot of show here in the US that I watch and think dude you all are dragging this shit out lol . But there are others that still leave me wanting more even after 200+ episodes. I came across this answers on Reddit . Do you all Agree?? 

Reason 1

"As far as I can tell it is because they have chosen to spend more time making a shorter series of a higher quality rather than making more episodes with less time spend producing each episode so each episode is of a slightly lower quality. "

 Reason 2

 One big reason is that it's more typical for a show to be run and largely written by one individual or pair. 6-8 episodes is generally the most one person can put out a year. If the writer is someone working on multiple shows, they may skip entire years (like Peep Show does). This is unimaginable on US TV shows; US protocol is to hire an entire writing crew, a room of writers who all pitch their own ideas and scripts and work separately. This lets you produce a larger run of episodes, but also tends to make shows inconsistent character/dialogue-wise, and more episodic, since it's harder to trace one story arc neatly between multiple scripts written by different people. This is why a lot of US shows are semi-serialised, using the X-Files model, where every episode has its own completely unique episodic story in the foreground, and then the running story is part of the background -- each writer makes their own A story, and then the head writers go in and spread the serial/B story between them all.UK productions, and US productions based around a UK-style model, will be written by one person or by a small group that works together. As a result, their serialised shows tend to feel like one long movie that just takesa little act-break between episodes. The Wire is an American example of this; David Simon and Ed Burn wrote pretty much the entire series, and for each season added one unique writer to work alongside them (like Joy Kecken, who co-wrote all of S4). If you watch The Wire, each season just kind of flows along as one big story, there isn't really a sense of each episode having its own beginning and end. That's the effect of having a small writing group.And likewise, when the more American model is adopted by UK shows, they expand their seasons and add that kind of X-Filesy style American serialisation -- the best example of this is Doctor Who.Look at these two shows' credit lists for a good example.The Office (UK) writers

  1. Ricky Gervais
  2. Stephen Merchant (they wrote every episode together as a duo)

The Office (USA) writers, only counting those who wrote at least two episodes

  1. Greg Daniels
  2. Mindy Kaling
  3. Caroline Williams
  4. Paul Lieberstein
  5. Anthony Farrell
  6. B Novak
  7. Lee Eisenberg
  8. Gene Stupnitsky
  9. Jennifer Celotta
  10. Justin Spitzer
  11. Michael Schur
  12. Brent Forrester
  13. Charlie Grandy
  14. Warren Lieberstein
  15. Halsted Sullivan
  16. Aaron Shure
  17. Daniel Chun
  18. Carrie Kemper
  19. Robert Padnick
  20. Owen Ellickson
  21. Allison Silverman
  22. Steve Hely
  23. Steve Carell
  24. Lester Lewis
  25. Ryan Koh
  26. Jon Viti
  27. Dan Greaney
  28. Amelie Gillette
  29. Jonathan Green
  30. Gabe Miller
  31. Dan Sterling
  32. Graham Wagner
  33. Niki Schwartz-Wright

And then you have some additional writers who were only hired for one script. That's the biggest difference between UK and US productions. 

Files

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The IT crowd

Comments

Jammy Dodger

So glad you're enjoying this. It's my favourite sitcom for a reason. As for why US tv series usually have more episodes - I'd guess it's because shows get cancelled/not renewed more often in the US, so a lot of shows do every episode idea they have in the first season or two in case they get cancelled. Then when they get renewed they have no episode ideas moving forward. Shows seem to get renewed much more often here in the UK, even if they aren't as popular/successful.

Lydia

I think reason 2 has summed it up perfectly!!

David Williams

Yup, substitute stress for tension in the PMT/PMS .

Jack Fisher

It's all about the next episode for me, I hope it gets you like it did me ha

Shaun Kett

Great reaction. UK smarties are a bit like chocolate M&Ms. I think smarties are different in the US.

Jason Fisher

The slap at the start always gets me

BelladonnicHazeyJaneII

I think both of those reasons are part of it, personally, especially the second one. I had no idea the US-office had so many different writers!

Manly Stump

You were thinking of sympathetic pregnancies near the end, also known as Couvade syndrome. And I was so worried you were going to stop the video at the credits and miss the bit with Denholm and Richmond!

Bob K

Season 2, Episode 1 is arguably one of the funniest episodes not just of IT Crowd but of tv in general. The Work Outing makes me laugh start to finish. I haven't seen season 1 in years and I notice at the end of Aunt Irma is a "To Be Continued". Was this just to keep me until Richmond's scene or was there an episode 7 I haven't seen?

Aninha Silva

reason 2 seems pretty spot on to me. Also, are you gonna do the bloopers for this season? Glad you're enjoying the show!

AfterWorkReactions

Ok that makes sense. I was just curious because some of your shows seem so short over here. Thanks for the info bud =]

Manly Stump

Before you see the next episode, I think a few of the jokes would go over your head if you don't know that Heat is a celebrity/gossip magazine in the UK. It's a hilarious episode anyway but just to maximize your enjoyment of it!

Christopher John Williams

Did you know they tried to do an US version of the IT Crowd, Richard Ayoade that plays Moss, played Moss in that version too. I think it got a pilot and then cancelled. Sometimes the humour doesn’t translate well stateside.

James Aston

Yeah like has been said the tradition in this country is for one or two writers to make a show (Gervais and Merchant for example) instead of a writing team.

AfterWorkReactions

That's awesome. I can see why these shows tend to have a cult following. The shows in America that have fewer writers, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for example, tend to have a large following. I feel like the show blends together better when there is not so many hands in the pot.

theOraclelives

'and I turn around, four dead cyclists all my fault hahahahaha'