It Crowd DVD– You’re not going to believe this, but…
October 15, 2007Some people have been writing about having some technical issues with the Series 2 DVDs, so I thought I’d pop up a post about it.
There was an early compatibility problem with some types of DVD player in the first batch of DVDs that went out. This is being sorted as we speak, with the new lot undergoing every kind of test known to man so it doesn’t happen again. If you contact 2Entertain, they’ll send you a new one.
HOWEVER, there is a very easy fix should you not wish to go to all that bother and you do have one of these DVDs with a compatability issue. Basically, and you’re not going to believe this, you go to the subtitles button on your remote and you turn them ON then OFF again.
I know, I know….I wish I could say its a clever marketing ploy, but it’s not, and it does work. Just turn the subtitles on then off again, and you won’t have any problems.
(Oh, and The LEET subtitles? They’re supposed to look like that.)
Why, That\'s Delightful! 
LOL! The comedy keeps on coming!
1337 titles? k3wl!
That’s positively ludicrous.
Is this possibly stuttering video? Only every now and then, looks like a frame is missing? Mine seems to be doing that, at least.
Maybe. Try the fix! If it doesn’t work, return it.
That’s amazing. Oh my that’s hilarious. From now on can you lie and say it was meant to happen that way? Please! I bet you’d have paid a fortune to have someone think up a marketing strategy like that!
Ohhh. I thought it was my DVD player going home because of that time I dropped it. It went weird on my Nathan Barley DVD as well. I was going to use it as an excuse to buy a new one, maybe a DVD recorder. Mmm.
Lovely menus, btw.
Incredible story. Don’t return your broken dvds! Collectors prices will go through the roof, 20 years from now this might be _the_ digital artefact of our time.
ps: I started watching big train, and I think you might be a genius.
Has anyone found the DVD Easter Egg yet? Mrs Doyle meets Denholm Reynholm in a sauna and hilarity ensues!
My favourite egg is Roy vs Police. Nearly choked on my supper.
Don’t return your DVD’s. Rather, buy another… Keep Graham in style!
There must be another easter egg, the one mentioned above is fantastic. I have tried loads of stuff, going thorugh the menus and trying different settings, believe me I have spent a good few hours on this!
If you have any info that there are no more then I don’t want to know!
Rich
There is something else weird – the region 1 US DVD set (for season 1) appeared for pre-order on amazon.com a couple of months ago and now I can’t find it.
I’ve seen various things on Amazon pull the disappearing/reappearing trick lately. Amazon.com is bizarre at times.
As for finding easter eggs, if your DVD can player can do it, use the “Goto” feature or whatever, and punch in different title numbers. I’ve found easter eggs on other DVD’s that way. (And some interesting stuff where a DVD is re-released with LESS features on it at a lower price, only to discover they only removed the menu entries, and the “removed” content is still on the disk.)
Ca y est! C’est incroyable!! Ce n’est pas comme les autres problems dans la vie. Merci pour l’instuction a la mode des singes!
(Graham here. My online translator interprets this sentence thusly: “This is there! It is unconvincing!! It is not as other problems in life. Thank you for the instruction has the fashion of the monkeys!”)
I was having this exact problem Mr. Linehan! I didn’t want to post it here as I thought I might seem like a bit of a fool.
I actually took my DVD back to the shop.
So if I go out and buy a new one this problem will not occur?
That reminded me to go stick the DVD on my Amazon wish list; while there, I couldn’t help but marvel at “Mark “Spike””‘s review of the series 1 & 2 box set…
“This comedy is just average. Nothing special about it, some good bits and some bad. Better out there.”
I’d never really seen the point in the “x of y people found this review helpful” feature before, but felt compelled to join 31 other people in registering that, no, this review wasn’t helpful, and was disappointed there was no option for “… in fact, this review couldn’t possibly have been less helpful. It’s perhaps the least helpful review (and I use the word quite wrongly) I’ve ever seen”.
[…] It Crowd DVD Fix – You’re not going to believe this, but… there is a very easy fix should you have one of these DVDs with a compatability issue. Basically, and you’re not going to believe this, you go to the subtitles button on your remote and you turn them ON then OFF again. (tags: itcrowd, life, humour, artimitatereality, dvd, fix, cliche) […]
I just got my copy of series 2 today (imported to Canada) and I noticed that there’s this blue after blur, like the show’s turning 3D every once in a while. Is this the problem you talked about? I did the subtitle thing, not really sure if it worked, was too busy paying attention to the show. I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, which are brilliant.
Thanks, Leigh. I think that’s the problem that’s sorted by the hack, but you’d have to tell me…did you not notice any difference when you tried it?
It just so happen’s that you turn something on and off again. Pull the other one Graham its a marketing ploy. lol
No Series 2 DvD yet over here in N.Ireland. :(
Hi Graham. I just bought the double box-set. On the Series 2 disc, there is definitely a hidden extra or three… The subtitles hide a wonderful secret! Only trouble is they don’t decode easily… Any chance your guys could post the base64 files on here? It’d save a heck of a lot of time…
Thanks for the wonderful show! I look forwards to series 3!
Sarah. x
Ah, Sarah, we couldn’t make it too easy for you, then you’d…
I’ve said too much.
