The cult British sitcom The IT Crowd was beloved by its large fanbase, so why did the show’s fifth season only have one episode? Beginning in 2006, the sitcom The IT Crowd was a hit series that followed the comical misadventures of a trio of mismatched co-workers who comprised the titular IT department of a large London corporation.
Coming from Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd was an instant hit with audiences and would serve as a springboard for the later Hollywood careers of its stars Chris O’Dowd and Matt Berry. However, while those two leads went on to star in everything from Bridesmaids to Disenchantment, The IT Crowd quietly ended its seemingly triumphant run with a one-episode fifth season in 2013.
During its tenure at Channel 4, The IT Crowd enjoyed notable critical and commercial success, even spawning an attempted American remake starring Community’s Joel McHale. Due to the show’s enduring popularity, a fifth season of The IT Crowd was commissioned by Channel 4; however, only one (albeit double-length) episode of this proposed season was actually produced. The reason the fifth season never came together past one episode, according to creator Graham Linehan, was that he wanted to end the series while it was still at the height of its popularity, with the creator adding that he would “never say never” to a prospective return from the show but that he was “just not feeling it.” However, there is another more notable reason that Linehan’s cult show never returned, and it is one the scandal-ridden writer is unlikely to it contributed to his career decline.
Linehan, like The IT Crowd’s early end.
It is difficult to tell for certain whether the transphobic jokes included in The IT Crowd contributed to the early end of its fifth season, as criticism of the episode in question didn’t gain significant traction until some years after it initially aired and shortly after the series itself ended. However, Linehan’s public downfall has likely played a major role in the decision not to revisit The IT Crowd and is more than likely the reason that the one-episode fifth season of the series remains its last on-screen outing despite the enduring popularity of the show's cast .