The IT Crowd

The programme is broadcast internationally. In Australia it has been broadcast on ABC1 and UKTV. In Bulgaria, GTV began airing it in July 2008, while Comedy Central Germany started airing the first series in September 2009. ETV has aired the programme in Estonia. In Poland it has been shown on Comedy Central Poland, TVP2, and Fox Comedy. In the Czech Republic it was broadcast on Česká televize and HBO. TV 2 Zulu has aired it in Denmark, as has Comedy Central in the Netherlands. Canal+ runs it in Spain. In New Zealand, it was aired on TV One. It airs sporadically in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ2 and on the RTÉ Player.

In the United States, episodes have been shown on IFC; all four series and the special are also available on Netflix, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, and Hulu, and for purchase in the iTunes Store. Canadian channel G4 ran the programme during their Adult Digital Distraction block in July 2007. Reruns also aired on BiteTV in Canada until it relaunched as "Makeful" in August 2015. In Brazil, Argentina and Chile it has been broadcast on I.Sat. In Mexico it has aired on Canal 11 since 2010. It was also broadcast in Spain on Canal 3xl during 2011.[11]

A fifth series was commissioned by Channel 4, for release in 2011.[12] Series creator Graham Linehan began pre-production on it, stating it would be the programme's last series, as a "goodbye to the characters".[13] The writing team were unable to meet regularly, so they created a virtual writers room using the online project-management tool Basecamp. Linehan found it a disadvantage, calling it "a stuffy, businesslike service that I think it actually ended up making everyone self-conscious", but there was no suitable alternative. Nonetheless, the writers did formulate some story ideas (one was reportedly a Die Hard–based episode), but ultimately Linehan did not consider the arrangement practical. Due to this, Linehan's conflicting schedule, and the show's budget requirements, the fifth series was shelved.[14]

However, Linehan did feel a single, special "farewell" episode could be produced. He was already busy with his TV adaptation of Count Arthur Strong and his work on The Walshes, and the IT Crowd actors had also taken on other commitments. Thus it was not until June 2013 that the show's final episode was filmed.[15]

Linehan has said that there are certain IT Crowd characters he would like to explore in future spin-off-style specials, particularly Matt Berry's character, Douglas. In a 2014 interview, Linehan said he had a half-formed idea about expanding on the Douglas character but that with Matt Berry busy with his series Toast of London, Linehan would need to "pounce when he's taking a rest".[16] Linehan has also discussed reprising Benedict Wong's character Prime from the episode "Final Countdown".[14] Wong has said he would be "thrilled" if Prime got his own series, joking that it could be called Prime Time.[17]

The first series was released in the UK as The IT Crowd – Version 1.0 on 13 November 2006 by 2 Entertain Video Ltd. The DVD start-up sequence and subsequent menus are designed to resemble a ZX Spectrum. The DVD also included a short film written and directed by Linehan called Hello Friend, his directorial debut, and a tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes documentary presented by Ken Korda, a filmmaker created and portrayed by comedian Adam Buxton (of Adam and Joe). The IT Crowd – Version 2.0 DVD was released in the UK on 1 October 2007, together with a box set containing both the first and second series. Retail chain HMV sold an exclusive limited edition version featuring a set of four postcards in the style of popular viral photos such as Ceiling Cat — here replicated as Ceiling Goth. While the first series DVD menus parodied 8-bit games, the Series 2 DVD menus parody 16-bit games and make reference to the "All your base are belong to us" meme popularised by Zero Wing, Mortal Kombat, Tetris and Lemmings. There are also several 'hidden' extras encoded into the subtitles. These are done in much the same way as the base64 subtitles from Series 1, and include three JPG images and a text adventure game file. Episode 4 has a BBC BASIC listing, and Episode 6 has light bars in the corner of the screen which can be decoded using a barcode reader.[28][29] Series 3 was released on 16 March 2009, the DVD menus are based on such internet games as GROW CUBE, Doeo and flow. The DVD for series 4 was released in the UK on 26 September 2010, also under the 2|entertain label.[30] A box-set containing all four series was also released on the same day, which includes an IT Crowd-themed board game. The series 4 DVD includes a documentary feature on the computer games which served as inspiration for the menus on each of the series' DVDs, culminating in the game Windosill, the basis for the series 4 DVD. The Internet Is Coming was released in Australia 18 December 2013,[31] but had yet to be released elsewhere until it was announced in November 2015 that a Region 2 DVD version would be released in the United Kingdom and throughout Region 2 on 23 November 2015.[26] All episodes of the programme are available to stream in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on All 4, with the exception of the fourth episode of series three, "The Speech", which was removed from Channels 4's streaming service on the 4 October 2020, for perceived transphobic themes.[32]

The premiere of the programme on Channel 4 was watched by 1.8m viewers, described as "disappointing" by BBC News;[34] however, Linehan stated he was "playing the long game" and reflected how the first series of Father Ted also "went pretty unnoticed" but went on to gain viewers and awards.[9] The series 4 finale on 30 July 2010 saw the programme reach its current ratings peak of 2.17 million and was highly successful in its time slot.

