The IT Crowd - Complete Season 2!!!

HILARIOUS COMEDY!!!!

I even laughed out loud a few times, despite being alone in the house (triggers: Roy's pratfall, and "get out of the lift, get out of the lift, get out of the lift, get out of the lift"). This either means that I'm soft in the head or that The IT Crowd is funnier than I'd expected. (Forgive me. I saw Hyperdrive. My current expectations of new British comedy are very low.)

The IT Crowd is similar to its Craggy descendant, Father Ted, in many ways. The trapped trio of infuriating but sympathetic characters, the pitch-perfect ensemble performances, the gentle slapstick (kind of My Name is Earl in a safety harness), the "Roy n' Moss's big day out" snapshots and, merciful Jayzus, the sharp observational writing from Ted co-writer Graham Linehan.

Both episodes offered a clutch of golden writing nuggets. Maurice Moss, a Klingon in Johnny Mathis form, ordering the child and adult versions of Harry Potter from Amazon "to check that the text is absolutely identical" was priceless in its credibility. He's a circuit board savant of Father Dougal potential. And "I'm sorry, but are you from the past?" is the best insult I've heard all week, though you'd need the social instincts of Brent or Partridge to use it in public.