I tried every combination of the subtitles being on and off and found that there are three settings: off, on and “other”. The other gets rid of the blue. Even if it didn’t, it’s such a minor, minor distraction that doesn’t take away from watching the show. I don’t think I’ll risk sending the disc back over seas for a replacement. I’m sure glad you gave us all a heads up about it though!
I’m also about to scribe the entire series 1337 speak. Truthly though I doubt I will be able to translate it properly, especially since I have no idea what encoding it is supposed to be. (Although Sara said it was “base64 files” but again, what the heck are those!?)
I was wondering if there would ever be a publication of the hidden meanings/easter eggs that can be found on the dvd? Maybe in the series 3 set? ;)
Anyways, loved series 1, and series 2 is absolutely excellent, but wasn’t there supposed to be 8 episodes? Is there going to be a Christmas special?
Lastly, are you writing the scripts for the American version of the series? If you aren’t I guess it won’t be worth watching then… :)
Thanks for the excellent comedy!
Michael…
I wanted to do eight episodes, but it was too much for me on my own. I may try and get some people in to write two episodes of series 3…
…have a look at my post about the ‘US IT Crowd’ to answer your other question.
And finally, we can’t help out on the 1337 speak, because the DVD is actually a…
I’ve said too much.
Interesting to see that amazon.co.uk will only permit folk to buy ONE copy of the Region 1 version of The IT Crowd:
Note: you may purchase only one copy of this product.
Well Graham, I’ve now decoded enough of the subtitles to know what the DVD doubles as…
The DVD is actually a **** (I thought about posting the answer but I won’t, it has 4 letters though).
I’m still decrypting episode 1 (the Optical Character Recognition is an absolute pain, especially considering SubRip doesn’t handle subtitles this long, it only does about 8 lines).
I do have to say this…Graham you and your people have officially created the COOLEST DVD EASTER EGG IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE!!! :D
When I’m done I may post the base64 files online, but only available to people who own the DVD and only if they can answer some very specific questions about it. Just to save them the 4 (going on 5) hours of work that I’m doing right now…
I wouldn’t do that, BB. You don’t want to give other people the chance to…
I’ve said too much.
This is beyond frustrating Graham, I’ve seriously spent about 8 hours working on these subtitles, and I haven’t even done episode 1 yet. I try using OCR in one program and it only gives me the first 8 lines. I try a different program and it does the whole thing, but I have to type every few letters in manually! It takes about 10 minutes per screen (thats about 160 hours of work at that pace).
I’m now bordering on obsessive :)
It’s a game! Excellent!
I would edit the last post, but in response to your post Graham about bringing people in to help you with writing the series, one of your biggest followers (External Floppy) on the Channel 4 Forums has written a script for episode 1 of series 3 as a joke. You can find it here: http://community.channel4.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2710050204/m/9980056229
By the way, does this use BB or html?
Very flattered, but I can’t read it for legal reasons. If it’s very good, though, tell him to write something original and send it in to someone!
Whoever decided that should watch the IT Crowd so they will get a real sense of humour! Really unfair you can’t read it! :(
Nah, man, it makes sense. If he came up with an idea that was similar to one I had going, how could I prove I didn’t nick it from him? I never, ever, ever read fan scripts.
He should be doing his own thing anyway. If he’s good, there’s every chance he could get it on air. Writing fan scripts…I don’t think it’s a good use of time.
I only want to watch! Damn! All these bloody codes and riddles!
Theoretically though, anything you watch/see/do is inspiration. I doubt you would crawl up into a box just not to witness and enjoy the rest of the world around you… *Ok, I’ll stop there because this is heading for a theory/religion/law debate… :)*
Hmm, not much of a debate, Michael, as I never said I’d avoid life. Just fan scripts.
I started a blog, writing about the extraction and decoding of the subtitles. I will reveal all needed steps in the next few days.
Sorry, forgot the link:
http://theitcrowd.wordpress.com
[…] El frikismo en esta serie es impagable, y el del DVD va en la línea, empezando por el aviso antipiratería, en la línea del anuncio del capítulo 3 de esta segunda temporada, continuando por las frases de los protagonistas antes de entrar en el menú (genial el “All you are belong to us” de Douglas) y por las emulaciones de juegos retro. Aparentemente, esta vez no se han currado tanto los subtítulos en l33t, y digo aparentemente porque en realidad estos subtítulos esconden los Easter Eggs del DVD… La primera vez que pones los subtítulos piensas que el DVD está mal, porque lo único que hacen es llenar la pantalla cada pocos segundos de un montón de caracteres, aparentemente (valga la redundancia) al azar. Por cierto, algo curioso es que las primeras copias del DVD tenían algunos problemas (se encallaban, saltaban escenas…), pero esto se solucionaba fácilmente… activando y desactivando los subtítulos! Parece marketing, pero no. […]
life imitating art.
I had this problem with the set. Will check to see if the “on/off” fix works. If not, will pester 2-Entertainment.
was just wondering is there some way i would be able to either get a dvd in Austrailian region OR LEAGALLY AND LEGITMITLY download your season 1 and two epps i saw the first show (i think it was on ABC) and was hooked hence why i dug up a website i thaught may b able to help
How can I get ahold of USA Region 1 versions? I saw some short teasers on youtube of The It Crowd and I loved it!