The IT Crowd has won awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs), the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (the International Emmys), the Rose d'Or television entertainment awards, and from the fan-voted Comedy.co.uk Awards organized by the British Comedy Guide. It also received a British Comedy Awards and an Irish Film and Television Award.

In 2006, the series was voted Best New British Sitcom at the 2006 Comedy.co.uk Awards, out of 17 nominees.[35] In 2007, it was voted Comedy of The Year at the 2007 Comedy.co.uk Awards, out of 100 nominees.[36] Nominated in the 2007 BAFTAs for Best Situation Comedy, alongside Green Wing and Pulling, it lost to The Royle Family. In 2008, the series won the International Emmy Award for Comedy[37] and the 2008 Rose d'Or for Best Sitcom.[38] Nominated in the 2008 BAFTAs for Best Situation Comedy alongside The Thick of It and Benidorm, it lost to Peep Show. In 2009, it won Best Situation Comedy at the 2009 BAFTAs. Also in 2009, Graham Linehan won Best Television Script at the 6th Irish Film and Television Awards, and Katherine Parkinson won Best Comedy Actress at the 2009 British Comedy Awards.

At the 2014 British Academy Television Awards, Parkinson won Best Female Comedy Performance;[39] Richard Ayoade won Best Male Comedy Performance; and Chris O'Dowd was nominated in the same category.

The main cast of the American version (left to right) Jen, Roy, Moss, and Denholm

An American version of The IT Crowd was almost aired by NBC in 2007–08, starring Richard Ayoade reprising his role as Moss, with Joel McHale as Roy, Jessica St. Clair as Jen, and Rocky Carroll as Denholm.[40] It was produced by FremantleMedia for Universal Media Studios with Steve Tao as executive producer. Linehan was also credited as executive producer, but stated he had no actual involvement.[41] The writing staff was David Guarascio, Moses Port, Joe Port, and Joe Wiseman. A pilot was filmed in January 2007, and a full series was ordered and advertised by NBC to be aired in 2007–08.[42][43][44]

However, a September 2007 report in The Hollywood Reporter said that the show would not reach production, despite the development of a number of scripts, as it "didn't quite spark" with new NBC chairman Ben Silverman.[45] In 2012, the pilot was leaked online.[46][47]

In October 2014, it was announced that NBC would produce another pilot, produced by Bill Lawrence.[48] It, too, did not make it to air.[49][50][51]

A third attempt at an NBC remake was confirmed in January 2018. Unlike the two previous versions, Graham Linehan was to be involved as a writer and executive producer. However, no further developments have been announced.[49]

The main cast of the German version (left to right, from top) Jen, Roy, Moss and Denholm (bottom)

A German version of the programme was in production starting June 2007, starring Sky du Mont, Sebastian Münster, Stefan Puntigam and Britta Horn.[52] Originally titled Das iTeam – Die Jungs mit der Maus (The iTeam – The Boys with the Mouse), the title was changed to Das iTeam – Die Jungs an der Maus (The iTeam – The Boys at the Mouse) last minute. The first episode was aired on 4 January 2008 on Sat.1 and received mainly negative receptions. It was criticised for the poor translation of the original stories and jokes, poor direction, poor timing, and the poor performance of the actors, mainly Stefan Puntigam as Gabriel (the German version of Moss). Quotenmeter's Manuel Weis panned the programme, commenting: "It could indeed be possible that the boys of class 10a from secondary school Brunsbüttel made the series. In short: In this form 'The iTeam' should never have come onto the screen. The look is strongly reminiscent of cheap crime documentaries airing in the afternoon and the actors are reminiscent of lousy daytime formats. The climax of these catastrophes is [...] Stefan Puntigam, who embodies the role of the computer geek Gabriel. [...] his role seems artificial, exaggerated and in any case badly acted."[53] The IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan noted in his blog that the first gag already does not work due to being wrongly executed.[54] The programme was cancelled after only two episodes due to low ratings. All episodes were later screened on Sat.1 Comedy.